Sunday Cross

Sunday I went out to the Boulder CX#2 to help my buddy Taylor who was racing the Men's Open division. After a ride around the old Morgul-Bismark loop for myself I headed back to the race. Changed a flat for him before the race, and got his wheels in the pit just as they took off. Taylor got a crappy starting position which left him about 30th/50 riders coming up the first climb. 3 laps later his was sitting 7 and looking good. I was also feeding him. Let me say that when he wants water he means water, not some type of electrolyte mix. Needless to say I found some water within about 5 minutes to accomodate the request, and drank the mix myself. For most of the race Taylor was working with a TIAA-Cref rider, but that guy eventually blew with about 5 to go. Taylor ended up closing the gap to 5th place, and made a move on the next to last lap to solidify 5th place. Before the race, I thought top 10 would be a great result considering the field, so we were both pumped about 5th. Super strong ride, considering his shitty starting position. If he was on the front row he might have had a shot at the podium. It was good motivation for him and me, as I'll be pitting for him when the US Grand Prix comes to Boulder Nov. 4th & 5th. The results are here, and he even got his name and result in VeloNews. While that may not seem big to you, I think it's the Cat's Meow.

Gage Carter Dugan

I am the pround uncle of this little guy. Gordon and Gage after his arrival

What to do now?

After Salida, I got my upgrade to Cat 3 and had planned on racing the Fed Center but, bad weather, vaction with little training, and a bunch of canceled races lead me to end my season early. Overall I had a great season. I reached and surpassed every cycling goal I had set at the end of the season. Now it is time for some golf, and easy rides.

Salida Omnium

TT - I sandbagged the TT to save my energy for the road race, since my best finish in a TT this year was 20th. This turned out to be a big mistake as only 38 guys registered. I cruised in at 36th place, while Andrei took 11th and Ty 16th. If I had tried, I think I could have broke the top 10 considering the field.

RR - Disaster - I was feeling great, got to the park early had some time to shoot the shit with a few of my buddies and then got ready to roll. Just as we are getting ready to rollout. My back wheel goes flat (WTF). This was the first time I hadn't brought a extra wheel, so I felt guilty asking for a change that wasn't mine, before the race even started. So I hurried back to the hotel, changed wheels and the then did a TT effort to catch the pack before the neutral rollout ended. I ended up being about 1 min off before they hit the first climb. I started picking guys off, but realized I wasn't catching the front group, and I wasn't racing for 20th so I bagged it, hoping to be super fresh for the crit on Sunday. At this point I was pretty bummed how my weekend had gone.

Crit - Before the race Gregg and I had a chat about going together with about 3 laps to go. Here is his account of the situation. With our plan, I spent the first part of the race hanging in the top 10-15. HART had the #1 rider overall so their team (7 strong) were controlling the pace and chasing down everything trying to keep their boy in the pack. About 20 min in I got off the front with 4 others, but were quickly reeled in by HART who then sat up, bunching the pack again. At this point I was hurting so I drifted back to recover, then with 5 laps to go started working my way back up. No one was wanting to drive the pace because HART was chasing everything down, and they were content to cruise at 17mph. With 2 laps to go, things picked up and we were single file going into the false flat uphill (5 blocks long) when a HART rider pulled through and sat up. No one came around so the front group bunched again. Not wanting to wait for a sprint, and tired of the same shit every lap, I moved up on the outside and attacked about 20 meters out on the first of 2 corners before the finish. I was hurting, but figured so was everyone else. I caught everyone off guard, and they weren't able to react through the corners. When I got through the 2nd corner, I went as hard as I could go for 30 seconds and then looked back to decide whether to sit up or continue. To my surprise I already had 50 meters. Apparently everyone hesitated not wanting to be the one to chase. Having 6 corners in the next .4 mile stretch was a big help. I was able to recover, while maintaining a high speed and the pack couldn't organize a chase. Coming up the false flat for the last time I buried myself, took the last corner a little too fast (back tire skipped twice) and held off a fast chasing duo by about 20 meters for the win. This totally made my weekend. I was more pumped about winning here than Hugo. Still can't believe I was able to hold if solo for a lap in a crit.

Unfortunately, I wasn't any help for BAT, but Andrei
and Ty came through big time and both looked really strong
during the RR.

Where Have I Been?

Good question - I'll try to catch up with a barrage of posts. I have a lot of catching up to do.