2009 Blogs
Sunday the 24th was the Downtown criterium of the Iron Horse Classic in Durango. The course consists of 8 bold corners that zig-zag through Durango’s lively Main St and lovely side streets. The start/finish escorts you onto a left turn and up a punch-in-the-gut 200m kicker, to a soft and gradual uphill right turn. This 150m had a head wind, as did the finishing drag. A hard and man-hole laden left turn shoed us onto a cross-winded 100m before a fast left and a 250m tail wind section. We flew into a rough and cracked left hand turn and then a quick pot-holed S-turn. Gaining more speed in this 200m tail wind, we railed another left hand turn down a short and sweet descent, before pinning a hard left to the long finishing head-wind straight.
We awoke to pouring rain, so instead of a mellow coffee shop spin before our 4pm start, we were beckoned to the rollers. Instead of the sand man bringing me sweet dreams, I think he opted to pour sand into my legs…or mud, or lead. However, after some time spinning I felt much more spry, and ready for a nap! Waking from the nap I didn’t know what day it was or whose legs I was wearing. All the caffeine in the world couldn’t wake me from this funk, nor could any amount of efforts. I arrived to the start line yawning and unable to get my heart rate above 150. And so it began.
Carmen Small, now riding for Colavita, joined forces with Tiffany Cromwell. Carmen came out to play, all rested, snappy, and amped to win in front of her hometown crowd. Though groggy, I knew I had to stick to Carmen like a fly on sh…compost. From the gun it went with a slew of attacks from the two Colavita members, the Defined Fitness Training squad, and the Colorado Bike Law gang. For the first 15 minutes I surfed wheels, following bridges, attempting to awaken my body a bit before pulling any superhero stunts. But there were no superhero stunts to be had today. The tipping point was a counter off Tiffany’s attack by Carmen following the little kicker. I found myself a few wheel’s back when I tried to bridge to the four escapees. That extra gear wasn’t there, and I found the remaining field glued to my wheel. The stragglers and individual riders wouldn’t help me, and instead of pulling through, on multiple occasions they attacked me.
I did make a few other attempts to bring myself to the break, but never had the pop to break free of the chase group. After pulling hard on the front, again some individual would attack. This left me feeling jaded, frustrated, and uninspired. I sat in for the remaining laps until 4 to go, when I made my way to the front to contest the sprint. Sitting second wheel for the remaining laps, I thought the finishing straight would allow enough real estate to overcome the driver on front. Again my plan fell through. Tiffany, Lauren Hall, and myself came to the line, a hair between each of us – mine being the thickest for a 7th place finish.
We awoke to pouring rain, so instead of a mellow coffee shop spin before our 4pm start, we were beckoned to the rollers. Instead of the sand man bringing me sweet dreams, I think he opted to pour sand into my legs…or mud, or lead. However, after some time spinning I felt much more spry, and ready for a nap! Waking from the nap I didn’t know what day it was or whose legs I was wearing. All the caffeine in the world couldn’t wake me from this funk, nor could any amount of efforts. I arrived to the start line yawning and unable to get my heart rate above 150. And so it began.
Carmen Small, now riding for Colavita, joined forces with Tiffany Cromwell. Carmen came out to play, all rested, snappy, and amped to win in front of her hometown crowd. Though groggy, I knew I had to stick to Carmen like a fly on sh…compost. From the gun it went with a slew of attacks from the two Colavita members, the Defined Fitness Training squad, and the Colorado Bike Law gang. For the first 15 minutes I surfed wheels, following bridges, attempting to awaken my body a bit before pulling any superhero stunts. But there were no superhero stunts to be had today. The tipping point was a counter off Tiffany’s attack by Carmen following the little kicker. I found myself a few wheel’s back when I tried to bridge to the four escapees. That extra gear wasn’t there, and I found the remaining field glued to my wheel. The stragglers and individual riders wouldn’t help me, and instead of pulling through, on multiple occasions they attacked me.
I did make a few other attempts to bring myself to the break, but never had the pop to break free of the chase group. After pulling hard on the front, again some individual would attack. This left me feeling jaded, frustrated, and uninspired. I sat in for the remaining laps until 4 to go, when I made my way to the front to contest the sprint. Sitting second wheel for the remaining laps, I thought the finishing straight would allow enough real estate to overcome the driver on front. Again my plan fell through. Tiffany, Lauren Hall, and myself came to the line, a hair between each of us – mine being the thickest for a 7th place finish.