My boy Jared 10,000 Foot Blogger Roy has some good pics of the Breck race this weekend.

Have a look at them here and visit his blog, The Wah Report.

Also, pics here at Mark Wolcott Photography.

Week 1, under the belt. Sort of. I figured I'd wait to post until today as I was a wreck yesterday evening. Week 1 went, well, not so good. That said, it's aaaall good. 'Tis bike racing. Lemme sum up the day...

Drive up from Boulder's 6K to Breckenridge's 10,000 feet elevation was nice and serene. Listening to Built to Spill gave me goose bumps (and would be a prophetic group to listen to vis-a-vis their title! Ha!). It set the tone of ominous clouds and rain squalls that came in and out during the drive up. It was fantastic seeing all the old friends again when I got to Breck. The scene at the Nordic Center in Breck is always alive. The junior races were going off when I got there and I saw team mates like Thomas Prehn and Doug Squires getting their game faces on for their Master's events. Hup hup you guys!

The course was a pretty good one, and very short. Swoopy through the trees with probably 100 feet or so of pavement. Lots of barriers in the right places. My warm up was great and the body felt fine. A little taxed at altitude as I expected but pretty good nonetheless. The equipment felt great and I decided to go go with the Dugast set up on both bikes. I pre-road them both and both felt spot on. The tires absolutely railed the tacky dirt so the thumbs up was given. I had seriously like 3 other sets of wheels prepared to switch out but the tread and the 32 size felt sweet.

The line up was great. Not a huge field of 35 Open guys but all the old friends were there....except Karl Kiester. He rocked one of the other Masters events. Me, Timmy, Jared and some others composed the front row. Ready set go and we're off. I took the whole shot and led the first lap. I was turning around to see what was up and there was a string out and I REALLY wanted to get a group together to start working. You can't win from teh front in a 35 plus race. Jared came through to work and life is good. I think it was Jared, me, Timmy and maybe another guy flowing for a bit, Timmy put in an attack on the 2nd lap on the double barrier run up to see who was there to play for the day. I felt the altitude there a bit but it re grouped and life is good again. The group of about 6 is formed and we're off for the race. The separation was there by lap 2.5. By this time there is already 30 seconds plus on the rest of the field so this was the split in a 45 minute race. Lap 3 or 4 (about 20 to 22 minutes into the race) Chris Phenecie and Jeff Wardell we're in front of me and we're flowing through the woods. As we come railing into this particular section, it happened: Rolled the tubular.

Und das war alles.

Honestly, I hit so hard (no embellishment) both my contacts popped out of my eyes. Ha! I rolled the front tubular at speed coming around this dirt apex at speed and the lights went out. The body is beat up but the ego worse off. Sort of like:

Body in reality:Body based upon bruised ego:

And so with blood streaming I walked to the pits were my team mates Doug Squires and Corey Carlson were waiting and new something was wrong. They helped me grab my stuff and DNF. I hit the med tent (and the guy there was great!), packed up my stuff and called it a day. The body felt good even at altitude and rolling a top 10 was not going to be aproblem but would-a could-a rules apply here. Za aftermath:

Life is good. Bike racing is awesome, if not unforgiving.

My main man Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster Cycles apparently had himself a little crishy-crash and took out his good weldin' thumb. But, that does not stop this guy fro pumping out the 'cross frames for all the hungry racers queued up for his beautiful masterpieces. Spy photos from his lab:

IT IS TIME FOLKS!
Especially if you are from the Front Range, the time is NOW for you to act and help support the momentum to build out cycling-specific facilities (including CROSS baby!) at Valmont Park in Boulder. The response from the City Council from various groups and citizens has been very good.

OK, so where are we at...and what can YOU do? Let me break it down this way.

GIMME THE BACKGROUND.
The City of Boulder is collecting public comments to shape the future
of Valmont Park. Your input will help determine if cyclocross and
mountain biking are part of the plan.

Valmont City Park is a 132-acre chunk of land located on Valmont Road
in Boulder. The city is drawing new plans for the park after the
original 1998 plan failed to be implemented. During the past year, a
group of cyclists have rallied under the umbrella of the Boulder
Mountainbike Alliance to encourage the city to include off-road
riding like cyclocross, mountain biking, and a terrain park in the plan.

RAD! I'M IN! HOW CAN I HELP?
The city has now released 3 versions of the plan for public feedback.
These are concept plans only, and include a whole laundry list of
potential facilities, from soccer fields to tennis to arts and more.
The good news: 2 of the versions include a mix of cyclocross trails,
singletrack, and bike terrain parks.

Now is time for the public to speak up. You can help by lending your strong voice!
It's essential to let city officials know that you support cycling at
Valmont.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO...AND IT'S EASY!

1. Talk DIRECTLY to the City Council and submit your comments and take a survey on the city's website here.

2. When commenting, use the talking points at the end of this post below. Be sure to use
your own voice and highlight any personal experiences you've had.

3. Forward this blog post!!!. Rally your friends and ask them to echo your
support for cycling.

4. Attend one of the upcoming public meetings (listed on city's
website) to review the plans, ask questions, and log your comments.

5. Check out the park blueprints and see the schedule for public open
houses here.

6. Join our long-term effort by becoming a member of the Boulder
Mountainbike Alliance. Go to: http://boa-mtb.org

7. The deadline is Oct. 31, 2007.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to give your feedback!

------TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR COMMENTARY BACK TO THE CITY COUNCIL-------
Talking points you can stress in your comments back to the City:

* I support support cycling at Valmont.

* Create an interconnected system of purpose-built mountain biking
and cyclocross trails that includes a variety of trail styles to meet
the needs of a wide range of riders. These trails can be available
for skiing and running too.

* Locate all cycling facilities adjacent to each other in a linked
system of loops. The bike terrain park should be located nearby.

* Seek the input of professional trail designers and local riders to
craft the final design.

* Maximize hills: The cycling trails and bike terrain park should
make maximum use of existing and/or constructed hills.

* Don't put streets through the park.

* Build it as soon as possible.

--
Additional Information

Our goal, working in partnership with the City of Boulder Parks and
Recreation Department, is to build and maintain a permanent off-road
cycling facility at Valmont City Park. Intended for mountain biking,
cyclocross, dirt jumping, BMX, and other off-road riding and racing,
the facility should consist of an integrated network of natural-
surfaced trails, a mountain bike/BMX terrain park, a start/finish
venue, and appropriate trailheads. The exact location and design of
the facility is flexible and should be developed by a team of
community stakeholders, city staff, and professional consultants.

We intend not only to advocate for this vision, but also to provide a
permanent partner to the city and to share in the long-term
stewardship of the facility.

Cycling facilities at Valmont would be of benefit to thousands of
Boulder’s residents, not to mention cyclists from outlying areas like
Longmont, Louisville, Broomfield, and beyond.

Most importantly, it would provide a safe location for kids to learn
about cycling, participate in clinics, and even get started with racing.

We hope to create a compact yet varied collection of trails and open
areas to appeal to off-road riders of all ages and all abilities. The
facility would be open to the public on a daily basis, but also offer
pre-scheduled closed-course racing, race training, instruction, and
other events. The project could be developed in phases, starting
small and growing as resources allow.

The concept of off-road cycling facilities at city parks is a growing
trend. Variously known as bike parks, bike skills parks, or adventure
parks, these playgrounds are popping up all over—and riders love
them. There are more than 30 purpose-built public bike parks in the
U.S. and Canada, and this figure doesn’t include privately owned bike
parks or bike facilities at ski resorts. In Colorado, different types
of bike parks have been built in Fort Collins, Eagle, Colorado
Springs, and Gunnison.

To get involved or learn more, contact pete at imba dot c o m.

The Summit Daily News printed a great article that made me smile this AM. It describes the course for Breck this weekend and is what I love to hear: Course designers who want to make technical 'cross courses...and not dirt crits. Get us on and off the bike as many times as possible. That is 'cross.

Thanks Tim, J-Rad and Jeff! Looking forward to seeing y'all and thanks for making a CROSS course!

But, ah, Jeff, this is funny:

Course familiarity could give local riders an inherent advantage over their Front Range counterparts on Sunday. According to Cospolich, so could the time of year. "I think a lot of mountain riders like to focus on the early (cyclocross) season," he said. "A lot of us are usually in good shape after the mountain biking season, while the Front Range riders can be burned out because they've had all year to ride their bikes."

Gotta get my digs in somewhere!

You can read a full on report of the new Sam Smith (Transitions) here on Cyclocrossworld, but locals can come to the historic Boulder Theater and see it first hand on the big screen.

When: October 4th 2007.

Info and ticket purchase can be found Here.

Another beautiful sunny morning in Boulder....and 40+ hungry 'crossers out before their work days begin to get their 'cross on in the weekly throw down. We had a stellar turn out and the Front Range folks are amped to get the season underway.

After going to South Boulder and deciding the grass was too wet (we're trying to keep our good rep you know and preserve the land!), we headed down to Boulder Research for a throw down and then on to Elks for more fun. Za Plan prescribed only one session pour moi this week so I was able to take some pics and a quick vid (below) of the group at Elks.

Boulder Research went well. Given the heavy hitters, I was immensely satisfied with how I felt and had T in my brain on trying things we've discussed. It's good to try 'em now with all this depth of talent I get to train with and see how the body responds which made me smile. More work still but I'm so happy. We had the whipper snapper Danny Summerhill out today so he and I traded some paint which was fun. Like old times in the 3's a few years ago when he was like 10 year sold and making me suffer for my placings back then.

Digital celluloid.

Lane

Tyler J and a BMC guy (got to get his name!)

Corey's new Primus Mootry

Corey!

The WB, fresh off a top 20 at Leadville.

Strong strong strong ladies.

Dave and AC2

Ben and Danny

Danny's new steed.

El Gruppo @ Elks.

Dubba and Danny

I got to say 'Go"...and did the Boston Style "You'll start when I'm g-damn ready!"

Strong lady 1

Michelle!

Baker dropping in.

Tuba dropped in...and rode strong today.

Steve Harshman of Harshman Primus Mootry

Survey seeks input on Valmont City Park
Boulder residents polled on recreation preferences

By Ryan Morgan Camera Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Open house

The Parks and Recreation Department will host an open house to discuss plans for Valmont City Park between noon and 2 p.m. Sunday at Eben G. Fine Park, 101 Arapahoe Ave.

Photo by Marty Caivano

Members of the Boulder Parks and Recreation Department's youth football league, including coach Jeff Cantrell, foreground, practice at Valmont City Park on Monday evening.

The future shape of one of Boulder's largest undeveloped parks is in the mail.

The city's Parks and Recreation Department has sent out 2,000 surveys asking residents what they'd like to see happen at Valmont City Park, a 115-acre parcel that sits at the intersection of Valmont and Airport roads in northeast Boulder.

Parks officials say they'll use the survey responses, along with input from the public at several open meetings over the next few weeks, to draw up a new plan for the park, which they expect to present to the City Council early next year. Eventually, elected officials would take the plan to voters to ask for the money for the project, which could easily cost $50 million.

The survey asks residents to outline their preferences from among 15 options, including an indoor recreation center, lighted tennis courts, a dog park, a single-track mountain biking course and an 18-hole disc golf course. The final plan will likely include a combination of those 15 options.

Read full article and reader comments HERE.

This is what the Master's World's Jersey looks like. I can dream, can't I? It'll be a success if I can just be pack fodder with these animals in January but I am not rolling over with my legs up in teh air. I'll be going out in a hail of bullets.