The Road Apple Rally is happening this year October 3rd in Farmington, NM.  Its a fast and fun race with lots of whoops and super short and super steep climbs!  A lot of the Durango Pros show up and kick butt!  Head south for some guaranteed fun!

Do you have your  Labor Day weekend planned yet?!  No?!  Well, head up to South Dakota and try the Ridge Riders 50 mile race.  Local pro, Kelly Magelky, has done the race several times and nothing but good things to say about the course and the race!   Enjoy!

From the Ft Lewis Cycling Team website…

Fort Lewis College Cycling and Passion Productions has whipped up the 3^rd annual Hermosa Creek Off-Road Classic mountain bike race on Saturday August 1st! Come one, come all, to race on the high country trail that made Durango famous. Starting at the Lower Hermosa Trailhead there is a 38 mile course for Pro/Semi Men and Women and Singlespeed A, a choice of either the 38 or 20 mile courses for the Expert Men and Woman and 20 miles for other classes and Singlespeed B. Race sponsors have kicked in some great prizes – cash for the top 3 Pro Men/ Women and top 3 Singlespeed A Men/Women and great products for the other classes! The icing on the cake will be the post-race BBQ/Campout hosted by the Durango Cyclery (Food and entertainment) held at the Upper Hermosa Trailhead. Proceeds go to the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team and Bicycle Lemonade.

So the nationals occurred this weekend, pretty cool I bet but four of us (Parker, Charlie, Micah, and myself) decided we wanted to be punished up in Breck this weekend.

The B68 course was amazing, and even more so since the promoter decided to change about 15 miles of it at the last minute!  He definitely added more singletrack (Colorado Trail, Toxic Forest, Blue River Trail, Indiana Creek) which was awesome but it dialed up the suffering so much more.  The overall winning race time was 30 minutes longer than last year.

Props go to Micah who not only finished with the fastest time (6:48?) but also had to endure a flat tire change that included a disc pad removal (unintentional) and a complete tire exchange from his wife’s bike at the 35 mile mark.  Micah turned himself inside out to get 3rd in the crazy strong 30-39 class.  Strong effort man!

Charlie was Mr. Consistency and got 3rd in the 40-49 class.  His visit to the pain cave should be something to remember for a long time.

Parker showed that he isn’t afraid of riding anything in Breckenridge.  I think he actually liked the climb going up Indiana Creek!  Apparently he rode another 30 miles at elevations up to 12,000 feet the day after the race.    I sense a podium finish at the 12 hours of Rage in the Sage for Parker.

Thanks to Jason, Steph, and Betsy for providing support for us lunatics.  It was great to have them at Carter Park!

As for me, I proved once again that Breckenridge eats tires.  I flatted twice within 200 feet on the rear tire.  That was 1:15 and just over 10 miles into the race.  Somehow the tire and bulging tube held up for the next 60 miles.  Crazy.  Personally I couldn’t have been more prepared for the race and I fell truly really good about how I rode.  Once I was long gone from the lead group I was content with catching as many people as possible and just staying hydrated and cramp free.  I drank nearly 10 bottles of electrolytes, ate a dozen Ecaps, dropped my shorts on top of Boreas Pass for some chamois butter, and took a much needed cool down break with Parker on Indiana Creek.  There is nothing like dunking your head in a cold mountain stream on a cloudless mid-70s day at 10,000 feet.  I would have stayed there all day if the water was any deeper.

4 racers riding Bikeparts.com kits all on Giant AnthemX bikes all finishing in the top 10.  Thanks for a great weekend!

Colin M

I am sitting in class this morning while the Urban Assault Ride is tearing through Denver at this same moment.  I have done 5 of these races in Colorado and love the style or urban racing while doing crazy obstacles.  Good luck to the Peak Cycles and bikeparts.com guys heading out to race today Charlie, Brendan, Shane and Micah!  Wish I was out there with you!  Here are some picts of Tate Graves and I from last years race. Enjoy!

Team Bikeparts.com racer, Jason Kompf, climbing the first of many hills in the Gold Rush Run

The 3rd race in the Summit Mountain Challenge, Gold Rush Run, happened this past Wednesday up in beautiful Breckenridge, CO.  Matt and I headed up to join Jason K on his local trails.  All I knew about the race is the Pro/Elite category was going to have to climb ‘Heinous Hill’, not once, but twice.  Way back in college, somewhere around 1997, a group of us started adding a challenge the steep climbs in Fort Collins by trying to ride them only in the middle chainring.  Since that time, we have all gotten stronger and I have not needed a small ring.  But, last year I was headed to Canada for a big race and decided to put it back on just in case.  Even up there, I didnt need it to use it.   The small chain ring has been sitting on my crankset lonely and unused…until that second climb up ‘Heinous Hill’!  It was STEEP and LONG!!!  Check out the GPS of the race course here and see if you can find the said hill on the elevation profile.

During the race we had some rain, but no really long or hard rain showers.  The craziest part of the whole race was the finish line, it ended at a mine!  I looked up as I cross the line, and there were 5-6 lil donkey burros and a guy with a Miners Hat and in the shed in the back were children panning for gold!  In the end, Matt finished 5th which was impressive that at one point during the race he was leading old Norba Pro and all around sking bad ass, Pete Sweson. I, on the other hand, ended up taking a wrong turn, making the second lap much longer then needed… Oh well, it was a fun race with nice people in a beautiful part of Colorado.  If you have nothing going on Wednesday night, head up to Summit County for a good time on the dirt!

Charlie, Colin M and I all headed to Summit County for the Tour De Trash last weekend.  It was a quick 18 mile race consisting of 4 laps through fast twisty bermed out singletrack with some double track climbs around a scenic dump up near Keystone Colorado.  Summit County local/legend, Thane Wright, took the win by 40 seconds.  The guy definitely had home court advantage!  In the end, we all had a good time and are looking forward to more of the Summit Mountain Challenge series, the next one will be this Wednesday, The Gold Rush Run!

First USA Cycling, now more Velonews!

http://www.velonews.com/article/92247/kurchat-drops-absalon-in-heubach

Still got two more races, maybe I can pull off something better!

Thanks again everyone for helping me get here!

Couldn’t have done it without you! Especially John!

-Colin O