I took a day off work to get my gear together and get the car packed up for a weekend of camping and riding. Now that my wife is into mountain biking we were setting off on a fun family adventure, which was a nice change from the usual get in – get out mentality associated with racing. We arrived at the park around 5PM in time to get a campsite, hit packet pickup and then jump on the first few miles of the course to get a feel for it.

The start was going to be on a paved road that passes under the huge dam that holds back the waters of the Arkansas river. After a mile and a half with a couple hundred feet of climbing we would be turning into a tight single track with a gradual climb. About a mile into the trail we would be encountering the first bottle neck of the day – a narrow canyon with a few stair steps and lots of loose, broken shale rock. Although not a particularly challenging section for a sport or expert solo rider, it was clear that there would be some dismounting at this point of the race. After that feature, the trail snaked along the upper plateau providing tight, twisty riding with little opportunity to pass as the off trail regions were comprised of soft dirt and lots of cacti. Armed with this beta I felt confident that I was going to push hard to be in the top ten at the start.

On race day we awoke to a perfectly clear sky and a temperature of 50F! Insane for this time of year. Tiffany also camped with us and was getting ready to do the half marathon. Dwight was there with his family and raced the full marathon. I pounded down some camp stove breakfast and kitted up in my sharp and comfortable Biemme kit. It was a short cruize over to the start area on my bike with a perfect tuneup from the boys over at ProVelo. As predicted it was a strung out group going up the road and approaching the single track. I ducked in at about sixth position and was feeling pretty good with that. I let a little gap go on the front five and the couple of guys behind me didn’t seem to mind. We knew we were in for a five plus hour haul. As luck would have it, we caught the back of the 20 age category just as we were approaching the bottleneck. Our front five slipped passed some of them just in time and the rest of us were held up thru the canyon. Coming out onto the plateau you could feel the nerves and frustration as a long line of 30 somethings fought to get around the handful of slow 20 somethings. There just wasn’t room to pass out there.

Eventually the trail opened up and took us in and out of some spectacular gulleys and over some ridges. But honestly you don’t spend a lot of time checking out the scenery in race conditions. The backside of the course consisted of a really crappy trail that was all rutted out from horses and super dusty. Each of the three laps we were all cursing that bit. The next phase of the trail was a spectacular twisty section that hugged the edge of the cliffs overlooking the lake. It was a fun section but was super hard on the last lap because you couldn’t take your eyes off the trail for a second. The last sector of the route consisted of a super cool climb up a narrow canyon with lots of broken shale and a few actual technical sections, followed by some really fun roller coaster like parts. Near the end were a couple of steep leg burners before finally rolling thru the feed zone and finish area.

After the first lap I honestly thought I was in about 10^th place. I didn’t feel like I was having a great day, constantly feeling a half second off on my timing and generally feeling like I had not spent enough time on my mountain bike. Even the confident grip of my Kenda tires was not enough to keep me from capsizing a couple of times.

I quickly refueled at the aid station (I love Hammer products – I can ride all day long with that stuff!) and headed out for the next 22 miles. Mentally I started transitioning from the franticness of the race to the find-the-groove mentality needed to hold a strong pace for the next 44 miles. I got in with a group of about 4 and we just churned out the miles, lost in our own thoughts. Part way thru this lap the faster half-marathon riders began to overtake us and a little bit of the franticness came back, as you really are not sure what category people are in. Overall I felt pretty good on the second lap but really had no idea what my standing was.

Heading out for the third lap I was still feeling ok. I knew this one was going to hurt. You pretty much always feel like crap at some point in these long races. The first half was fine and I was very glad when I made it past the bumpy, blown out horse trail. A couple of miles into the twistys on the bluffs I was feeling alright and begin to formulate my plan for finishing off the race with a vengeance. A couple miles later I begin to mutter to myself as I was sure that the twistys were going on too long. I had thought that I was going to skip the aid station with only 7 miles to go but by the time I finally got to it I was completely out of liquid and my body was aching from several “mishaps”, like running into a pinyon pine at full speed. After refilling the bottle and collecting my nerve I hit the rocky canyon with everything I had. Miraculously I begin to pass a few guys that I think were in my category near the end of that climb. On the roller coaster section I think I was having some kind of third wind as suddenly I could feel no pain. Approaching the last technical section I felt like nails and blasted through it while a couple of guys got hung up behind a slower rider. It turned out that those guys were in my race and I managed to put a few seconds into them in the final mile.

I was greeted at the finish by Courtney, who had done her own mountain bike ride during the race, and that was super cool. For several minutes I could not eat or drink although I was feeling pretty thirsty with the sun and heat. After a bit we took a dip in the reservoir to knock some of the dust off – man was that water cold.  At the post race BBQ I was stunned to find out that I had actually finished in third place and only 18 seconds behind the second place rider. Wow – that made it worth all the pain and discomfort! I picked up my silly little plaque, ate three helpings of Mexican food and enjoyed a night of camping and hanging out with Courtney, Dwight and his family.

The weather this January in Madison, WI was unusual.  Normally, the ground is covered in snow and the wind is blowing bringing the temperatures into the low to mid-twenties by day.  This year, for Cyclocross Nationals, there was no snow on the ground and the temperatures were in the 30s and 40s during the day.  Cindy Milnick and I participated in the event.

Cindy raced the non-championship women’s race on Wednesday, January 4, and had an excellent result of 7^th place.  The course was muddy to icy with long, hard climbs and fast, technical descents.  Since the course was over 2 miles long, the lap times were 10-12 minutes.  There was one long staircase run-up and one set of barriers.  I raced the Women’s 45-49 race on Wednesday late morning.

The race was a suffer-fest from the start and the mud was like Velcro.  I finished 20^th.  Cindy raced the Women’s 40-44 race that afternoon and had even muddier and harder conditions than me.  The first long climb was difficult to ride due to the thick mud over ice conditions for both of our races, but had gotten greasier for Cindy’s race.  Cindy rode strong and finished 12^th.  The second climb had three terraces to it- the first two were rideable but the third got worse as both of our races went on making it impossible to ride after the first lap.

The experience of any National race is exciting and stressful, but well worth the effort.  It was awesome watching my teammate, as well as other Colorado racers, negotiate the course and be there to congratulate them after they finished.  I love seeing the smile on their faces after they cross the finish line and know the hard effort is finally over.  I have attached a photograph taken Friday morning (we were too cold and muddy to take pictures on Thursday) of Cindy, me, and Cindy’s mom, Julie, near the start/finish banner.  Julie won the National Championship for Women 65-69 and now dons the stars and stripes jersey.  Somehow, I think I know where Cindy gets her power and skill in cyclocross.  I look forward to another shot at Badger Prairie Park next January and wonder if we won’t get real Wisconsin winter conditions to try.  Maybe a trip to World’s in Louisville will be on the agenda of both Cindy and me.

NOTE: Make every effort to attend, at least, the Saturday ride as we’ll be taking the team picture (very important).

We’ll plan on an event, BBQ, or the like on Saturday evening as well. Location still to be determined. If anybody has any suggestions please pass them our way…

Between the three of us, we raced over 65 road races from time trials (including a team win for the Haystack TTT) and criteriums to road races (Thanks Pam for doing Hugo with me!) and hill climbs (again, thanks Pam for doing Mt. Evans with me!).  We were proud to represent Echelon Energy Cycling Team for the road season.  I want to thank Linda and Pam for being so dedicated, strong, willing, and good natured about the season.  It was a tough season but having these two amazing women out there with me made it a great season.  Thanks Ladies.  I have attached a photograph of us with our awards that was taken at the Blue Sky Velo cyclocross race last weekend.  We are four women strong for cross this year in the SW 35+ category- Pam, Linda, Cindy Milnick (she’s back!), and me.

Being in Breckenridge, there is, of course, a fair bit of climbing (9500’), but for the most part the grades and technical level of the climbing are reasonable, and there is enough flat between to get some recovery.

When the 30-39 age group launched off the starting line up Boreas Pass road, we wasted no time getting into it. A group of six immediately formed off the front. Needless to say, there were some chuckles from the crowd of 50 or so racers as people envisioned these guys blowing up a couple miles into a 70 mile day. Now, bike racing requires some experience and some luck, and I believe both of these were on my side this day. As the little group surged ahead a few dozen meters off the front, I realized that that was going to be the race leaders for the day, not just for a few minutes. I sorted my way thru the crowd and put in a big dig to get up to the group. We kept a smooth, constant tempo up the remaining 2 or 3 miles of pavement and by the time we turned abruptly into the single track the rest of the field was nowhere to be found.

The single track continued the 8 mile climb up the Sally Barber mine ruins, where we finally got a little respite and had a chance to assess the situation. I was sitting with one other racer at this point and we were 5^th and 6^th of the original 7 breakaways. I was feeling good – heart rate in control and what I like to call “big legs”, meaning plenty of power. So far the Ti Blacksheep 29er was checking out ok, other than a slightly annoying cross chain rubbing in the granny ring. I was rolling my usual combo of a Kenda ST8 in front (to keep things as light as possible), mated with a Kenda Karma in the rear (to provide a little extra toughness). My tire pressure of choice is about 34psi in front and 36psi in rear. A lot of people might feel this is a bit high for a tubeless set up, but I prefer the additional harshness over the increased chance of flatting.

The second climb of the day on the B68 course is the infamous French Gulch, a rock strewn beast that dishes out 800’ climbing in less than 2 miles. I had just climbed this bad boy twice in the F50 12 days earlier so I knew exactly what to expect. Coming over this bad boy, not only was I was able to ditch my breakaway companion, but I overtook another of the original gangstas, putting myself into fourth position!

Brimming with confidence, I railed the next long descent and made my way thru aid station 1 with a quick refill and off to tackle the West Ridge climb. As is usually the case in these deals, I end up riding with quite a few single speeders, and today was no exception. Normally I attempt to replicate their climbing style by using too large a gear and riding out of the saddle. It’s a much more powerful way to ride, but of course, is less efficient, which can really take its toll on a long day. Seeing as the Blacksheep is of single speed heritage, it really does climb well in that style and it sure was working for me!

After the 8 mile West Ridge climb the racer finally gets a chance to really get some recovery in as the remainder of the first loop consists of a 5 mile descent, a relatively easy 4 mile climb up Gold Run road (jeep trail), followed by a tight, twisty descent into Carter Park at Breckenridge at mile 36. By this point it is super important to take in some fuel and to leave out of the aid station with packed pockets. The second loop takes riders up a grueling jeep road, mixed with some single track and hard pack, enroute to the top of Boreas Pass. Some big Tstorms had begun to form by this time and I was a little concerned with going over the 11,500’ pass. I know in the past they have terminated the race early and given riders the finishing position of their first lap. But I was feeling good and kept getting better and maybe, just maybe I was going to catch those 3 guys up ahead. One thing about these long races is that you never really know how far up they are and when they may stop for a break or have a mechanical, etc.

The Boreas Pass climb hurt something fierce, but the single speed style of riding (up out of the saddle and hunched up over the front bar) got me over all of that climb without needing to come off the bike – something I was unable to do in 2010. The long descent down to the town of Coma on the other side of the pass includes what I would say is the toughest section of single track on the course. There are some rock gardens that I simply cannot ride and no one that I saw could either. Somewhere in this section I rolled up on a guy with the calf marking that I was keeping a sharp eye out for – “30-39” – the indicator that I had just moved from fourth position onto the podium! The poor guy was about cracked and congratulated me as I rode off, in hot pursuit of number 2 and 3.

Coming thru the Coma aid station, I stopped to top off the bottles and to stuff as much energy as I could down my throat without making myself sick – which wasn’t much. I was discouraged when a different guy with the “30-39” calf mark passed through and was now in front of me. I caught up to him on the long, gravel climb back up toward Boreas Pass and informed him that we were sitting 3^rd and 4^th on the road. He was not aware of this and was very happy. Unfortunately for him I was the stronger of the two and was able to put him in the ditch on the some of the steeper pitches.

Another few miles passed until I found the man that I was searching for – the second place rider was now in view. I had a good chat with him (remember, we had ridden mountain bikes hard for like 60 miles at this point, so sitting up for a brief chat is not quite like what it sounds – were still racing!). He was wearing a Mountain Flyer kit and I had a feeling he was going to be a faster descender than me – especically on the technical final miles. I knew it was imperative that I get over the top of Boreas Pass in front of this guy. Turns out that Scott was still feeling pretty good and two independent efforts on my part to ditch him were to no avail.

As we dove into the last bit of single track, starting with one very brief climb, I had a few moments thinking that I might get away from him. But he knew what he was doing and happily stuck on my wheel thru the tight twisty stuff, awaiting the right moment. With an impressive feat of bike handling he took a tight inside line on a hard, washed out right hander, and slipped in front of me with about 2 miles to go. Being on the conservative side, and being really tired, I decided that it was not worth chancing a crash at this point and contented myself with letting him go. Ultimately he finished a mere 27 second ahead of me. Turns out the fellow that one was only another 2 minutes up the road!

An hour later at the awards ceremony I was happy to shake the hands of both these guys and know that I put in a good effort and had a fun time racing. Total race time was 6 hours 40 minutes 48 second (more than half hour faster than my 2010 time!). Heart rate monitor indicated average 156bpm and max 178bpm with 5800k calories consumed.

Oddly enough, the northern Front Range has been receiving plenty of liquid water from Mother Nature this spring and early summer, so the night before the race there was rumor that it might be canceled due to overly wet trails – unheard of in Colorado! Fortunately, the night before the event, the rains held off and the race was a go.

The Open and Single Speed group toed the line at 7AM sharp, and after a couple of misfires of the starting pistol, we were off. And immediately MAN DOWN! I’m not sure what happened, but it nicely split the field right from the get go. This was a nice advantage considering the route quickly funneled us onto the Timber Trail, a 1.5 mile climb on narrow single track – not a lot of passing options. A quick head count reveled that I made the turn into the single track in about 20^th position, just in front of middle. I thought that was a reasonable place to be. The route consisted of one major climb, along with this warm up and a couple more small ones later in the course. I didn’t want to go into Mill Creek/Towers Road already blown out and smoking.

As predicted, much of the Mill Creek climb was unrideable, so several hike-a-bikes were in order. The steep section of Tower’s road must be around 20% and the front end of the bike dances around and can cause one to get off course if one is not cautious. The second to last steep part before the peak was labeled with a sign reading “Bacon Hill” and sure enough there were some folks grilling up bacon and serving Coke for any rider daring enough to entertain the thought. Since my lungs were about to come out of my throat, I thought I had better refrain.

At the mile 10 aid station at the turn off to Spring Creek trail I quickly filled a bottle with HEED and grabbed a gel pack before embarking on the fast, technical descent. There is no relaxing on these trails, and as one teammate said after riding a training lap “someone’s going to go home in a helicopter!”. Coming over the little climb on Herrington trail I spotted Big Greg Scanlon and a couple of other riders ahead, who I figured were sitting about 15^th thru 18^th position. I felt like I should be able to close the gap on them. I chased hard all through the descent and was a little nervous for the Sawmill trail, as this is the gnarliest technical section of all. I was surprised that it raced quite well and I made it through without any close calls. The long section thru the Lory Valley contains some very nice, smooth trail, yet you cant relax because it snakes all around with a number of off camber corners that will throw you into the weeds. This section was also pretty wet from the recent rains. By the time we made it to the Start/Finish area I was surprised to see that only two hours and five minutes had ellapsed. I had passed about 3 people suffering mechanicals, so thought that I should be in about 15^th place based on previous data from some spectators hanging out in the technical sections.

I was feeling pretty good at this point and felt like I could do the second lap at the same pace since I road the climbs a little on the conservative side during the first lap. I started having those thoughts of “just don’t flat” and “just don’t crash”, “things are going great”, etc. Well of course that is the curse of the Devil.

On the Mill Creek climb, just as I was putting some good time into a couple of guys that had been on my tail for a while, my low granny gear decided to throw the chain over the big sprocket into the spokes! Fortunately, I acted quickly and did not mash down on the crank arms, sparing my drive train and wheel from a complete mangling. It’s funny how the clock seems to speed up when you jump off your bike to repair a problem while your heart rate is pegged to the roof. After getting everything back in order without being passed, I remounted and headed off.

My next thought was “well, that could have been worse” and then what happens – my rear wheel snags a rock and starts loosing air! I pull over and get the tools out. Fortune is on my side again, and the Stans sealant does the trick to seal up the small puncture. After a total of maybe five minutes down time due to the two mechanicals, and being overtaken by three racers, I’m on my way again. Unfortunately, the sting had been taken out of my bite, and I had trouble really pushing myself up the Towers Road climb – but maybe that’s just because it’s so freaking hard!

At this point, I was riding with Thomas Borch from Peloton Cycling, who had suffered a flat earlier, and was also in need of a little motivation. Soon thereafter, I started feeling good again and really went for it on the gravely Stout trail descent. Not the smartest move, as my front tire lost traction and slid out and I did a Super Man over the bike and across the ground. Fortunately, I sustained no real injuries and I was back and riding again in no time. Just after this, Thomas and I caught and passed a cramping Greg Scanlon. Big T was starting to fade a little along Loggers trail, so I put the screws to him and lost him down Sawmill. I continued to make good time around the rest of the course. although the light uphill grade on the South Valley trail began to feel like some major climbing after all the previous effort.

Finally, with a fist pump and a smile on my face, I rolled across the line 15^th overall in the Open division, with a time of 4:19:53, much faster than the five hours that I had predicted to a friend. It turns out that the 14^th place guy was only 42 seconds in front of me, while 13^th was less than 2 minutes up. I believe I would have reeled them in given a little more territory and certainly would have been in front without the mechanicals. But then again, there were a lot of people suffering mechanicals, and I’m just glad that mine were so minor. Overall I am reasonably happy with the result and look forward to the next big challenge at the B68 on July 16.

The race begins with a neutral roll out on main street with various categories departing around 9:30AM in 2 minute intervals. The crowd measured in the hundreds and maybe even in the thousands, all there to witness the Fourth of July parade, which we had the honor of leading out of town.

The course covers two fifty-two mile loops with 5500’ climbing each. As they say in the race flier, “fortunately much of the climbing is on the paved/hardpack road leading out of town”. Sounds like cheating – but trust me, it’s not! My group, which consisted of Category 1 Men, aged 19-29, 30-34 and 35-39, totaling 33 souls, wasted no time in making things happen. A couple of miles into it, I was already sitting right at my pain threshold and trying really hard not to think about the remaining 52 miles of the race! A group of eight or ten got away but I was sitting with three or four others and it was already a really long way back to the next small group by the time we hit the hard pack around mile 4. It wasn’t long before the fastest single speed guys rolled up behind us and really made us feel like wusses, but we let em go anyway. Finally, around mile 6 the course turns into some steep (uphill!) single track and you really feel like the race has begun.

In general I’m pretty well versed in judging my bodies response and monitoring my condition for long days in the saddle. I’ve always been slow to warm up on the bike, and therefore allow myself not to overdo it in the opening miles of a long race. Along this first section of single track I found a comfortable groove and put my focus on my race, not on the hundreds of other racers out there – easier said then done in the heat of battle. Overall, I rode the first lap reasonably conservative, especially on the descents, which tended to be loose and rocky, but with clean lines and lots of banked turns. There were quite a number of flat tires throughout the day, almost always near the bottoms of these long descents.

I came through the start/finish area at about 2 hours 20 minutes. Based on 2010 results, I was expecting the fastest guys in my group to finish the race at around 4:15, so I was worried that I was putting in a slow time. Come to find out later that the course this year is a good bit slower than in the past – partly because of a reroute due to snow, lengthening each lap by 2 miles. The effects of the 250% snowpack were obvious as we raced down running rivers of melting snow at some points. I’m pretty sure my wheel hubs went under water at one of the stream crossings!

The second time up the Boreas Pass climb my lower back really started feeling it. My power was dropping and I just could not get the pain out of my mind. I had to stop and stretch three times over the next 5 miles in an attempt to relax it.  Mentally this was the tough spot of the race. I had to fight harder than usual to get the “negative demons” to shut the hell up, as they really wanted me to quit this time. By the time I made it over to the French Gulch climb I was really crawling. Luckily, that climb is so tough that virtually everyone was walking the steepest sections the second time around. This gave my back a chance to calm down, although pushing a mountain bike up 20% grades over broken shale when you are absolutely floored is not really a recommended way to recover!

After getting up French Gulch the second time you can sort of breathe a sigh of relief, as the hardest parts of the course are behind you and you have more descending left than climbing. That said, the descending is no joke either, especially with four or so hours in the saddle. The brake muscles were fatiguing pretty severely near the end. By this time in a mountain bike enduro the only enemy you have is yourself and fortunately for me I had left the demons somewhere in French Gulch. I was back to having fun and just trying to make it home in one piece. The way it worked out, I was riding most of the second half of the second lap with some of the top single speeders. Man, those guys are inspiring! They are smooth too, so I was perfectly happy to rail the descents with them and power up the smaller climbs in a larger gear than I would have had the motivation to do by myself.

By the time it was all said and done, I come across the line at 5:03:17, 6^th place in the Cat 1 35-39 group of 17. Not too bad. I was reasonably happy with that result, although you always spend time analyzing what you could have done better. In this case, the next closest guy was about 10 minutes up, so it would have taken a fair bit to gain even one place. Well, another fun day in the saddle and good training for the Lory Park 40 in five days time, followed by the Breck68 in two weeks on some of these very same trails!

I’m not one for warming up before a road race event. I usually just start off with cold legs and let them warm up during the early part of the race. So as long as nobody attacks within the first few miles I’m usually ok. So I get to the start line with enough time to watch the other catagories take off before my race. When it’s my turn to start I realize we are going to be lead out to the race course from the registration area by an official on a motorbike.

So we take off following the motorbike he makes a left turn and all of a sudden guys start yelling ” We’re going the wrong way!” .  So we turn around, get going in the right direction toward the course and I try and settle in toward the middle of the group.

There’s a short climb and then you descend about a mile, go around a traffic circle, and then you start to climb up the infamous wall to the start/finish line. My legs felt pretty good so I kept it in my big ring and just powered up it no problem. Then there’s a brief down hill section and then you start to climb around a bend with a great view of these huge windmills. After that, it’s a pretty easy section where the speed starts to creep up as you  head back toward the town of Superior, with some pretty fast but nothing too sketchy down hill sections. Just before you hit the wall  for the second time, There’s another nice steady climb that’s about a mile long where i noticed some of  guy’s were already falling off the back .

The group bombs the downhill, flys around the traffic circle, Which seemed way too fast. Then we hit the top of the wall a second time, and I look back and realized we had just lost about half of the group. So we hit the short downhill section head around the bend with the great view of the windmills,when  all of a sudden a  couple of guy’s get tangled up next to me and hit the deck. I’m thinking to myself that’s too close for comfort. So I  try and move up closer to the front in an attempt to get some protection from guy’s that are probably beyond there limit’s just trying to hang on, as they tend to make stupid mistakes. As we get closer to the town of Superior, a couple of  guy’s time trial back on to our group, but one look at them I could tell it had taken alot out of them.

So by the time we hit the steady climb before the wall, we ended up losing a few more. At this point there’s about twelve of us left. We climb the wall for the third time and as I scan up ahead about a half mile, and notice a huge group of the 35+4s that had started ahead of us. My group starts to really work hard to real them in. Once we hit the steady climb before the wall, we catch and pass them.  At the top of that climb I look around, and realize there are only six or seven of us left. We fly around the traffic circle. I’m sitting second wheel, we hit the wall for the sprint finish faster than we had done prior. and as we approach, two guy’s go flying past me, and when I went to hit the afterburners I had nothing left in the tank to counter with, and I held on to take fourth.

-Chris