LOCAL RACING.

Photo Credit: Sportif Images

I can't tell you how excited I am this year to race local Colorado events. Banning pro's from local competition last year was ridiculous and this year even though I don't have my P card anymore, the rule was overturned and the state of racing in Colorado once again is legit.  Here's a short little recap on the local races in my legs so far.

LOUISVILLE CRITERIUM: 31/3/2012 

Photo Credit: Sportif Images 

This was my first proper hit out with the whole Horizon squad for the year and with 11 guys on the start line for sure we were the team to watch!  I'm a fan of the short but lumpy circuit in Louisville that features only one potentially dangerous corner and a longer uphill drag on the backside before a false flat to the line.  This was my first race back at altitude after spending 3 weeks at sea level and boy did I notice it! With a big team we could afford to be aggressive and attacking/following moves early really put me into the red, noticing the lack of O2 in the air rather quickly.  Sure enough a break did form and we were lucky enough to have 3 of the 5 represented including Josh who is on hot sprinting form at the moment.  Perfect!  So for the rest of the race I was playing the policeman role to cover and sit on moves.  To be honest it left a sour taste in my mouth to race so negatively but with three up the road I wasn't about to help anyone else bridge across!  Coming on the the last lap the bunch was breathing down the neck of the break, but Josh managed to attack the final hill and win the sprint, with Austin picking up 4th and Brad taking the field sprint for 5th.  A good day for the cows!

 Josh takes the W. Photo Credit: Sportif Images

IDEAL MARKET WEDNESDAY CRITERIUM: 4/4/12

Photo Credit: Sportif Images 

Even though these are just a mid week crit series they are worth a mention because they are super fun. The atmosphere is nice and relaxed and being in Boulder they are always competitive!  Wanting more racing in the legs I was happy to make the trek up from Lakewood last Wednesday and it proved worthwhile finding myself in a break of 5 that left the pack with 40min to go and stayed away.  Coming into the last lap it was a bit of cat and mouse but in the end I got rolled for 2nd in the sprint.  Being a lighter guy the old flat drag sprint isn't quite my forte but nonetheless I had fun and it was a good midweek hit out. 

BOULDER ROUBAIX: 7/4/12

Photo Credit: Oxocube

I was so excited to race this one!  So much so I did some sneaky recon earlier in the week and the course was in great shape.  Four laps of a 30km circuit that features more dirt roads than tarmac and a good amount of short climbs to wear you down, Boulder-Roubaix is one of the biggest local races for the year.  The turnout was awesome with a host of local pro's and fast Cat. 1's wanting to take home the granite stone up for grabs.  We had a decent sized squad of 8 but much to our horror we missed the early move that went on the first lap!  Not to panic as this is a clear race of attrition, in the end a strong chase move of 6 guys shot off the front on lap 3 with some aggressive riding by Mike Creed and my ex V Australia teammate Sully.  I found myself there in the group but was really dying taking pulls with those guys on the flat roads. I handled the undulations of the dirt sections much better, but as we closed in on the two leaders still left up the road, they guttered it and 3 of us got shelled out the back.  Bugger.  So it was three chasing five going into the last lap, and working together with Tietzel from Juwi Solar and Brady Kappius we never closed the gap but stayed away from the chasing bunch behind.  In the end I out sprinted my companions for 6th place but wished I had that extra 10% power to have hung in there with the front guys!  As in previous years the Roubaix was a brutal event and claimed a few victims in the team including crashes, broken spokes and punctures.  I'm looking forward to next year already!

The sprint for 6th outta the chase group. 

Photo Credit: Oxocube

This is a neat little video put together by 303cycling.com

CSU OVAL CRITERIUM: 8/4/12

Photo Credit: Megan Cassidy

Held just last night this was a cool little race.  A small field made it up to Fort Collins for a 5:00pm start but either way there was a finish line and a race to be won!  Surprisingly I felt better than I thought after Boulder Roubaix the previous day, but didn't keep my wits about me enough to follow what would be the winning break that stayed away.  It was fast on some smooth pavement giving an average of 45km/h for just under one hours work. The score sheet said 7th at the end of the day and it was straight to the burrito shop for dinner.  A nice way to cap of a good weekends worth of bicycle racing.  Looking forward to more soon.