Date: April 12, 2008
Place: Boulder, Colorado
Event: The 2nd Annual Haystack Mountain Time Trials
Months of planning, a dedicated group of organizers, eighty volunteers, generous sponsors, and great racers made Haystack a success! Oh, and did I mention one outstanding full-time rocket scientist and part-time race director who orchestrated the whole thing?
For us, the day began with a 5 a.m. wakeup call. Alan jetted off to the race course, while our housemate John and I packed the car with Alan's TT bike and seemingly endless supplies. By the time I got to the parking area at 6:30, there was already a line of people waiting to register.
It was a cold morning--our ball-point pens were uncooperative, which made filling out forms a challenge. A non-stop crush of riders for most of the day meant that I stuck to the registration table from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.--it was then that I realized that I hadn't had anything to drink yet that day. Slightly dehydrated....
One of the cool things about working registration is you get to meet all the cyclists doing the race. The majority were great--enthusiastic, chipper even with the chilly start to the morning, and patient with the rate-limiting factors of: 1) updating the master start list to ensure results are timely and accurate (this means that everyone working the registration table needs to record any rider additions, payment info, etc. on the one 35-page master list); and 2) completing the required ACA liability waivers for each rider. This is an ongoing frustration: over 650 riders, and even if they preregister, we're still required to have them fill out another sheet of paper on race day, so they still have to wait in line.
It was cool to have both the Toyota-United team and the Slipstream development team competing. The Toyota-United team did the TTT on their road bikes in preparation for the Tour de Georgia. The highlight of the day for me at registration was having the members of the Toyota-United and Slipstream teams each personally request my autograph. "Were they floored by her unique block print design on the race posters, and wanted a treasured keepsake of the race?" you may be asking yourself. Nah... they just needed signed receipts of payment to get reimbursed by their teams. Still, it's not every day that Taylor Phinney, Henk Vogels, AND Ben Day ask for your autograph.
The superstar of the day was Ben Day from Toyota-United, who was so moved by my blue-lipped, uncontrollably shivering 6:30 a.m. registration table self that he offered to give me his warmup jacket to wear, then went out there and won the Pro/1/2 race by a landslide. Thanks, Ben.
Also, a huge THANK YOU to all the racers who came out for the event, for the incredible volunteers who put in a long day, and to a super race director. Way to put on another great one, Alan!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Divide and conquer...
...was the theme for this weekend. The team was all over the place: most of the crew was at training camp in Moab, but a few people stuck around town for the Oredigger Classic (hill climb and crit) at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
On Saturday, Alan's teammate Chris Carr won the SM3 Lookout Mountain Hill Climb, finishing 33 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Alan opted to do the Big Thompson ride instead, with friends John Ortega and Tasha Cowie. Lefty and I did some planting in the garden, and friends Kat and Max came over for shortbread and tea, followed by a tour of Boulder Creek Winery. It was my first time making shortbread--it's actually super easy to make--and ended up being pretty tasty. Tip: I went with the Better Homes & Gardens recipe, and substituted some whole wheat graham flour and 3 T. Savory Spice Shop Spiced Vanilla Bean Sugar instead of the regular sugar. Buttery, Madagascar vanilla-beany goodness!
Sunday, Alan and Chris represented GS Boulder in the Oredigger crit. Things blew apart within the first 10 minutes, but despite being tired from the long ride on Saturday, Alan hung on to finish 4th overall. Chris put in a strong showing, also, and ended up 5th (I believe; they haven't posted official results yet).
After the race, I ran from CSM to the top of Lookout Mountain and back; it's a great route from the Front Range Frenzy trail race series, about 8.5 miles round-trip, I think. Most of the trail is in good shape; mountain bikes have torn up some of the mudded area in the middle third, and there's still snow in most places in the trees on the top third, but there were lots of people out hiking it.
In the pros this past weekend, Amy's team, Webcor Builders, put in a solid performance at Redlands. It looks like they had beautiful weather: check out the results and pics at cyclingnews.com here. There are some great pics of Amy in action, styling her Kaenons. With the team's help, Webcor's Alex Wrubleski was able to score some key bonuses, and squeaked out a one-second victory over former Webcor racer Mara Abbott (High Road) in the GC. Amy's teammates Christine Thorburn, Erinne Willock, and Rebecca Much were 8th, 16th, and 20th, respectively; Amy finished 37th overall, in this, her first year of pro racing, when it's all about working for your teammates. Have I mentioned lately that Amy rocks?
On the men's side at Redlands, Danny Summerhill (Slipstream) posted an impressive 11th in the GC--you've seen the Slipstream & 5280 teams around town--they're hard to miss in their argyle kits. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) was 13th, and Andy Bajadali (Kelly Benefits) was right behind him in 14th. Nice job, Baj! Toms Danielson (Slipstream) and Zirbel (Bissell) and Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) also made top 25 in GC. Way to represent, Colorado! Tyler ended up 33rd overall.
All in all, a successful weekend.
On Saturday, Alan's teammate Chris Carr won the SM3 Lookout Mountain Hill Climb, finishing 33 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Alan opted to do the Big Thompson ride instead, with friends John Ortega and Tasha Cowie. Lefty and I did some planting in the garden, and friends Kat and Max came over for shortbread and tea, followed by a tour of Boulder Creek Winery. It was my first time making shortbread--it's actually super easy to make--and ended up being pretty tasty. Tip: I went with the Better Homes & Gardens recipe, and substituted some whole wheat graham flour and 3 T. Savory Spice Shop Spiced Vanilla Bean Sugar instead of the regular sugar. Buttery, Madagascar vanilla-beany goodness!
Sunday, Alan and Chris represented GS Boulder in the Oredigger crit. Things blew apart within the first 10 minutes, but despite being tired from the long ride on Saturday, Alan hung on to finish 4th overall. Chris put in a strong showing, also, and ended up 5th (I believe; they haven't posted official results yet).
After the race, I ran from CSM to the top of Lookout Mountain and back; it's a great route from the Front Range Frenzy trail race series, about 8.5 miles round-trip, I think. Most of the trail is in good shape; mountain bikes have torn up some of the mudded area in the middle third, and there's still snow in most places in the trees on the top third, but there were lots of people out hiking it.
In the pros this past weekend, Amy's team, Webcor Builders, put in a solid performance at Redlands. It looks like they had beautiful weather: check out the results and pics at cyclingnews.com here. There are some great pics of Amy in action, styling her Kaenons. With the team's help, Webcor's Alex Wrubleski was able to score some key bonuses, and squeaked out a one-second victory over former Webcor racer Mara Abbott (High Road) in the GC. Amy's teammates Christine Thorburn, Erinne Willock, and Rebecca Much were 8th, 16th, and 20th, respectively; Amy finished 37th overall, in this, her first year of pro racing, when it's all about working for your teammates. Have I mentioned lately that Amy rocks?
On the men's side at Redlands, Danny Summerhill (Slipstream) posted an impressive 11th in the GC--you've seen the Slipstream & 5280 teams around town--they're hard to miss in their argyle kits. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) was 13th, and Andy Bajadali (Kelly Benefits) was right behind him in 14th. Nice job, Baj! Toms Danielson (Slipstream) and Zirbel (Bissell) and Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) also made top 25 in GC. Way to represent, Colorado! Tyler ended up 33rd overall.
All in all, a successful weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)