CO Racin'

So I've done one race here in the Rockies thus far, the next one this Saturday here in town. Two weeks ago I drove the breathtaking route up to Crested Butte for their mountain bike festival and 40 mile race. Hip little mountain town, not so unlike Telluride, but without so much of the pretension and with an extra helping of funkiness. I drove in near sunset and I found a campsite among a bunch of kayakers in the national forest just outside of town. The next morning I rushed into town, got a kick-ass breakfast sandwich at a gas station, then figured out where to register. It was my first take at racing at altitude, so I wasn't taking things too seriously. I got about ten minutes of warming up, then hurried to the line. There was about a mile pavement climb to the first trails. By the top of it I was in the back. Heart rate through the roof, unable to hold anyones wheels. Not such a great start. It didn't seem to matter once we started on the singletrack; it was a river of bikes switching up the mountain. It wasn't until we got onto a dirt road that anyone could pass. The trails that followed....well, it is fair to say that Crested Butte IS mountain biking. Better than I could've expected. Two super friendly aid stations followed, with a wicked climb/hike-a-bike in between.

Loved that race.

I ended being scored wrong, but considering my time, I'd be 9th in the SS division. Not bad for my first race at elevation I think...

This weekend will be a shorter xc style race up at Mountain Village, the ski town above Telluride. Hopefully I'll have some people out cheering.

The weekend following, back up north to Breckenridge for the B68. It's the shorter version of the now famous Breck 100. 68miles sounded just fine to me and it was much much cheaper of a race than the 100.

Feeling good. Getting acclimated. I'm excited...