Since Boulder is one serious bike racing town, I eased into it by racing the 45+ race. There are tons of fast guys in this town, in all age groups. I knew of Rod Yoder and Mike Hogan in my race. Hogan won MTB Nats this year.
Saturday was a seeding CX TT that I didn't take part in, so I was doomed to a back of the pack start. There were about 40 guys in front of me that I'd have to work through to get to the head of the race. I started fairly relaxed and watched to see how things would go. I moved up a little on the first lap, jumping from group to group as the gaps developed and opportunities presented themselves. On the 2nd lap I started to see what looked like the head of the race and caught the group that made up 3rd through 8th. On the 3rd lap I threw down my fastest lap and reeled in and passed the 2 guys off the front: Yoder and Hogan. As I caught Yoder with 2 to go, he was a little gassed and couldn't hold my wheel when I pushed the pace up the hill. I kept the hammer down and gradually pulled away from him. I was able to keep the rubber side down and rolled in with a comfortable gap of 30 or so seconds.
Here's a write up and some videos of the Prom men and Women at 303cycling.com.
The call-ups for the rest of the races this season are based on USAC rankings. After this race I'll have 3 of the 5 races I need to have a full ranking score. So, it looks like I'll be starting at the back again on Saturday.
(photo credit: Shawn Curry)
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