Mad Cow 2009

Wind and suffering were the name of the game for me at the Mad Cow Classic in Grand Junction last weekend. This year the race organizers made some fun changes. To start with, they added a hill climb at the Colorado National Monument on Saturday morning. I skipped it this year, but hopefully I can do it next year. Another change for this year was moving the criterium to Saturday and holding it at the Grand Junction Motor Speedway. The speedway is a go-kart track and a pretty cool place to have a race.



With a combined 3/4/35+ open race, clearly it was going to be a tough day for 4's. People were dropping like flies from the tempo being set up front and I found myself spending lots of energy surging around people as they were getting dropped. The wind was getting increasingly stronger, and eventually the elastic attaching me to the back of the pack broke. I managed to regain contact briefly once, just in time to have to avoid someone who had a double blowout and I was off the back again. I pulled out with about 4 to go so I could hack up the remnants of my flu on the sidelines.


The wind played a secondary role in my suffering too. After having LASIK in January, my eyes still get dry frequently and with all the wind, my left eye was dry and blurry within the first 10 minutes. It’s always a bit freaky losing vision in one eye, even though I know if will come back after I stop riding for a while. It also messes with my depth perception. Not a great thing on a bike.

Sunday afternoon was the road race, and again it was windy. Really windy. The race organizers mercifully shortened the race by a lap due to the longer lap times. Again it was a combined 3/4/35+ group. In the past, the group was small enough that racing with the 3’s was a nice and manageable challenge. This time, the group was mostly 3’s and 35+ open guys and their presence was felt early.

Long story short, I got dropped on the first major climb. I could have hung with that group if I was nearer the front of the pack when we hit the climb. I tried, but I just could move up through a tight pack in the wind. I rode hard the rest of the day and again fought with my blurry LASIK eye. It was a frustrating race, but it leaves plenty of room for improvement.

The wind in Grand Junction continued and by evening the the sky was dark with dust. Christine and I found shelter at the Kannah Creek Brewing Company. Good beers, good food, good way to end the day.


We planned on riding the Colorado National Monument on Monday, but the wind blew in a nice winter storm. The previous day I was riding in shorts. On Monday we were packing up in the snow.