As the weather has heated up here in Colorado, so has the racing calendar. At the front end of June, Vitamin Cottage’s Wayne Watson won the State 55+ Time Trial with a time of 52:58 over the 38 K course. Watson’s nearest competitor was 49 seconds slower.
The past couple of weekends we have seen some great classic races develop in the Front Range of Colorado. On June 9 and 10th a couple of newly paired races in Fort Collins showed up on the calendar. In the Colorado Cycling Festival Road Race Jon Baker did a stellar ride to finish 2nd place in this soon to be epic classic that featured a 12-mile climb and harrowing descents. That performance was matched on the women’s side as Beth Fisk also finished 2nd. The Vitamin Cottage 45+ men’s squad garnered first and second in the Road Race. Old guy climbing sensation, Jimi Gibson, ripped the legs off of everyone to solo away on the long Rist Canyon climb then kept his head down for the remaining 40 miles for the win. Vitamin Cottage’s Bill Kellagher came to the line second, about a minute behind Gibson. Other notables to make the top ten in the Road Race were Dirk Friel and Jon Tarkington on the men’s side and Lisa Matlock for the women.
In the Fort Collins Criterium the following day, the ageless Alan McCormack took a well fought win for the team, while Jon Tarkington followed in 4th place. On the women’s side, Lisa Matlock and Beth Fisk took 5th and 6th respectively.
The next weekend featured the early summer classic Rocky Mountain Omnium. This event pairs the US Paralympic National Championships with road racing events to allow a venue for greater exposure for our Paralympic athletes. On the women’s side, Beth Fisk ripped through the time trial to take 2nd, while Renee Eastman and Lisa Matlock also placed in the top ten. The following day’s road race saw a remarkable feat by teammate Renee Eastman as she took her 3rd win in as many tries at the Hugo Road Race. With Beth and SyRae finishing 4th and 6th, the team was in great position for the final day of the weekend Omnium.
Both Beth and Renee were tied for 2nd on points after day 2, and that meant there would be a tactical race in the criterium on the final day. Although the team worked hard for the goal of the overall, they came up a bit short in the end. Lisa rode fantastically in the break that day and took a well deserved 2nd place, while Beth and Renee rode aggressively to try to take the overall title and both finished in the top ten. Although they weren't able to take the overall, the two Vitamin Cottage riders still landed on the final podium for 2nd and 3rd. With Lisa also ending up in the top 10 for the omnium, the women certainly had a great weekend of racing.
On the men’s side, they dealt with a limited squad for the omnium weekend, but still managed to place riders in the top ten for both the road race and criterium. While Jon Tarkington finished 7th in the road race, Christian McCarthy and Alan McCormack finished 4th and 5th respectively in the criterium.
In very similar fashion to the prior week's road race, the 45+ mens team went first and second at the Hugo road race. A small group of 6 which included Vitamin Cottage’s Bill Kellagher and Bob Pinkerton formed on the second leg of this 80 mile rolling hill rectangle course. No sooner did the break form when Bill Kellagher attacked the group and was out of sight in a matter of minutes. Kellagher’s 45 mile solo effort nailed the win for the team. The chase group of 5 approached the line a little over a minute back with Pinkerton taking the group sprint for second. Pinkerton ultimately placed second in the overall omnium results by finishing a solid 3rd in the Curtis Park Criterium the following day.
Up next for the team is the Dead Dog Classic in Laramie, Wyoming.