The month of July has been jam packed with big mountain bike races throughout Colorado, and that continued all the way to the last day of the month. On Saturday July 31st, the CrankworX Colorado mountain bike Cross Country (XC) race and expo was held at Winter Park. The mountain bike expo featured live music, vendor booths, food, drink, games and more.
Besides the Cross Country race, CrankworX Colorado included Downhill, Super-D and Slopeside Bike jumping and Bike trick competitions. All events drew high caliber competitors due to the prestige and notoriety of the CrankworX festival and the excellent courses. In addition, the Pro XC race offered a generous cash payout for the top ten finishers, which brought out lots of big names.
We had a contingent of 11 racers from the Green Mountain Sports racing team out there on Saturday. It was a great day for racing with warm temperatures and sunny skies. The XC course, which began in Fraser and finished at the Winter Park resort, was challenging indeed. It included healthy doses of high altitude climbing, lots of puddles and mud bogs from the recent rains, and some rocky and rooty descents. The course concluded with a super fun downhill section into the resort that served up lots of berms and jumps. This section gave the XC racers their own opportunity to be like the trick riders competing nearby at the CrankworX slopeside events.
Our crew of 11 finished the day with a strong showing which included 2 wins, 3 podium finishes and 8 top ten finishes. Ed Tokarski kicked things off with a win in the Expert 40-44 race, leading from start to finish. Ed makes it look easy, below.
And Craig Hofer also picked up a victory in the Expert 45-49 category, winning by more than 7 minutes.
Mike Schaub closed out the day with a podium finish as well. He took second place in the Sport 50+ race.
Chris Phenicie battled it out in a Pro field stacked with talent, and turned in the fastest time of all GMS racing team members.
Yea, the Green Mountain Sports racing team jerseys were out in full force. It was great that we are able to have such strong turnout because we garnered lots of exposure for our sponsors at this high visibility event.
Also of note was that all of our top finishers were using Schwalbe tires for the race, which speaks volumes to the grip, versatility, reliability and fast rolling characteristics of the Schwalbe line of mountain bike tires. The course was extremely demanding on tires with both muddy and dry sections, rooted and rocky sections, and steep uphill and downhill sections. All GMS racing team Podium finishers (and all GMS Pro & Expert racers) raced on Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires at CrankworX Colorado.
Road Racing News:
During the weekend of July 31st and August 1st, two GMS racing team members ventured down to Salida to race in the Salida Omnium. Ben Frost came home with a 3rd place overall finish in the 35+ Cat 4 race. He did that with a 2nd place finish in the Criterium on Saturday and a 6th place finish in the Road Race on Sunday. In addition, Jim Hebert put in a very strong showing in the Salida Omnium Cat 3 Road Race and finished in 5th place.
As one of the most prestigious races on the calendar, the Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans hill climb brings out hundreds of racers and athletes from all around the country. The 45th annual edition of the race, on Saturday July 24th, served as the ACA Colorado State hill climb championship. The course begins at the Clear Creek Middle School in Idaho Springs (altitude of 7,555 ft.) and ends 27.4 miles later at the summit of Mt. Evans (altitude of 14,130ft.) Over the years, many top professional and amateur racers have tested their fitness in this grueling race.
This year, two members of the Green Mountain Sports racing team were out there with the masses, Brent Webb and Jim Hebert. Brent Webb raced in the Open 35+ category and finished an impressive 7th, with a time of 2:10:50. Brent, below, with a look of concentration as he ascends the mountain.
Jim Hebert raced in the Cat. 3 race and finished in 18th place with a very fast time of 2:13:32 Jim, below, climbing like a pro.
Saturday July 17th was the date for the Colorado State (Age graded) Masters criterium championships. The championship races were held on a fast, technical, L-shaped course located in Prospect, CO. Two Green Mountain Sports racing team members did the race, with Scott Hartley finishing 17th in the Open 35+ race and Peter Lopez finishing 26th in the 35+ Cat 3 race.
On Sunday July 11th, over 100 professional and top level amateur racers lined up to compete for the ACA Colorado State Criterium Championships. The race, which was run on a six turn course in Longmont Colorado, attracted a large number of top level Pro Crit racers as well as Colorado's best amateur (Category 1 and 2) criterium specialists. The race was run under rainy conditions, making negotiating their way through each turn quite an adventure for the racers. Craig Hofer stayed upright and finished in 29th place in this high level race.
The Mike Horgan Hill Climb race was held on Saturday Morning, July 3rd. The race, from Bolder to Nederland, is run on a 17 mile long course which gains 3,400 feet of elevation. The last 7 miles of the race are on dirt roads and over 12 percent grades. Yea, it's a climbers delight. Three GMS racing team members put themselves to the test with Brent Webb leading the way with a 12th place finish in the Open 35+ race. Jim Hebert did the Cat 3 race and finished 21st, while Pieter Schouten competed in the 35+ Cat 4 race and finished in 12th position.
Cross Country MTB Nationals:
For the second consecutive year, the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships took place here in Colorado at the Sol Vista resort. Races were held for Pros and all categories of Amateurs in Cross Country, Downhill, Mountain Cross, Short Track and Super-D, running from Thursday July 15th through Sunday July 18th. Attendance was good, and the racing action drew the best mountain biking talent from all around the country.
Green Mountain Sports racing team members raced in both the Category 1 and 2 XC races at Nationals. The Category 1 races consisted of two laps of an 8.9 mile circuit that was designed by Winter Park resident and long time Colorado racer, Keith Sanders. This year's course provided an all around test of mountain biking skills with plenty of climbing (1,700 ft per lap,) twisty singletrack, tough technical sections and fast downhills. The course for the Category 2 races was slightly shorter, with just a tad less climbing per loop.
Aaron Small led the way for the Green Mountain Sports racing team with a 3rd place finish in the Category 1 35-39 National Championship Cross Country race! This was his third podium placing at Nationals between this season and last:
MTB Marathon Nationals 2009 -3rd
MTB Marathon Nationals 2010 -3rd and
MTB XC Nationals 2010 -3rd
Ed Tokarski also competed at Nationals and finished in13th place in the Category 1 40-44 XC race. That follows his top 15 placing at Nationals in the Marathon race two weeks ago.
In the Category 2 championships, Pieter Schouten came away with a 4th place finish in the 40-44 XC race. Yea, that was a podium finish by Pieter, as medals are awarded to the top 5 finishers in National Championship races. This follows Pieter's 3rd place finish last month at the Missouri State Mountain Bike championships which were held in Ballwin, MO.
Other Mountain Bike Racing News:
The Breckenridge 100 endurance mountain bike race took place on Saturday July 17th. The race is one of seven on the NUE (National Ultra Endurance) series calendar and is generally regarded as the toughest 100 mile mountain bike race in the country. The race, and its sister races (the B-68 and the B-32,) drew about 375 mountain bike racers from all across the country.
GMS racing team member Pat D'Innocenzo raced in the shorter version of the Breck 100, the B-32. The B-32 race was run on a 32 mile loop over some of the best trails and singletrack in the Breckenridge area. The course included more than 4,600 vertical feet of climbing, screaming descents and lots of beautiful scenery. Pat won the Open 50+ race, and finished 4th overall out of 94 competitors in the B-32 race. Our team had no takers for the 68 or 100 mile races . . . this year.
GMSV Short Track:
The Green Mountain Sports Velo club mid-week MTB short track races were held each Tuesday evening in July, providing a great interval work-out. The short track races were ACA sanctioned and included categories for various ability levels. John Wahl and Mike Schaub sharpened up their racing form at the races throughout the month.
WP Valley Point-to-Point XC:
The third and fourth races of the Winter Park mountain bike race series were held on July 10 and 11. Saturday was the Valley Point-to-Point cross country race from the base of the ski resort out into the woods in Fraser. It’s a 23.5 mile long course for Pro/Expert/Sport riders and 18.8 miles for Beginners. It includes a number of shorter moderate grade climbs totaling 2,600 feet of elevation gain. It is a classic Winter Park course with large helpings of roots, trees, rocks, dirt roads, wooden bridges and of course, singletrack.
As the race went off, weather conditions were sunny, warm and humid. The course was dry, and the organizers mercifully had the racers bypass the deep creek crossing, allowing some to finish the race relatively mud free. Not everyone was so lucky though, because as the day progressed, the sky clouded over, it cooled off, and the rain began to fall. Almost all of the Pros and Experts finished before the rains came, but those who competed in the Sport and Beginner categories had to race in the pouring rain. Ya gotta love racing, you just never know what challenges may lie ahead.
As for the race, the Green Mountain Sports racing team had a great turnout, with 14 finishers. Our team closed out the day with 9 top ten finishes, 4 podium placings and 2 wins! Both Craig Hofer and Mike Schaub came away with wins!!
Craig finished first in the Expert Men's 45-49 race, winning by more than 3 minutes.
Mike motored away from the Sport Men's 50-59 field to win handily as well.
Pam Zients and Ed Tokarski carried over lots of fitness from completing the Firecracker 50 just 6 days ago to also finish on the podium. Pam took second place in the Beginner Women's 40-49 race.
And, Ed Tokarski finished third in the Expert Men's 40-44 race, even after crashing and scraping up his leg.
Sunday was a new day, with sunny skies, warm temperatures and a Super-D race. The race was very popular, drawing 221 racers out to test their skills. The Super-D race begins with a LeMans style start where the racers have to run up to their bikes, mount them and begin racing.
The course is short, with most of it being downhill, but a few power uphills are thrown in to keep things honest. Todd Reisinger, pictured below, shows how it is done.
Not only did she win her category, but Emma also had the fastest time of all 43 women competing in the event!!! Yea, Emma was faster than all 3 Pros and all 12 Experts. It is safe to say that Emma crushed the course, and she has quite a knack for the Super-D!
Julie Pitrone also grabbed a podium spot with a second place finish in the Expert Women's 30-39 race.
Craig Hofer led the GMS racing team’s Men's contingent with a win in the Expert 45-49 race.
Yea, that was Craig’s second win in as many days. Craig went on to race in the Colorado State Pro/1-2 Criterium championships later in the afternoon in Longmont, and finished an impressive 29th. That was a State Championship race, against the Pros. Not bad for one weekend’s work; a Mountain bike XC win, a Mountain Bike Super-D win and a strong showing in a Pro Road Crit! Awesome.
To round out the successful weekend of racing, Mike Schaub won the Sport Men's 50+ Super-D race! Mike is a very strong Super-D racer, and he had to work hard to win this one by 10 seconds. But win it he did. Two days and two wins for Mike as well!
In the team competition, Green Mountain Sports Racing team A is sitting in 5th place, with 4 of the 7 races in the series completed. The next race in the Winter Park series will be the CrankworX XC race on Saturday July 31st.
In the team competition, Green Mountain Sports Racing team A is sitting in 5th place, with 4 of the 7 races in the series completed. The next race in the Winter Park series will be the CrankworX XC race on Saturday July 31st.
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