I'm a week late posting this...for obvious reasons. The destruction here in Boulder due to the floods and landslides has been surreal and bike racing has taken a very far back seat while we as a community have been helping our neighbors. I've been in basements and back yards the last few days helping literally dig my friends out. We will recover and move on. But it has been a true mental block for many of us to think about biking.

Last week, however, was just awesome. It was a true 'kick start' to the season for both my Boulder Cycle Sport Ambassadors as well as my Boulder Junior Cycling grommets.

Kick It Time Trial - Fort Collins

The weekend started up in Fort Collins with a time trial. It was one, big, technical 'drivers' course. Full gas to stage for starting positions on Sunday on essentially the same course, albeit a bit shorter.

My BJC'ers crushed! Watching my sons rip it was also amazing to see. They're both in the 10-12 division, Aiden winning and Seamus taking 7th at 9 years old! Very proud of all the kids.

My race was smooth and fast, enabling me to take 4th overall and a first row start up on Sunday.

Cross of the North - Fort Collins

This year, the Colorado 35-Open class is in an weird spot: We start the season racing at 8AM in essentially our own group for 50min...but end the season racing at 3:30 PM for 60min mixed with the Open guys. Getting up early...no problem, but the inconsistency feels weird. We'll see how it all evolves. I got up at 5 and headed up to Fort Collins, got in a decent warm up and before I know it we were on the line and going full gas.

I honestly had zero clue where I'd be fitness-wise in this first race of the season. I'd had mental goals of being OK with 10th-ish, but no real idea how I'd do under that intensity. The Crack and my 1 Wednesday Worlds ride before more or less showed me that my bike driving was good, and my fitness was OK...but mostly I was HEALTHY starting a season for once. No protruding bones, road rash or other ridicu-scars.

The course was fairly blown out. Dry and dusty but really required finesse and constant power. Stuff I'm decent at. I was back on my only operable bike, my 2012 Ridley X-Fire with cantis.

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