Primus Mootry crit

Another early season (or is this mid season for me?) race held in an office park between Boulder and Longmont. I had much better hopes for this race since it's been a month since I returned to altitude and it was basically as flat and wide open as they come. I was the lone Skins racer as some of my teammates opted to double up and race 45+ and 3s.

The weather was cool enough that I decided to race in knee and arm warmers. It would later warm up to 70 after my race.

I started out well feeling better than I have in a while. There were a few early moves but nothing stuck until halfway through the 50 minute race 2 riders went clear. 2 laps later Bob Dahl of team Excel Sports attacks and gets a Mob rider to go with him. They bridge up and I waited to see what the reaction from the field would be. After seeing no movement I hit the afterburners to try to bridge up solo. I came close, within a couple of seconds, before my lack of intensity training kicked in and I fell back to the field. I lasted 2 laps in no man’s land. It was a good effort and I got lots of cheers which really helped out in the end when I was really hurting to catch the leaders. The Mob riders effectively shut down the race behind. None of the other riders had teammates and really profited from this generosity. I sat in and waited for the final few laps debating to attack again with 1.5 laps left but someone beat me to it. Good thing I didn’t go as we caught and passed him before the line. In fact we almost caught the leaders as they had slowed significantly in a game of cat and mouse. I was mid pack when I passed the last corner but was able to find the right wheel to pull me past most of the field to finish 17th.

My teammates in the cat 3 race did well with some interesting happenings.

TR broke a spoke and made an illegal pitstop at his car to change a wheel and in his haste he forgot to close the quick release skewer. His rear wheel basically fell out when I picked up his bike to move it after the race. Thank goodness he didn't sprint all out, he might have taken the whole field out.

CF and some other riders were taken out in the final kilometer by some young'n riding stupidly. He ended up with a taco for a wheel.

KOB was back up to prime form as was DK who unfortunately led the field around the last corner which was 350 meters too soon.

Garrett, a day after having to shoot pics at the Nuggets/Lakers game the night before, raced the 35+ cat 4 race and finished in the pack.

all in all a fairly good day for the crew.

My next race is in 2 weeks.

Snow still?!?

Woke up today to blowing snow. Will this ever stop?

It warmed up to 43 today so at least it disappeared and allowed me to get in a quick outdoor spin with the dogs. I had to have them burn off some energy after I found they had caught a bunny to play with. Unfortunately the bunny did not last as long as a dog chew toy. Poor bunny, next time stay away from my bushes and flowers.

My new Stumpjumper hasn't arrived yet but I did grab a new bike from the shop. It's an '07 Specialized Sirrus Sport that had been sitting on the floor. I've been trying to sell this to people as the ultimate commuter (which it is), but even with a discounted price for last years stock no takers. It's a aluminum road bike with carbon fork and seat stays and a flat bar like a mtn bike. Handles like a bike messenger bike in NYC. It's a blast to ride. I'll try the work commute on it Monday. Pictures as soon as I find my camera.
Tomorrow is a pancake flat criterium. I hope to feel better about myself after that race.

Work and racing

In the last post I mentioned a follow up to Sunday's race, after a busy week of work I forgot that I hadn't posted anything.

The AST criterium in Golden Colorado was a blast. Got together with most of my team and flashed some Skins power. Unfortunately, my power was short lived (re-aclimation phase) and my teammates were unable to bring down a top 10 finish. Afterwards we had our Team Photographer, Mark Woolcot, shoot our team shots. We then headed out to our various assignments that we had volunteered for as co sponsor of the race. Some of us even had a go at a second race (me included) and did well (I got shelled after 3 laps of the Pro race).

Monday I arrived at work to find about 2 dozen repairs awaiting me. As service manager you would think that I would have someone there to assist me. Well I do for about 3 hours when the youths get out of school. I'm not complaining, I like the challenge. Although I am looking forward to when I pick up another day mechanic late May. One of the busiest days so far was this Friday. I went into work at 9:30am and left @ 7:30pm. I didn't have one break, it was fun.

I'm on my way to owning a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Pro Carbon compliments of the employee purchasing program at the bike shop. This will replace the '04 Epic that I sold tonight.

I've already commited my entry into the Laramie Enduro to break it in at a race setting.

It occurs the same week as the Salida Omnium that I won 2 years ago when I raced as a 35+ cat 4 rider. I have no intentions of racing that race in the open 35+ category until I grow wings on my back.

Tomorrow (or is it today) I'm headed down to Boulder to ride with the team up to Ward.

Sounds Fun

L8r

Work, snow, and altitude

3 days after returning from my trip I landed a job as the service manager at a local bike shop. This was the type of job I was looking for - fun, challenging, and a change of pace. I'm once again a productive member of society.
Then last Sunday was my first race back at altitude. It did not go too well as I was dropped early and fought my way alone for most of the race.
Now it seems my last name must be Jones because since I have returned with my shiny new trailer 2 of my nieghbors have gone out and bought new travel trailers (not Airstreams though)
in the 2 weeks that I have been back I believe it has snowed 6 or more of those days.
Tomorrow I'll post today's race results in Golden CO