We arrived in Durango around 4 and stopped by the registration area to pick up our race numbers and drop of some post-race clothing that would be shuttled to Silverton for us. I was impressed at how well organized the process was. There were a ton of people there to registered, but it still was a very simple process and didn't take too long. I love it when these things are well planed, and I guess after 35 years of doing this thing they've got it down to a science.
While the crappy weather was pounding the front range, here's the vie from my chair as I type this update:
Saturday
(Click Here for the Race Map)
Today was the road race from Durango to Silverton, and it was a doozie. The route is 47 miles with 5500 feet of climbing and two 10,000+ foot passes! We had a little confusion this morning as to where the race started because from the race map it looked like the race started a few miles further up the road than it did. By the time we figured this out, I was too far from the start to make it all the way back to the start line, but I got pretty close. I just latched on to the back of the pack and started to work my way up. I'm glad the race was sufficiently slow at this point, otherwise it would have been a huge pain in the butt.
I stayed with the lead group through the initial small climbs, but they finally lost me on the first big one. I hooked up with a good chase group and was doing pretty well at getting back to the leaders, but eventually they slipped a little away from them. I was working to get back to them, and there was someone on my wheel taking the free ride. Even though I signaled him a few times to pull through so I could get a little draft, he never did. I was really annoyed, so I just sat up and ate some gel. That was probably a big mistake, because I think I could have stayed with this group had I caught them, but I just wasn't willing to do all the work from some freeloader. The gel eating didn't go too well either. I ended up dropping my first of two packets that I had with me. Doh! I just grabbed the other one and happily made a mess of myself with strawberry-kiwi Accelgel. I pushed hard through the rest of the climb and dropped a good number of people that were getting shelled from the main group. There were people lined up along the climbs up the high passes and it was fun to have some people along the climb cheering us on. There was even someone in a devil costume (ala the devil that shows up at the Grand Tours).
With the first pass under my belt, I pulled on the arm warmers and cruised downhill for a few miles before the next big effort. The next climb was only 4 miles and not quite as steep, but by the time I gotten this far my legs were cooked and I was out of gel. I tried to eat the Mojo bar I brought with me, but those things just don't go down well when you're that tired. I fought the bonk all the way up with the knowledge that it was just about all downhill from the top of that pass. The decent was awesome because the road was closed, so I could take some high speed corners without worrying about cars. I let out a big sigh of relief when I could see Silverton from the road because I knew I was going to make it. I wasn't going to be the fastest, but I was going to make it in a respectable 3 hours. (For reference, the Pro winner did it in ~2:15)
It's a truly tough ride, and I'm really glad I got to do it. Donnovan didn't quite fare as good as me. We had both decided to save a little weight by not bringing our saddle bags and within the first 10-15 miles he flatted. He bummed a tube off one of the citizen class riders, but the stem was so short that the pump didn't quite work right and he could only get it pumped up to ~20psi. A half hour later, the tire was too low, so he got a CO2 cartridge from someone and got the tire pumped up a little more but it was still pretty low. When we got back to the car he measured it a 40psi. Ugh!
Sunday
I took today off because I'm not a big fan of criteriums and I figured my body would be able to use a little recovery time. While Donnovan was warming up for the 35+ senior men's category I headed over to Starbucks (a.k.a. "The 'Bucks") for a venti ice soy chai (I've finally been to Starbucks enough with that I know how to order something tasty - Damn you Christine!). D's race was pretty non-noteworthy. He stuck with the pack for a while, but eventually they were too fast for him to hang on. He got some good speed and cornering work until they finally pulled him from the course, and we both watched the finish from the sidelines. We asked one of the masseuse's where we should go to grab a beer before watching our teammate, Barry, race in cat 3 and she sent us to Steamworks Brewery, which happened to have a nice patio that overlooked the climb on the crit course.
Donnovan is a smooth talking chatty sort of guy, so even though the only available seat on the patio was on the wrong side, we ended up on the overlook section within 10 minutes. We overheard someone at the neighboring table asking the waitress for some sunblock, and we quickly become the most popular guys on the sunny patio as I passed around my SPF 50. These people were probably already half in the bag when they got to the patio so you can imagine they were an interesting group to mingle with as they sat in the sun and drank some more. When our teammate made it to the head of the race we had our whole half of the patio cheering for him. It was quite fun..until he ended up breaking a handle bar and had to retire. :(
Later, the person who pointed us towards Steamworks in the first place (Elka) showed up and sat with the table next to us. It turns out that she's a former NORBA National winner. By this point I was felt pretty drained from being in the sun all day, so I left the patio to spend some time in the shade with a book. When I came back up, things were getting even more out of hand. There was full glasses of water being thrown, etc. It was quite amusing, but probably annoying for the other people hanging out on the patio.
After a tiring day of recovering sitting around watching some bike racing we headed back to the condo to pack up and get some sleep.
Monday
Today was my first ever mountain bike race (and only about the third time I've ridden my mtb since in the last year). I really had no expectations for this race, I just thought it'd be fun to do and I entered the beginners class. We did two loops of a 4.8 mile course that started with leg burning hill. I'd feel bad for doing the hike-a-bike, but I later found out that during NORBA competitions in recent years the pro's also carried their bikes. My fitness really helped me out and I was able to catch people on the uphill and flats, but my downhill skills need some serious work. I made a nervous mistake on the the first lap that sent me over the bar, bending my brake lever and causing my chain to skip the rest of the race, but I quickly recovered and made it through the same section fine on the second lap. As the race progressed I got a lot better, but it's still something I need to work on.
The end result: I came in 5th of all the Beginning classes, and 2nd in my age group. Super cool! I even got to stand on the podium to collect my award of a bag embroidered with the Iron Horse logo.
Donnovan had another bad luck day. He broke a chain several miles into the ride and had to coast/scooter his bike back to the start.
Now the time has come to head home. I'll be happy to see the dogs and catch some good sleep in my own bed.
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