Race Reports June 16/17

On June 20, 2012
A nice article is in Steamboat Pilot for recent Steamboat Velo race results.

Alex Pond checks in from the PRO XCT:

Saturday June 16th,  Colorado was welcomed with one of the more prestigious mountain bike races in the nation, the Ute Valley Pro XCT. Bring all the heavy hitters from across the US I decided to make the 4 hour trek and see how I would do matching up with the best of the best.
The course was a 4.5 mile lap with only about 350 feet of climbing, lots of punchy rock climbs and fast technical descents, not what the training of a steamboat rider is used to, but none the less it was an incredibly fun lap. We completed 5 laps for a total of 22 miles. As I was driving to the course all I had in sight was a large black cloud that looked like it was going to be a complete game changer for the race. The rain started falling and lightning and thunder started crashing. My nerves got a little more shaken by the thought of racing in terrible conditions. The rain only lasted about 40 minutes and started to clear up fast, but this left little time to get ready and start warming up. I definitely felt the lack of a decent warm up at the start, for my legs just felt dull and lifeless. With a 20 minute spin it was time to get in line.  Being so high in the rankings of races for US cycling, it was the first time I experienced a call up, and not having a very long record of points, my number was second to last. Mentally this put a damper on my start but I had all the intentions of pushing hard and getting out there. Hearing the names of the top 20 names in mountain biking and two names who were just awarded the position for the Olympics, I knew this was going to be a really fast race. The race started in a track arena for a local middle school and shot out to the trail system where we climbed up a 300 yard hill and out to the twisty singletrack. I never got the chance to move into the pack at the start so my first descent I was still in the back. Once through I started to get more chances for attacks and pushed really hard on the first big climb to stay in the middle of the pack. It hurt me pretty bad and I had to come back after about a lap and settle into a more consistent pace. As I made a few moves, two riders came through strong at the end to snag away a couple positions. I did have to battle it out at the end which made for a great finish, and my final finish was 38th out of 49 that raced. To look at time I feel like I competed well, but realize I still have a long way to go to be near the top. It was a great experience and a new reason to continue racing hard and pushing myself everyday.

And Amy Charity had a stellar performance at the state TT champs as well as Guanella Pass:

I had seen the TT on the racing calendar awhile back, but had written it off due to lack of equipment.  When Angelo generously agreed to lend me his beautiful Willier TT bike, the race became a viable option.  The fit was a bit of a stretch, but Matt worked his magic and was able to lower the saddle height by 3 cm without cutting the seat mast.  In a last minute scramble with the help of Mary and Corey, I was able to piece together an aero helmet and skinsuit and was ready for the race- at least from an equipment perspective.  The only small issue was that I only rode the bike once prior to Saturday’s race. 

I arrived at the flat, windy, dusty parking lot just northeast of DIA. I wouldn’t call the terrain inspiring, but a flat road is a nice change coming from Steamboat.  My coach gave me an explicit time goal to break 58 minutes, so to make sure I kept my speed somewhere close to 26 mph for the entire 40km race.  There was certainly some stiff competition in the Pro 1/2 field with Cari Higgins (11 National Championship Titles), Julie Emmerman (Cat 1), Angela Des Cognets (TT Specialist).  The course was an L shape with a tight turnaround, 1 small hill, and lots of swirly wind that was never decisively helpful.  I was able to pass the girl in front of me fairly quickly, but never caught Julie, who started 1 minute before me.  I ended up finishing 3rd – 1 minute behind Angela and 15 seconds behind Julie.  My time was 57:42 – time goal was met, podium goal – not quite.

 

Guanella HC

Tammy and Amy took 1st and 2nd at Guanella Pass HC.

Guanella Pass is the 2nd of a series of 4 tough CO hill climbs.  The 12 mile hill climb starts in Georgetown with a brief neutral zone, followed by steep ~9% switchbacks for the first couple of miles. I had mixed emotions when I saw Tammy Jacque’s name on the start list.  She is a good friend, a great training partner, and a wicked fast hill climber (as everyone in Steamboat knows), but competition is what bike racing is all about. Despite severely limiting my chances for a win, it is great to have a familiar Steamboat face in a field packed with Front Range women.   Tammy pulled away from the entire Pro 1, 2, 3 field early.  I made a feeble attempt to stay with her and quickly saw her escape.  It took me about 4 miles to get my legs under me, and by that point, the ref reported that she had a 45 second gap on me.  I rode with one other woman for the next 8 miles as the road carved through the mountains with some flatter sections.  Meanwhile, Tammy continued to increase her gap on us.  The last few miles of the climb return to steep switchbacks, ending at 11,600 feet.  By the finish line,  I was safely in front of the rest of the field and managed to secure second place. 

 
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