Bike race!

Got back from Europa, two days rest, then off to Colorado. Two continents, two countries, two mountain ranges, two weeks!

We (Joe Stromsness) and I, blasted out here, driving though the night. Got to Denver area yesterday morning at 10ish. Welcomed by blue skies and 50 degree temps. The only logical thing to do then was ride my bike. I did for a bit over 4 hours. Exploring mountain roads to their fullest. We are actually in Westminster, rockin the suburbs. And I rode through the mountains and then came back out on the high plains in Boulder. I like Boulder, very bicycle friendly.

Up up and away!

Nice view.

I found some bumpy grav.

With cool rocks.

We attended the UMD vs. CC hockey game for entertainment during the night.

Today (Saturday) it just so happen that there was a bike race in Boulder. Being that it not far from where we are, I decided to do it. Depsite the fact that I have not done any speed work at all, none, this year. Racing does not start for another month back home. My goal was simply to sit in and finish with the field.
The race was put on by CU, and I arrived during the collegiate races. The A field was huge! 100 guys or so, compared to collegiate races back home being around 20...
Anyhow, the next race was womens feild, a few pros actually. Then the 3/4/5 race. The last two race was supposed to be the pro 1/2/3, they closed registration at 100 riders, but then the pros showed up and pulled some strings, and it ended up being pro 1, then 2/3.

Womens race. Zoom Zoom

I was unsure if this would work out, due to the fact that with 100 riders, I would have plenty of places to hide from the wind. With less people, and more concentrated fast people, things would be a bit harder. It ended up with 40 or 50 in my race. With guys from Garmin, and Bissle, and Jelly Belly it was a fast race right from the start. The first half was not bad, I was able to hide out for the most part even when we were stretched out single file. Then all of a sudden a split happened and about 15 guys had a gap. Game time. It hurt a whole lot, but somehow I managed to get up to them. Nearly died, but I did it. Of course a few laps later the race came back together, but I had fun getting my legs ripped off. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, but very quick. Good times. I made my goal and finished with the pack. Wahoo! Avg speed was 46 km/h.

I will try and find some photos from the race. Their were lots of cameras.