ACC Blog

The Annual Ride for the Pass continued to live up to its reputation last weekend, but had added allure with the walls of snow growing as you gained elevation.  The weather could not have been more perfect for all of the valley riders to break out their chamois and lycra, pump up the tires, and remember the feeling of climbing up our pristine pass-minus a liter of oxygen or so! 

In the competitive race the battle was on quickly with Max Clauson attacking the lead group early on, although he was soon chased by our own Len Zanni.  Max blew and Michael Allen attacked as well as Ryan Starr to bridge up to him.  The three worked together until they dropped Max Clauson.  Allen attacked and bridged to Len Zanni, and those two worked together.   At the final straightaway, Allen attached Zanni to win with  a time of 39:47, with Len finishing seconds behind with a time of 40:00, and Starr at 40:24.  The ACC club riders were Len Zanni first, Max Taam second with 42:05, and Wade Newsom third with a time of 43:01.

The women were competitive as well with Jenny Harrison posting a smoking sub 50 minute time of 49:10, local Mia Gaw close behind at 49:54, and Jill Sorenson at 50:55.  I don’t have a play by play of the women’s race, so if anyone does, feel free to comment!   The ACC women club riders were Annie Gonzales first with a time of 51:20, Geneva Templeton with 54:19, and Cindy Morse with 54:39. 

Whoever says they are only early season trained for this race is a sandbagger!  This was an impressive battle up there that was caught on video on superhumanmag.com!  Thank you to all club members who support the Independance Pass Foundation!  

The weather afforded us a second day of beautiful early summer weather for the Downtown Criterium which went off without a hitch and provided some impressive racing.  The day started off with an exciting kids race between Max Bass and Lander Greenway.  Max won the 3 lap race and did a victory lap for good measure, enjoying the roar of the crowd.

Heat 2 included the Junior Men, Grand Masters, Veteran women and Master Med.  The lead group kept a fast pace, averaging 23 MPH.  Brett Gordon won the Junior Men’s race in a sprint against second place finisher Peter Wampler.  The main field of 16 riders sprinted for the finish with Fried Pierce winning the sprint.  Vet woman Alena Gauba stayed near the front of the field the whole race and placed first in a strong showing.

The Vet men C and Senior Men C had a somewhat smaller field of 7 riders that managed to stay together for their 14 lap race.  Brian Stevens won the Vet Men C sprint, followed closely by Keith Berglund and Chris Ryan.  Lee Hildebrant won the Senor Men C race.

The 36 rider field of Vet Men A and Women A was exciting and fast with only 12 riders staying in the main field.  David MacIntosh won a close sprint against Scott Kasin and 3^rd place finisher Scott Soden.  In the Women’s A race Sandra Hyra of Glenwood Springs stayed with the men’s chase group and garnered an impressive first place finish.

The annual Rio Grande-Slaughterhouse TT weather was typical for spingtime in the Rockies: cool, overcast, windy and occasional light rain. Luckily for the 70ish racers who showed up, it was a tailwind most of the time. Speaking of time, Max Taam posted a smokin’ hot one, racing from the Start at Jaffee Park to the Finish at Stein Park in 13:14, crushing the second best time posted by week 1 TT winner, Scott Kasin, by 31 seconds. Now that’s domination. Apparently Max’s winter Randonnee racing season paid off! Max is also an aspiring pro roadie and we wish him the best of luck in that endeavor!

Kelley Cullen, yet to join the club AND on a single speed, won the Senior Women A in a greyhound-like time of 15:33, over a minute faster than ACC member Ambre Levy in 16:53. Good job ladies! Simon Elliot resumed his winning ways from last season, winning the Vet A Men in a 14:50: good for 10th overall for men’s divisions. First year Master, Bob “Stumpy” Stumpus took it to the older gentlemen by putting in a time of 15:55. Phil Overeynder won the super-elite Grand Masters in a respectable 18:17, showing the ol’ boys how it’s done.

The course conditions were buffed over mostly buffed as Open Space and Trails continues to smooth out this “mountain bike” route, almost appropriate for road bikes now. The beginning of the race featured the only real climb, of a few minutes, on this smoothest and shortest course of the season. The Smuggler TT, on the other hand, being held on June 4th will be our next mountain biking test, a climber’s dream.  

The biggest local road racing weekend of the season is this weekend, of course. Support local bike racing, go fast, be safe and enjoy! Erik

The rain held and the sun even made an appearance at the season’s first race, the Difficult Time Trial. Going back over 10 years of results shows the fastest time on this course, 10:31, was put up by Danny Sullivan just last season.

Scott Kasin, first racer to head out on the course, was also the first to finish. Although he was 5 seconds off his scorching time last year, he made the course seem not so difficult with an overall winning time of 10:41. If it hadn’t been for that headwind that early racers were dealing with on the return trip, maybe Scott would have put down the fastest time ever!?

Mayor Mick graced us with his presence, easily taking the Master Men category by nearly a minute! That vow to ride everywhere / as much as possible is obviously paying off. But was that his little red car that I saw parked near the turn-around on my pedal home?

Cheers to Dylan & Cat for their 2^nd place finishes in SMA & SWA. The training they’ve been putting in lately certainly shows. They’ve both qualified for the World Duathlon Championships coming up this September, with Dylan recently winning the National Championship for his age group! Good luck with all the training this summer to both of you!

Apologies to anyone affected by the lack of a marshal at the turn-around. Obviously this was an unsafe situation, one we’ll strive not to repeat the rest of the season. Now that the racing’s underway it’s time to choose which race(s) you’re going to marshal. Please call Mouse (618-4626) ahead of time when you’re committed to marshalling certain events. Hasn’t happened yet, but races may be delayed or canceled in the future if we don’t round up enough marshals.

Our season’s first post race party will be held at the Cantina, shortly after the Difficult TT. Show up between 7 and 7:30, next Weds. for free drinks and apps!

A few events to consider fitting into your busy spring / summer schedule:

Check out the Vail Mountain Bike Race Series at their website. They’ve got 6+ races spread throughout the Eagle Valley, including one that turns 25 years old!

You’ve seen an email about it already, but here’s a reminder about Frank McSwain’s retooling of the original Tour d’Frank. This event is sure to bring out some hardcore types looking for bragging rights, but it’s also perfect for anyone looking for a 100+ mile challenge that includes aid stations(!) and also gives back to great causes. Check out the details on the Aspen-Vail Challenge here.

Crested Butte will be celebrating the world’s oldest mountain bike festival with the 28th Annual Fat Tire Bike Week, June 18-22, 2008. As well as being the oldest mountain biking festival it was also voted the best festival in Bike magazine’s Best of 2006 Reader Poll. From the early 1980’s to present day, Crested Butte’s Fat Tire Bike Week (FTBW) has drawn tens of thousands of mountain bikers from around the world. Amateurs and pros alike partake in a full week of festivities centered around biking and enjoying the good life! During the festival there will be Guided Rides, Expo & Demos, Beer Garden, Live Music, Bike Rodeo, Pig Roast, Biking Movies, the Famous Chainless Race & much more! For more information and a detailed schedule visit www.ftbw.com.