Blue Sky Velo Cyclocross Classic

It has consumed my life for the last nine months, but I got this today from one of the pro riders and it made it all worth it. A big thanks to those who came out and raced, and an even BIGGER thank you to all my comrades at the Blue Sky Nation for your tireless assistance in making our first foray into race promotion a HUGE success.

"I just wanted to send you a quick note saying thanks! The race yesterday was one of the most well put on ones in Colorado that I have ever seen. It is even more impressive that it was one of the first cross races your team has promoted. The online registration (including the fee cover) was awesome, race promotion was great, one of the best Xilinx courses to date, the venue was setup well and the prize list was impressive. There are not many races done as well as yours. Hopefully you had a good time and were as satisfied as I was. "

Oh, and I raced too. Not much zip in the legs after two days of getting the course ready, but all is good.

Game On!

First cross race of the season was in Breckenridge today. Felt pretty good for the first couple of laps until the following sequence of events took place.




I lost a lot of mo jo and it took me a couple of laps to get my game face back on.

Special props to the Blue Velo road crew for their wins in the springs!

Trailer Work

Spent the weekend getting the first phase of the trailer buildout completed. So far I get can five bikes in with the plan being for a total of ten. Will work on the other side this week in preparation for the maiden voyage down to Colorado Springs and Brek for the first w/e of cyclocross. I'm thinking that I might have to give preferential treatment to team Blue Sky Ridley's.

P.S. -- For those of you who don't have one of the new team ridley's (and you know who you are), you need to get down to Blue Sky Cycles and order one!

Embrocation

A cold front has moved in and given us a taste of the Fall to come. That, of course, only means that the first cross race is close at hand. As I dressed for today's spin, I took the opportunity to dig out my supply of Freddy's. The smell! Oh, that smell as I poured some into my hands and rubbed it into my legs. Yes, cross is close. The real season is very close.

The machine is dialed and ready to roll. Good training is in the bank account. Everything is in it's proper place and now only time will tell.

Boulder Short Track

Short track has been off the menu for most of the summer as I focused on some Crit and TT work, but tonight it was like being reunited with a lost love. A little tentative at first, but once things settled down I got myself into a good rhythm. I spent most of the race in no mans land behind the lead group of riders of ten or so, with the nearest group to me probably close to thirty seconds or so back. I spotted Bryan G. with about three laps to go a tried to pull him back, but wasn't making too much progress. Then, Mr. Mud, who was warming up for the A race, got behind me and started yelling at me. "Get out of the saddle and SPRINT." "OK, recover a little here and get ready to go again." "GO! Get your teammate." It was very motivating and I almost caught him, but ran out of track. Good times!

Zone ONE

Rumour on the street is that yesterday's BSV group ride was a death march out to Masonville in the wind. I'm glad I skipped and went to Eldo with Annalise. I'm determined to stay in Zone 1 and 2 this time of year and going on the group rides ALWAYS turns into a knife fight at some point. I, of course, don't have the discipline to drop off and stay out of it, so the only thing I can do is to stay away.

Got out today for a couple of hours of LSD. Headed out to Lyons and did the loops. Picked up Mr. Podium Boy on the way back to LongMonty. Then I gathered up the family and went back to Lyons for some Blue Grass at Oskar Blues.

Boulder STCX Part II - The Revenge of Jason

The Boulder Short Track Series continued tonight with the second race of the series. Blue Sky Velo had great representation with folks racing in the Women's B's, Jr.'s, Men's A, B and C's.

The temperature was in the 90's and the Boulder Racing crew had a technical course set up.

I lined up for the B's race with Mr. Hole Shot and Kevin G. The start was fast and furious and I came into the hole shot about 15 or so back and a few spots behind Dan. I eventually made my way up to Dan, only to fall of the pace after a few riding mistakes. Finished in 30th place. Overall I met my goals for the race of coming in with a positive mindset and riding within myself.

Next up was the C's race. Blue Sky had a whole crew of folks. I lined up in the second row and tried to play it cool at the start as I was pretty gassed from the previous race. I ended up jumping about 1o guys on the right side and came into the whole shot in 6th. Dan flatted just after he got the hole shot and was out for the rest of the race. Again, I tried to stay mentally focused and ride within myself. I got some encouragement from Greg Keller from Rocky Mounts and Dan along the way and finished in 6th place.