Well, a lot has certainly happened since my last blog post so long ago, but in the interest of keeping things reasonable, I'll just stick to the most recent racing and riding action for this latest installment. Perhaps the most interesting trail to hit Boulder in more than a decade opened last Tuesday and turned out to be a fantastic trail! The new Benjamin Loop trail was a bit wider than I would have hoped for, but had amazing views, great flow, and added a much needed extension to the rather short existing Betasso Trail Loop. Amazing work by all the trail builders up there!
On Sunday, Sara and I made the trip up into windy Wyoming for the Gowdy Grinder at Curt Gowdy State Park. I've heard great things about this race, and with a $10 entry fee, how could we go wrong? The race distance was a short 18 miles, but past winning times were around the 1hour 40 minutes pace, so I was expecting technical and challenging trails. WOW! They did not disappoint! The trails were amazingly well constructed, and featured long flowy sections, tricky technical bits, and actual 1 foot wide singletrack. It was love at first sight... I will definitely be back to explore around this place a lot more in the future.
Anyway, the race went reasonably well, and I was able to pull off a top-10 in the stacked Men's Open race with a solid 8th place finish. Boulder Cycle Sport team leader Pete Webber came in 2nd to fly the BCS colors on the podium. The LenzSport 29er rolled over the technical like a sweet buttery steam-roller, and the Stan's ZTR 29er Race wheels took the sting out of the many many accelerations on the technical terrain.
Big Jorge of the Horizon Organic road team leading the charge up the start hill, with me sitting back behind Pete (about 8th-ish place), right about where I would finish almost two hours later. (photo by Eddie Clark)
Sara wiped away the doubts surrounding her post-injury race fitness by winning the Women's Open race with a solid margin. A great write-up and a few sweet pictures by Mountain Flyer Magazine can be found HERE. Can't wait to head back next year and race again...
Until next time!
