The racing season is easing into gear here in Colorado. With a break in the action on the Front Range this weekend, here's a look back at the last couple of weeks.
Dirk Friel leads Jon Tarkington at the Coal Miner's Classic
Photo © courtesy of Deirdre Moynihan - check out more great shots @ dmoynihan.smugmug.com
WHEELS OF THUNDER & COAL MINERS - Last weekend the Wheel's of Thunder (WOT) Classic took place on Saturday and Sunday was the Coal Miner's Classic, both on new courses. Renee Eastman pulled off a pair of 4th places in the women's Pro-1-2 races. In the men's WOT race, Dirk Friel and new teammate Randy Reichardt found themselves as the only team with two in a breakaway initiated by Henk Vogel's (Toyota-United). Before Dirk and Randy could turn the situation to their advantage, the break split and they found themselves on defense, which ultimately resulted in 7th and 8th place finishes, respectively. Zak Grabowski (THF Cycling) took the win ahead of some very experienced riders.
Friel turned it around in Sunday's Coal Miners classic, finishing on the podium in second place behind winner Henk Vogels. Friel's breakaway companion and teammate Jon Tarkington took 4th.
SUNSHINE HILLCLIMB - Jon Baker finished 2nd behind Phil Zaijeck (Healthnet Maxxis) and ahead of 3rd place and former VC rider Scott Tietzel, who now rides for the Jelly Belly Professional Cycling Team. The course takes place on a 9 mile climb starting at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and climbs over 3000 ft.
RABBIT MOUNTAIN TIME TRIAL - The VC men's and women's team took the Rabbit Mountain team time trial (full disclosure - VC was the only team to enter the men's event). In the individual Time Trial held on the same day, first-year VC rider Carol Hutton took the win with Renee Eastman taking second. Speaking of time trials, Jon Baker took the following Wednesday Boulder Time Trial Series win with teammate Dirk Friel taking second on a super windy night.
Here's a recap of the Tour of Arkansas...
Stage 0: The hardest part can be getting there, and Arkansas was no exception. A 2 hour delay in Dallas meant I arrived at my host house at 1AM. 6 hours later I was up and eating breakfast for stage 1.
Stage 1: A tricky stage to judge; over 10,000 ft of climbing over 110 miles, but no climb more than 2 miles long. This meant a constant up and down, with a battle for position at the front for the each punchy climb; a bit like an Ardennes Classic, this one. After a valiant battle, I made the front group of 30, but was unfortunately gapped off a bit on the final rise before the line, losing 12 seconds.
Stage 2: 97 miles, finishing with the infamous 3 mile climb up Mt. Nebo, with steady grades of 18%. Yes, this climb is steeper than Magnolia. I had a 27 tooth cassette for the occasion, and needed every gear inch of it. After a steady pace on the run in, where I had to battle again with the bigger teams for a spot a the front (I didn't make any friends this race, for sure), we hit the finishing climb hard. I rode up at my own pace, and wound up 15th for the day, @ 1min 40 from the race winner.
Stage 3: Another near 100-miler, this time finishing on a more steady 10 mile climb of around 2500 ft elevation gain. At this point I started to realize that the head cold I'd been trying to ignore had moved a bit into my lungs; I was determined to give it a go regardless, as my legs were feeling good. Abound halfway up the final climb, Frank Pipp put in a strong attack, drawing 10 guys out from the field; I was a bit indecisive at that moment and found myself in the 2nd group. I eventually attacked out of that group with Mark Walters, but we were not quite able to bridge to the front. I finished 12th on the day.
Stage 4: Downtown Criterium in Van Buren, Arkansas. Not necessarily my favorite event, but I was determined to make the most of it and ride at the front. By the time I got there at 3 laps in, the race-winning break had already gone, and the team of the GC leader (Team Type 1), was content to ride a steady (read; leg-busting) tempo to keep it in check. I tried an attack with 5 to go, trying to steal a few seconds and move up a spot on GC, but the pace on the field brought me back.
I finished a reasonable 15th on GC, not quite what I had hoped for, but a great training effect should be achieved nonetheless. Tour of Arkansas is a solid 4-stage race, and one I would like to come back in the future.
2-mile:
At the beginning of the 2-mile, Vitamin Cottage rider Karl Erickson rode to the front to whip up the pace. The speed held steady until about three laps to go when the field ballooned up and Karl moved closer to the front, anticipating that someone would attack. With two and a half laps to go, a Fort Lewis College rider attacked resulting in a few bike lengths gap. A Spike rider initiated the chase and Karl latched onto that wheel. On the back straight before seeing one lap to go, Karl bridged up to the FLC rider, and then came around on the last lap to take the win.
5-mile:
The pack held a quick but steady pace for the first 15 laps of the 5-mile. With 9 laps to go, Karl rotated onto the front and accelerated hard for one lap, breaking the pack into a couple smaller groups. He was joined by two other riders. The three leaders worked well together until Karl attacked with just over one lap to go and held on for the win.