Result: 20th (Pro category)
Dist: 25miles
Terrain: dry singletrack, undulating
Here is what the organisers said...
"Experience one of Durango's premier mountain bike courses, right on the edge of town. The SUBARU Cross Country Course starts at Chapman Hill and crosses over into Horse Gulch with a mixture of terrain including both single and double track and a few rocky technical areas. Ride on the '01 World Cup and '02 NORBA Nationals course -only one long loop & better!"
Durango is home to many mountain biking legends, and it is obvious why - these guys live in mtb heaven! Ned Overend was racing the pro category with us and gave the lighties a hard time - he really is a legend.
From the gun, we headed straight up a loose rocky road climbing up to the top of a little ski run. It really was not bad at all - the pace was quite manageable and things were looking good. I was placed 7th, just on Ned's wheel for the first 20 min and then went through a bad patch for 15 min before picking up the tempo again and fighting back to 7th. The singletrack was really fast and dry with a good mix of rocky sections and hardpack flowing trail. Unfortunately i don't have any photos of the course but will post some here on this blog in a few weeks time...
Bad luck struck when i flatted my front tyre and damaged the rim - the slime in the tyre had dried out and i unknowingly used my only bomb to try and re-inflate it. So i was forced to run the last 5 odd miles which threw me out of the prize money (top 10). But not a bad day in the office, I am quite upbeat with the standard of racing here in the USA - these guys are beatable and a lot slower than the europeans. My form is on the up and i am really looking forward to next weekend's race in Angel Fire, New Mexico.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Iron Horse Road Race
Result: 27/1200
Climbing: 1700m
Temp: 13 avg
Alt avg: 2578m
Speed: 84.3km/h max 30.3 avg
Dist: 76.4
The iron horse road race is a duel between steam train (Iron Horse) and cyclist from Durango to Silverton. The field was over 1200 cyclists in total with separate starts for each category. Two major category climbs confronted the athletes, one at 15km and the other at 40km but it felt like uphill the whole way! The start was at 6500ft and the finish was nearly 10 000ft above sea level with a max altitude on the course of 10 941 ft. The yanks certainly aren't scared to send the riders into the stratosphere! Last year in Europe, the courses contained a lot of accumulated ascent but this is the highest race i have ever done. Black Mountain Pass (Lesotho), which is the highest point on the Trans Frontier Challenge is marginally less at 10,761 ft. Check out http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/IHProfile.pdf for the course profile detail.
The pace in the Pro category was initially pretty pedestrian. There was a break away bunch of 5 riders within the first 2 miles, I tried to close them down but nobody came through to help me so i sat up and waited for the peleton. Its really difficult to ride smart when you do not know the ability of your competitors... i am now wiser! On the first climb, the pace erupted into an all out sprint - it was insane. We quickly reeled in the breakaway group and the pace just stayed at a blistering 30-35km/h up the 5% grade. For those of you familiar with power, i recon that i was pushing 350-380 watts (i weigh 72kg) so you get an idea of the intensity. Guys were popping off the bunch like popcorn at the movies on a half price evening! I was one of the unfortunate kernels. The lead group was 20 strong with 15 in the chase group. Just after the split, the lead pace slowed and the leaders maintained a 30sec gap on us. There were just not enough legs in the chase to close the gap.
We climbed and climbed up to snow level, then we carried on up and up into the thin air of the rockies - the chase bunch had strung out by this stage and there were bits of road kill lying all over the place, bleeding from the merciless pace set by the lead group.
The decent into Silverton was awesome - the switchbacks claimed a few blurry eyed roadies, no fatalities but plenty of blood. The finish was up the main street which must have made for an amazing sprint finishes - it was a 1km drag up to the finish banner, a fitting end to an awesome race.
Climbing: 1700m
Temp: 13 avg
Alt avg: 2578m
Speed: 84.3km/h max 30.3 avg
Dist: 76.4
The iron horse road race is a duel between steam train (Iron Horse) and cyclist from Durango to Silverton. The field was over 1200 cyclists in total with separate starts for each category. Two major category climbs confronted the athletes, one at 15km and the other at 40km but it felt like uphill the whole way! The start was at 6500ft and the finish was nearly 10 000ft above sea level with a max altitude on the course of 10 941 ft. The yanks certainly aren't scared to send the riders into the stratosphere! Last year in Europe, the courses contained a lot of accumulated ascent but this is the highest race i have ever done. Black Mountain Pass (Lesotho), which is the highest point on the Trans Frontier Challenge is marginally less at 10,761 ft. Check out http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/IHProfile.pdf for the course profile detail.
The pace in the Pro category was initially pretty pedestrian. There was a break away bunch of 5 riders within the first 2 miles, I tried to close them down but nobody came through to help me so i sat up and waited for the peleton. Its really difficult to ride smart when you do not know the ability of your competitors... i am now wiser! On the first climb, the pace erupted into an all out sprint - it was insane. We quickly reeled in the breakaway group and the pace just stayed at a blistering 30-35km/h up the 5% grade. For those of you familiar with power, i recon that i was pushing 350-380 watts (i weigh 72kg) so you get an idea of the intensity. Guys were popping off the bunch like popcorn at the movies on a half price evening! I was one of the unfortunate kernels. The lead group was 20 strong with 15 in the chase group. Just after the split, the lead pace slowed and the leaders maintained a 30sec gap on us. There were just not enough legs in the chase to close the gap.
We climbed and climbed up to snow level, then we carried on up and up into the thin air of the rockies - the chase bunch had strung out by this stage and there were bits of road kill lying all over the place, bleeding from the merciless pace set by the lead group.
The decent into Silverton was awesome - the switchbacks claimed a few blurry eyed roadies, no fatalities but plenty of blood. The finish was up the main street which must have made for an amazing sprint finishes - it was a 1km drag up to the finish banner, a fitting end to an awesome race.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Teluride - Bridal Veil Falls
Good sense prevailled this weekend and i did not race - have to get over this nagging cold. I went for a cruize up the mountain on sat and took this shot of a waterfall about 5 miles outside town.
Check out the snow that the water is falling into ... the rivers are pumping with all the water from the snow melt and the whitewater kayakers are going abo! It will be a few months before all of the trails are open.
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Check out the snow that the water is falling into ... the rivers are pumping with all the water from the snow melt and the whitewater kayakers are going abo! It will be a few months before all of the trails are open.
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Saturday, May 21, 2005
Pete in Fruita
This image was taken in Fruita which is near Moab in Utah. We are riding in a national park that is filled with marked singletrak, the pic says it all.
Check out the singletrak to the left of Pete ... and yes, he does have huge power!
For the full size image, go to ... http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/Pete%20fruita.JPG
Grasslands
http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/pete%20fruita grasses.JPG
Colorado River
http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/Colorado%20river.JPG
Singletrak Climb ... yip, its steep
http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/pete%20fruita climbing.JPG
Friday, May 20, 2005
Arrival in USA
I am through!
What a relief, i was kakking that the border officials were going to give me hell and send me back to 'mud island' (UK). Fortunately, i was able to choose which queue to stand in at immigration and tactfully took the one with the nice young blonde lady... good call !
Peter Kenyon, a good mate of mine from Howick met me at the airport and we headed off to Grand Junction (UTAH). We did some absolutely amazing riding in Fruita, i took some pearler photos and will post them here on the Blog as soon as i figure out how to do it... I am sitting in a library here in Teluride which has free internet access - bonus. We are at an altitude of 9000ft so yesterdays interval training session was interesting... the air is a tad thin up here but after a few weeks i should find my lungs.
Teluride is the playground of the rich and famous, its a very exclusive ski village which is frequented by rock stars and celebs. The locals are awesome, there is a young crowd here and i have not met one person yet who does not get out into the mountains ... if its not on a bike or on foot then its in the air or water. There are some seriously crazy and talented athletes here, intersting folk indeed.
This weekend we head off to Denver to do some short course racing, i still have a nagging cold so will just have to take the race as it comes and pace myself accordingly. (that's for you mom!) Have a great weekend everyone!
What a relief, i was kakking that the border officials were going to give me hell and send me back to 'mud island' (UK). Fortunately, i was able to choose which queue to stand in at immigration and tactfully took the one with the nice young blonde lady... good call !
Peter Kenyon, a good mate of mine from Howick met me at the airport and we headed off to Grand Junction (UTAH). We did some absolutely amazing riding in Fruita, i took some pearler photos and will post them here on the Blog as soon as i figure out how to do it... I am sitting in a library here in Teluride which has free internet access - bonus. We are at an altitude of 9000ft so yesterdays interval training session was interesting... the air is a tad thin up here but after a few weeks i should find my lungs.
Teluride is the playground of the rich and famous, its a very exclusive ski village which is frequented by rock stars and celebs. The locals are awesome, there is a young crowd here and i have not met one person yet who does not get out into the mountains ... if its not on a bike or on foot then its in the air or water. There are some seriously crazy and talented athletes here, intersting folk indeed.
This weekend we head off to Denver to do some short course racing, i still have a nagging cold so will just have to take the race as it comes and pace myself accordingly. (that's for you mom!) Have a great weekend everyone!
Saturday, May 14, 2005
British NPS #2 (National Cross Country Series)
Poor form but good course.
This race formed the second leg of the British National Points Series. Thanks to John Veness(Evans Cycles) who took me under his wing and organised everything for me... from accomodation to food and transport, it really helps having such great support in a foreign race environment. Thanks BRU !
Unfortunately, I only managed to pull an 18th position overall. I am not too dispondent at this result as my lead up to the race was far from ideal - London always seems to cause my training to take a dip and focus on social life takes an upward turn ... thanks to Willo, Rake, Purbrick and all the other Londoners, No regrets - its all good ! Anyway, i was suffering from a bit of a cold at the start so didn't have big expectations for a top result at the event.
The course was pretty tough with 2 major climbs per lap (far more than any of our SA national XC events- roughly twice the altitude gain of the Sabi National). The singletrac sections were very tight and reasonably technical with a few jumps and rooted offcamber sections weaving their way down the Welsh forests. Thankfully the course was dry or there would have been even more spills and pile ups.
My race started off pretty slowly, starting at the back of the pack i managed to work up into about 30th position after the 1st lap. The second and third laps started getting the better of me but I regained my rhythm and finished the race in good spirits managing to move steadily up the field especially in the last 2 laps. Here is a link to the official results for those interested...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2005/may05/premier05_2
Please send me your constructive crits so that i can develop an appropriate writing style to suit the folk that actually read this blog!
Cheers,
Roan
This race formed the second leg of the British National Points Series. Thanks to John Veness(Evans Cycles) who took me under his wing and organised everything for me... from accomodation to food and transport, it really helps having such great support in a foreign race environment. Thanks BRU !
Unfortunately, I only managed to pull an 18th position overall. I am not too dispondent at this result as my lead up to the race was far from ideal - London always seems to cause my training to take a dip and focus on social life takes an upward turn ... thanks to Willo, Rake, Purbrick and all the other Londoners, No regrets - its all good ! Anyway, i was suffering from a bit of a cold at the start so didn't have big expectations for a top result at the event.
The course was pretty tough with 2 major climbs per lap (far more than any of our SA national XC events- roughly twice the altitude gain of the Sabi National). The singletrac sections were very tight and reasonably technical with a few jumps and rooted offcamber sections weaving their way down the Welsh forests. Thankfully the course was dry or there would have been even more spills and pile ups.
My race started off pretty slowly, starting at the back of the pack i managed to work up into about 30th position after the 1st lap. The second and third laps started getting the better of me but I regained my rhythm and finished the race in good spirits managing to move steadily up the field especially in the last 2 laps. Here is a link to the official results for those interested...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2005/may05/premier05_2
Please send me your constructive crits so that i can develop an appropriate writing style to suit the folk that actually read this blog!
Cheers,
Roan
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
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