I’m the type of guy that likes crossing things off a to-do list. So achieving one of my main goals for the season and doing it at the first race of the season makes the pen going across the paper that much more enjoyable. The first race of the season for me was the Valley of the Sun (VOS) stage race in Phoenix, Arizona. The race consisted of a time trial, road race, and criterium. Because the road race and the criterium are typically not that hard, I figured I had a pretty good chance of doing well – time trialing is one of my strengths and this would likely decide the race. However, I’d only tested my fitness level once on a group ride a couple of weeks before the race, so I wasn’t really sure how my body and legs would respond. In addition, the first race of the season always feels bad. So once the race official said “go”, I spent the next 30 minutes riding and thinking that I wasn’t going hard enough, I wasn’t going fast enough, I wasn’t passing enough racers, and I’d be lucky if I finished in the top 10. All in all, I’d say the time trial was not nearly as much fun as I usually have later in the season. But, when the results were finally posted and I was able to peak over the horde of racers to see how I finished, my attitude changed completely.

The next two days/stages blended together somewhat. In both days I basically just sat in the peloton and tried to stay out of trouble. In what was a bit of a new experience for me, I had a strong team there to work for me. They chased or shut down breakaways and made sure I was at the front when it mattered. Life as the overall leader in a race has probably never been so easy and stress free. And while I’d love to say we won the other two races, this was not the case. Some sketchy and somewhat awkward finishes messed up our rhythm a bit. Or it was the fact that most of us (myself included) haven’t ridden in a group/race setting for a few months. With the racing all finished up though, it meant I had finally won the overall. All the hard training in the cold Colorado winter had paid off and done so very early, making the trip just that little bit sweeter. With amazing weather, amazing “host” housing, and the support from a great team, one couldn’t ask for much more. Except podium girls. Where were the podium girls?

Wait, where are the podium girls!?

Now it’s time to get back on the bike and train for the beginning of the Colorado racing season. And next on the to-do list is to celebrate with some beers at Lucky Pie. I’m thinking this may be the easiest thing yet to check off…

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you out on the road.
JIM

Sonic Boom Racing p/b Lucky Pie racer Colby Ricker prepares food for the 90 mile Road Race at Valley of the Sun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbwD5SMHtgg

The snacks must have worked, as Colby and the rest of the SBR boys protected Jim Peterman’s overall lead.

Stay tuned for more updates from Valley of the Sun.

Glenn Cratty

The release of the preliminary racing schedule for the upcoming road season is always one of the most exciting moments of offseason.
This will be my second off season spent training through the apparent six-month Colorado winter, so the population of the race calendar and its associated
boost in morale comes at the perfect moment: just as the winter doldrums are setting in and when I would otherwise need to be forced by sharpened pike point onto the trainer.

Unlike last year, when I was returning to racing after six years of enthusiastic pursuit of my two favorite deadly sins (sloth and gluttony), I have a season under my tightened belt and the new schedule
inspires excitement and anticipation rather than fear and dread. So as I pencil races into the periodization schedule, it’s a good time to think about my goals for 2012 and what it will take to achieve them.

Having already been a Cat 3 at one point in my life, I have to admit that regaining this status has been a strong undercurrent of motivation since returning to racing. Cat 4 has been the de facto entry-level
category here in CO (thankfully about to change due to reintegration with USAC) with its associated sketchiness and stigma and it is very natural for riders to want to upgrade to 3’s by any means necessary.

That said, I decided that I would rather be process oriented and really earn the upgrade, with the objective to be “in at the kill” in a handful of races that suit me and inspire the imagination. Basically, train to be strong enough to find myself in the Top 10 near the end of any hard road race, with a crack at the places…or better, dare I dream. Let the points come as they may.

Some of the races I would love to do well in will be new to me, like Morgul and Salida. With others, I’m looking for a little payback from
last year. I was feeling good at Deer Trail but had to steer off into a grassy ditch at 40 mph to avoid a fearful crash a few riders in front of me. At
Koppenberg I was very comfortably at the head of affairs on the third lap—the lead group of 15 having shed more than 2/3d’s of the field inside two laps—when
I rolled over what appears to have been a the blade of a machete, or so the gash through my front tubular would have seemed to indicate. At Hugo I raced
strongly and sensibly for 76miles only completely lose my mind with a K to go when I jumped for it…and got swarmed 300 meters later.

Getting points in any of these races will be no small task, even with optimal preparation. Even in the 4’s, competition for Top 10’s is fierce for racers of a modest athletic pedigree. There are usually a handful of
very strong riders soaking up the places as they blow their way through the lower categories.

This is especially true during the first third of the season where a handful of guys come flying out of the offseason looking get to get those last few points toward the upgrade. It is also true at the higher profile races which often compel one or two of the Boulder area’s high population of elite endurance athletes to come out and have a go at an amateur road race, usually with devastating consequences to the rest of us punters.

So how to compete? Training is obviously a no-brainer, but I’ve seen guys train intelligently, consistently and tenaciously throughout the entire off season…only to race in exactly the opposite way once it actually counts. I was guilty of this to
extent myself in 2011.

It is realistic to assume that if I wish to place consistently and get enough points for the upgrade, at some point during the upcoming season I will have to put the training dogma aside, see the potential
in every race I enter, work with my teammates and with gritted teeth seize whatever opportunities come my way. Or create them. In short, I will have to race my bike, take some calculated risks and be willing to suffer.

Hopefully places, points, glory and an upgrade will be the
natural outcome. If not, so be it. I was never a big fan of being pack fodder
anyhow.
–Glenn Cratty

The end of the cycling season has come for many of us.  Some are transitioning and ramping up for cyclo-cross season, while others are already thinking about off season training, base work, etc.

I rode my last race of the season over two weeks ago, stuck my bike in the garage with the wheels off and it has sat there ever since.  I’ve always sort of been like that.  When I was much younger I would not touch the bike for three months then hit it at about the Christmas holidays.  Now, in my mid forties I really can’t afford to do that and let all of my fitness go away.  But I find other things to do that benefit me physically without being on the bike.  Hiking, yoga and actually retreating away from the cycling world are very healthy things for me.

Me and Izy at the Tennessee Mt. Hut above Eldora

This past weekend on a camping trip I went up a day early to set up camp before friends and my family would arrive.  As I waited for them I spent a lot of time walking with my dog, Izy.  As I allowed myself to slow down, I let Izy take the lead on our walk.  It involved a lot of stopping, sniffing, squatting and then moving on to do it all over again after about twenty yards.  How very different this is from the world of riding and racing a bike.  Even at the “weekend warrior” level if we get the chance to do a longer ride on a weekend we are rushing home afterwards due to family obligations.  For me, many of the races I participate in are dictated by my family’s schedule, not the other way around.  So it frequently involves rushing to a race in order to make it home for a commitment or speeding off to a race after a soccer game.

So away I go, chasing my tail and when the season is over I finally say, ENOUGH!

As the season is over and we reflect on the previous months it is easy to look at the original goals and determine whether it was successful or not.  However, there are areas that I like to look at to determine how my riding fits in with the rest of my life.

How does my life feel in general?   How do I feel about my job and work?  Am I excited for it, feeling creative as I work with people or am I just going through the motions?  How do I feel about my relationship with Pam, my wife?  Pam continues to come to bike races and cheer me on which baffles me.  Going to the US Pro Challenge is one thing, but she actually likes going to local ACA races.  However, quite often I don’t always put forth the same effort into the things that she is interested in due to riding and racing.  Hmm…that is something that I’ll need to reconcile in the coming weeks and months.  The same goes with my relationship with my son and friends.  Now is a great time to put some effort into these things that might have been put on the back burner because of so much focus on self/riding.  That is probably the one thing I struggle with when it comes to racing a bicycle.  It involves a little more selfishness than I am comfortable with, especially at my age.

Which brings me around to reflect on the reason that I do this; does pinning on a number, racing my bike and competing and winning bring a lot of fulfillment?  For me, it really doesn’t.  I love to compete and when I’m fortunate to have a good result the feeling of jubilation lasts for about ten or twenty minutes.  However, if I don’t race, I won’t ride on a regular basis and a history of clinical depression has shown me that if I’m not riding, then life gets pretty ugly for me and the people in my world.  So, for me, the riding is more medication than anything else.  I’m just a happier human being if I do it.  However, I’m not a whole lot different from many people in that I could be a couch potato as well.

I think that as athletes at a more “seasoned” age it is good to think about why we ride, train, race and compete.  There is a bigger picture here than just riding our bikes.  It is so much of who we are but if it were to go away would there be a huge void that could not be filled?  If so, I think that represents a potential problem.  For many of us, cycling takes way too much precedence in our lives.  We could all stand to be a lot less serious about the sport and just have a lot more fun.  There are many things to be ultra serious about; family, friends, poverty, famine and orphans are just a few.  I realized a long time ago that what I do on the bike does not determine my self-worth.  But I’d be lying if I said that this in and of itself is not a constant struggle.  My biggest challenge, like many of us, is in finding the balance where true joy and happiness exist.  And just when I think I’ve achieved that balance, all too often, I begin to fall over, have to reassess things and then find the balance all over again.  It’s pretty much like riding a bike.

This eight corner one mile criterium was my last race of the 2011 season.  This year has been much different and I’ve been racing primarily in the 45+ ranks and enjoying bringing along my wife Pam and son Ben to many of the races.  The week before at Saul Raisin I was fortunate enough to have my two older sisters in town and they were excited to go check out the race.  They must have been good luck because I managed to finally get a victory at that race.  I was down to my last two races to find the top rung on the podium.

The atmosphere at the Fort Collins race was fantastic.  There was the weekly farmers market taking place immediately east of the race course and the promoter had a festival atmosphere in place.  Huge trees shaded a good part of the course in old town Fort Collins and created a wonderful feeling in anticipation of this race on a cool Saturday morning.

Our race had 44 starters and was also the last race for the BAR/BAT competition.  Rod Yoder has gone wire to wire in the BAR standings and only needed to place top ten to lock that up.  After winning the week before I felt I had a good shot of winning today and the course looked like a good one for me if it came down to a field sprint.  However, my preference was to try and roll a break if possible to increase the chances at the end.

The course was wide open and fast which made it terribly difficult to keep a break going.  It was barely necessary to brake through any of the turns and easy to sit in the group rolling around the course.  At one point I had countered off of a move coming back to no avail.  A little later Dwight Hall had rolled off the front with Michael Williams, both Fort Collins strong men.  When Bob Dahl went after them I launched up to him and we went very hard for a lap and a half.  It was the kind of effort where I was just focused on the wheel in front and going as hard as I could.  Imagine my disappointment when after that kind of effort the big group was still only a second or two in back of us.  After getting caught and being one guy versus the bigger teams of Mix 1, Vic’s, Natural Grocers and Great Divide I decided that I would play for a field sprint.  Trying to gain a break would only result in many burnt matches which had been my undoing two weeks earlier at Bannock.

The last lap five laps all came together and with one to go Dwight Hall launched a big effort through the start/finish area.  Bob Dahl jumped on to his wheel and I immediately sat third wheel on Bob.  Halfway through the lap Hall pulled off and Bob took over.  I’ve been second and third to Bob this year in sprints and he is the one rider I’ve not been able to peg in a sprint.  Bob rode from the front out of the third to last turn and then it began to swarm just a little bit going into the second to last turn.  He got through first with Joe Paulson on his wheel.  Ideally I should have been second wheel coming out of the last turn but I was third which only put me in a good place to secure second on the day.  Bob won the race handily and I was bridesmaid for the fourth time this year.  Hats off to Bob for taking the race from the front.  In addition it was his second race of the day, having been 5th in the 35+ right before our race.  A silver medal was good consolation for the day and I was glad to be representing Lucky Pie for that.

It’s been a great year for the Lucky Pie team and for only the first year as our sponsor, Lucky Pie has gotten well known as the best place for pizza and beer in downtown Louisville.  When people see a Lucky Pie jersey they always say the same thing.  ”I LOVE THAT PLACE!”  All of us at Sonic Boom Racing love them too! Thanks for your awesome support.

Q&A with Eric Steele about Nationals 2011

What were your expectations of the racing at Nationals and did the reality line up with your expectations?

Nationals is a different kind of race all in its own. I’ve never been to an event on such a big level, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, all I knew was to expect strong riders and lots of them. When I arrived in Augusta I was greeted by cycling mania! The best cyclists from across the nation were gathered here, along with team cars loaded with bikes and equipment, tech vans etc. The racing was some of the fastest I’ve ever been in. I don’t know what’s up with juniors these days, but there were attacks all the time. Most of the time I just sat back and tried my best to sit near the front.

Photo by Todd Steele

What was the biggest surprise for you at Nationals?

The most surprising part about nationals was how professional of an event it was. The courses where fantastic,  all of them were completely closed off to traffic, a luxury we almost never have in Colorado, and the races were ran very well.

How did you cope with the humidity that is so much different from what we have here in Colorado?

The humidity was a challenge, the best way I found to get used to it was by riding in it. I had three days to train before the races started and that helped me adjust to the new climate very well. Drinking a lot water was also helpful.  I was drinking around a gallon of water a day, which kept me going when it got hot.

Photo by Todd Steele

What did you learn from your experience?  Would or will you do it again?  And with what goals for next time?

I learn something new in every race and this trip to Augusta taught me a lot; how to better ride in massive fields, the mechanics of big races, breaking bones hurt, the list goes on. Nationals and I have unfinished business and after having such bad luck in both the crit and road race I want to go back and show it what I’ve truly got.

I also want to send big thank you to the team for supporting me and my trip to nationals in many different ways. Even though It didn’t work out the way I would like it was still a great experience, so thanks!

Nothing could be more fantastic and exciting than race primed and ready to go for every race all year long, right?  It may even seam like some superb athletes are not confined to the rules of peak fitness but in reality they are probably just talented enough to win even without totally dialed fitness.  If you are anything like me, this is not the case.

I got myself in tip-top shape for the The Black Dog Stage race.  I finished 2nd at the Black dog and was able to hold onto my fitness bliss for one more week and win the Mike Horgan Hill Climb. So with three weeks between Mike Horgan and Mount Evans, my last race of the road season, I carried on, kept climbing hills, put in the miles and even hit a few PR’s up some of the Boulder signature climbs.  I never let go of the hope that I could be even stronger than I was three weeks earlier.

I started up Mt. Evans and felt just fine up to Echo Lake.  I had enough fitness to stay with some of the strong moves from the real contenders.  We had slimmed down from 40 riders to around 8.  However, just past the ranger station the pace picked up again and I didn’t.  I quickly dropped into a 4th position with another racer.  At the time I didn’t understand why I couldn’t carry on with the riders up the road whom I was as strong or stronger than three weeks earlier.  Eventually even my climbing mate dropped me and I settled for a 5th place finish.

Just a few minutes after the race was over and I started to analyze my lackluster performance.   The answer was simple: I was ‘Beyond the Peak.’  I was fit but I had no snap.  In order to reach my top fitness again, I needed rest, a healthy dose of volume and a smart little training progression.  There just wasn’t enough time between my June peak and Mt. Evans.  Upon making my little revelation, I picked up my moral and my bike and headed down the mountain with my good friend Andy Johnson who just had a ‘before the peak’ experience.  I then hopped in my car and headed east without stopping until I hit Lake Superior for some much needed rest and relaxation with family and friends.  With only a few rides and a bit of water skiing in 20 days, I am rested, revived and ready to roll my cross bike really fast!  …now I just need to get back in shape!

Thanks for reading,

Jared

The Bannock Criterium started off like any other, a sprint off of the start line in order to position for the first turn.  In fact, this race was pretty standard and I even felt like the race was downright easy until about five laps to go.  This is where I started having problems.

In a criterium, position is everything (I’ll write more about this in another post).  If you’re not reasonably near the front, then you can’t respond to attacks very well.  If you’re boxed in the middle of the peloton, you also can’t respond to much.  From this point in the race (5 laps to go),  I did a poor job of creating escape routes and staying near the front.  What would happen is I would move up, but, once I attained good position, I wouldn’t fight hard enough and ended up getting boxed in by other racers trying to do the same thing.  Once this happened, I would generally get sent four or five position back, which I would then have to make up again.  This constant battle is no way to race a criterium.

With one lap to go, I knew I was in trouble.  I was ten or so riders back and knew I need to get into the top five to have a shot at the win.  I waited and waited for the last straightaway before the finish.  It was on a slight hill and I knew that I would be able to move up here.  My mistake was moving up on the outside of the second to last turn as this put me in TERRIBLE position for the final turn.  I move up to fourth wheel, but we were spread four wide and I got pinched going on the inside of the last turn, forcing me to grab the brakes.  Once I made the turn, it was a matter of trying to hang on to positions as I now needed to reaccelerate to what everyone else’s speed, I came in 13th.

What should I have done given everything happening the same way?  Once approaching the last turn, I should have started my sprint, so I could get slightly ahead of the peloton.  This would have allowed to me keep my speed through the final turn.  I would have unfortunately been used as a lead-out and probably still lost some positions, but I would have been looking at a top five instead of 13th.

Read more about what James is up to on his blog – The Gruppetto.

Time Trial:

I didn’t a good warm up because my brother and I were driving around lost trying to find the start. I was first to start after the Cat 3’s because of reverse alphabetical order, and I really had no idea what the course was besides 8 miles out and back that it went up a bit. Right after the start there was a short bending downhill. After that, it was all a long false flat to the high point of the course, it reminded me of Niwot/Neva road in the Boulder area.  I just put my head down and went to work for the next 4-ish miles at 95% MHR, and I was catching up to the last Cat 3. At the turn around I was about 15 seconds behind. Now it was for the fun part, going down the false flat in the most aero position I could get. I did almost lose it on a bump, but by the bottom of the climb to the finish, I had brought the gap down to 5 seconds to my guy. At the top of the climb I was 5 meters behind him.

I tried to save myself from blowing up on the climb so I could keep going to the finish. Unfortunately, a truck was let on the course and went slowly through the finish forcing the Cat 3 to brake at the line and me to coast in right next to him. As a result, I finished without really pushing myself at the end. My effort was good enough for 2^nd, 30 seconds behind first and 29 seconds in front of 3^rd.

Stats:  17:41@26.6mph  -  Average HR: 196, Max: 206

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103488623

Crit

The course was a 1 mile figure 8 in Downtown Salida. I did a fast practice lap and got the layout, and with time to spare before the start I did another lap. But good ol’ Cat 4’s like to line up early, so by the end of my practice laps I was sitting in the 3^rd row. The race started and I got clipped in fast, but I was still stuck behind 20 or so people. Like I did at the Sonic Boom Race, I used some energy to make a big move up to the front on the first lap. I was covering small attacks, but no one – including me – was even trying to raise the pace when no one was off the front. The TT winner did an attack, with no serious response, but we didn’t let him get out of sight, and brought him back after a few laps.

I kept a good position the entire race, and going into the final lap we were gruppo compatto, with no final lap attacks – but a high pace. On the back straight my quads were cramping when put under load. I was first into the last corner for a downhill sprint. I started the sprint, holding 3^rd, but I faded with cramping and got passed resulting in 5^th.

Stats: 22 laps @24.7mph – Average HR: 194, Max: 211

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103488613

Road Race – Colorado Senior Road Championships

I was well fed, and very well hydrated before the start, but I knew there would be people who hadn’t been racing all weekend, coming in fresh for the road race. At the start the official reduced the laps from 6 to 5 because they were running behind, which the pack liked. The race started with a high pace, but nothing to die over. I was stuck in the middle of the pack all the way up the climb – moving up whenever I could. I was feeling fresh and found myself in a good position single file on the way down to the finish.

On the second lap before the climb on a false flat, the group separated into a front group of 6 and everyone else in back. I was stuck in back, but bridged the gap before it got bigger. At the same time, the TT winner and another dude went off the front. Our remaining group of 5 consisted of two Juniors about 15 years old and 3 Seniors – me, a guy in red, and a guy in blue. We started to work together at the start of lap 3, 40 seconds behind the break. Every time up the climb was pushing me right on the red line, and then recovering on the descent. Mostly everyone worked equally, and at the start of the last lap we had cut it to 20 seconds.

The guy in red had been working to bring back the break, and on the climb the guy in blue went very hard to bring it back – dropping one Junior. On the descent it was me in front working, with the junior behind me and the other two behind me. I tried an attack on the descent, knowing the junior had limited gears and couldn’t keep up. But I didn’t get up to a high enough speed to spin him out. I stayed at the front into the last corner and immediately attacked again 300m from the finish. No one could stay with me and I crossed the line in 3^rd, much to my satisfaction.

Stats: 1:15 @21.9mph – 2192” elevation gain

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103488601

Who says people from Connecticut can’t ride bikes up hills? Tom Danielson can; he holds the record for the Bob Cook Memorial/Mount Evans Hillclimb. Chris Case can; four years ago, as a Cat. 3, he won the hillclimb, and this year, as a Cat. 2, he almost did it again…

Shockingly low attendance (roughly 30 guys took the start in the Cat. 1/2 race) for the most awesome race of the entire year meant a slow start for the hillclimb. We reached Echo Lake in under an hour, but the pace never really kicked up. At mile 16 or so, however, a group of three decided to brave the headwind and shot off the front. I soon joined them, being a rather impatient type when it comes to climbs. As I joined them, they all looked around as no one wanted to work. So I attacked and only the brave Fortunato Ferrara joined me.

For the next seven miles or so we traded pulls and built a lead that hovered around 30 seconds at most. But, a group of five crept towards us, and by mile 24 we were a group of seven–with three Juwi Solar teammates patrolling the front. And so, it remained tactical, with no one throwing in any substantial efforts. But I knew it eventually had to blow. With less than a mile to go, LeRoy Popowski attacked, shattering the group and towing one Italian rider with him. I settled into third, and thought, “Wow, am I going to grab third place at Mount Evans?!” Then I realized there was still some racing to do, as I slowly pulled back the two riders.

One kilometer to go and I was gaining and gaining. Then, I was on them, with one switchback to go. I tried to surprise them both, and shot wide into the last corner and onto the finishing stretch. It would be a sprint at 14,000 feet! LeRoy saw me coming and just pulled ahead as we crossed the line–on the same time. The agony of defeat. So, now I had just placed second and had this bitter taste in my mouth. Bitter. Sweet. Then I realized it was mostly sweeeeeeet. I just came in second on the Mount Evans Hillclimb.

We are still looking for pictures of Chris and especially the sprint at 14k!  If you have any please let us know.  Here is a good recap of the race with some pics at Mountain Flyer.

Sonic Boom Racing p/b Lucky Pie elite team leader, Zack Allison, showed off his consistent strong form that he has had all year with a solid 9 days of racing at Superweek 2011.  Zack, along with Martins Putelis, Tim Srenaski, Colby Ricker and Matt Duncan travelled out for the second half of Superweek in Milwaukee and Chicago.  The pro-1-2 fields at each race were big and contained top international talent with current and future olympians, national teams, and riders from the top US domestic teams.

Zack finished top 20 in all but for one race (where he finished 21) with the highlight being his 4th place (just a few feet off the podium) in the Brewer’s Hill Challenge.  He finished 30th in the overall series without even doing the 8 other races that many of the top guys did!  Here are his results.

More results from the team, as well as race reports and pictures will be coming soon.

Zack Alison leading the elite field at the 2011 Evanston Grand Prix

These awesome pictures used with permission from Ali Engin

A few of the Sonic Boom Racing p/b Lucky Pie Pizza and Tap House boys temporarily took a break from their Primal Wear kits you usually see them wearing to dress up for team member Martins Putelis’ wedding in early July.

Back Row l-r Matt Duncan, Tim Srenaski, Matt GIbble, Jared Berd; Front Row l-r Nate Llerandi, Glenn Craty, Martins Putelis, Colby Ricker

Martins married Sara in a beautiful cermony with family and friends just outside Boulder Colorado.  Colby stepped up for the team during a round of toats and shared some cycling related words of wisdom for the new couple.

It was a great day.

In a field of twenty, it was just Bart and me for Cat 3 Sonic Boomers.  I chilled as much as possible on Canyon trying to conserve yet stay with the group.

Once hitting Magnolia everything went as predicted: the intensity inevitably increased because of the insane steepness of the first few switch backs.  I slid from about 15^th position to very last while settling into my climbing tempo.  I even got gapped a little by the field as they all jockeyed for position up the 20% grades.  I thought to myself, “It is way to steep for aggressive moves on this climb!”  I was pumped that my best tempo allowed me to move up the field feeling motivated by how relaxed and controlled I felt while noticing the labored breathing of the group.  By the time I hit the first false flat at 7 minutes I was in 3^rd position.  I sat on the wheel of lead riders and let my HR settle (below 145 I presume) while on the gentler terrain.

When the steeper pitch resumed, I resettled into my pace and transitioned into first.  After a couple minutes I looked back to see if anyone was with me.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was by myself and pulling away.  At minute 16 into the Magnolia climb I hit the 2^ndplateau.  I made sure to relax and recover on the two dips; like I usually do in training.  Still feeling good, I found my groove and picked away at the remaining 8 minutes of climbing.  I rolled onto the dirt about a minute faster than I ever have from Canyon and feeling fairly fresh.

Although the dirt is probably 50% of the way time wise, how you feel here has a very profound effect on the overall outcome of the race.  I stayed focused on maximizing speed on the downhill while conserving energy for the substantial rollers.  I am very comfortable on dirt, so I was able to confidently reassure myself that I was keeping the lead I had created on the big climb.

I felt plenty tired but sparky enough on the final 10-minute shelf climb – allowing me to finish strong and happy with more to give.  Although it’s not really accurate to compare because of different group dynamics; my 1:26:42 would have been competitive for the podium in the 35+ open but would have ‘left me wanting’ in the 1-2’s.

My  36×28 gearing was spot on and my tubeless tire pressure at 80 front 90 rear worked perfectly.  I don’t mind sharing my training secrets for this one because I know no one will do it anyway:  about three weeks prior to the race I did Magnolia from Canyon to dirt three times getting faster each rep.  …the key to my workout was pacing and control as well as a successful build up to this stress in the months prior.

Thanks for reading,

Jared

This year, the classic Mike Horgan Hillclimb left Boulder and headed up the excruciating slopes of Magnolia Road. With Matt Gibble and Martins Putelis controlling the pace at the front of the race, we cruised smoothly up Boulder Canyon.

And then, “Kaboom!”

The left turn up Magnolia left everyone in pain. I had gotten a good line into the corner, and pushed the first switchback, not to attack but to avoid the havoc behind. And then it was about settling in, remembering that there was a lot of race left. A number of guys came past and I settled into about 9th on the road. But, soon enough, I could see heads bobbing and eyes staring at front tires, and knew that Magnolia had hurt some folks as it always does.

One by one, I crept past people until I ended up with Russ Harding and Garret Suydam just before the dirt. We worked together for a while until the first few rollers, then Garrett faded. Then, with Russ pushing the pace on each subsequent roller, I faded a bit. We were in 4th and 5th on the road at this point, and still within sight of the three leaders. Then, we hit Peak-to-Peak Highway and passed one of the leaders who had faded. It was a fast descent towards Nederland, then a time trial along the flats to Shelf Road.

It isn’t a tough climb to the finish, but if you haven’t conserved something for this final pitch, you can quickly regret being on a bike. The elevation, the cumulative effect of all that climbing…the legs and lungs can be burning. But, I had it in me this day.

I was in and out of the saddle for the final mile and a half, keeping the leaders in sight, and the chasers at bay. Fourth at the line, and a satisfying day of racing heading into the middle of the season, with Mount Evans looming just around the corner.

I am so pumped to have already met one of my goals this season: ‘compete in a stage race.’ I’ve done three event mountain bike stage race a few years ago but never one on the road bike. My good friend Nate easily convinced me that Dead Dog was the event.

Stage one is a 90 mile out and back road race with two sizable 30-40 minute climbs bringing us from the mid 8’s to near 11,000 feet. Our 35 rider strong Cat 3 group started off very easy …plenty slow enough to encourage a couple riders to launch an early break. I just tried to be patient and trust that our very chill group pace would be enough to bring leaders back. I stayed near the front and lead the group at times with what felt like a comfortable climbing tempo for much of the first 40 minute-ish climb. Although it was little concerning to learn t at the top of the first climb that we were 4 minutes down on one of the leader. However, I was quickly re-assured that our pace was lively enough when we cut the lead down to a little over two minutes at the turn around.

The turnaround marks the start of the 2^nd climb which is a little steeper and around 12 miles long.The pace of the 20 rider group picked up considerably on this 2^nd climb and you could tell the final selection was being made. Somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes into this effort we dropped from 20 riders to 8-9 riders. We caught the final breakaway artist at the top of the climb and he was able to smooth into our group.

None of us realized that there were not going to be any water handouts on the way back. This was bad because most of us had not even finished a whole bottle on the way out. You would figure they might put an aid station on slow point of the course that would allow riders to grab fluids going both directions? …so by the time we descended and took the final turn into the warm headwind (11 miles from the finish), I was starting to cramp. From the pace of the group, it was evident that everyone else was either fatigued or slightly dehydrated like myself.

We slowly made our way over the rollers and up to the 1 kilometer finishing hill. Our group sprint was weak to say the least but considering our physical state, we made the best of it. I ended up just barely inching by a couple of riders to sneak into 3^rdplace. The cramping legs just wouldn’t give me any more.

Stage two is the Crit. Crit racing is not my favorite and I was advised, by Dead Dog experienced successors, to just conserve and save it for the TT. That’s what I did and I avoided a bad crash while at it. However, I was unaware that the rider who finished 4^th in stage 1 was at the front and on a mission! Not only did he win the crit, he also won both the time premes giving him an extra 10seconds of time bonuses on top of the 30 seconds he got for winning the crit. I knew the previously 4^th GC place racer had won the Crit but didn’t realize that he got both the time bonuses before I started my Time Trial.

Stage three: I started the Time Trial in 3^rd position thirty seconds behind the rider who won the crit. However, when you take my 10second bonus from finishing 3^rd in the road race away from his 40seconds time bonus, he was actually thirty seconds ahead of me. Not knowing he had won both of the premes, I thought he was only 20 seconds ahead of me. As turns out Brett Peters was a really solid time trialist and I was only able to make up 26 seconds on him. My time trial left me 4 seconds shy of Brett and a minute plus ahead of the other riders who were originally ahead of me in the General Classification.

I definitely learned a few things: 1) Don’t ever count on that last water hand-off! 2) Pay attention to detail! Although we only had a miniscule 90 minutes between the Crit and the Time Trial, I should have looked very closely at who had gotten time bonuses. 3) I also should have consulted with teammates more and encouraged them to mark the other riders in contention for the GC and make sure one person doesn’t get all the time bonuses. …and if they didn’t have the strength to make this defense, I should have been ready to act. 4)If you really want to Time Trial at your best, you need to put more time on your Time Trial bike; although ignorant me, knew this already.

I am very pleased with my 2^nd place GC finish and was certainly impressed with Brett’s courageous efforts and didn’t mind at all getting out raced by a better racer!

Yes, I am most likely getting close to or already qualified for a ‘Cat 2 upgrade’ but I am also not in a hurry as I feel my 3’s still need me for a couple more events!

Thanks for reading!

Jared