Cherry Creek Time Trial Series: Weeks 1 & 2

I'm (Cory) doing a 7 week time trial series in Cheery Creek State Park this spring. Kelsey said that I should just write about it myself :-) It's on Wednesday evenings and have had 2 races (out of 7) so far. I'm happy to have 3 other teammates racing as well--Megan, RaNae and Kelley are all giving it a shot. Also, my co-worker Pete is racing.

Week 1--April 10
I was so pumped for this 1st race! I was anxious to see how I felt after all of the hard training I have been putting in this winter/spring. Much to my dismay, the weather had turned and it was about 40 and raining. Since I had ran the Denver Marathon in far worse weather, I decided not to let the rain bug me and just go nuts. Well, that strategy seemed to work and I placed 9th in a field of 23 other category 4 women. It was a fun ride and I was even more pleased to find out that I had beat Pete by about a minute! Yes! Mission accomplished!

Week 2--April 17
Well, if 40 and raining sounded miserable....how about 33 and a sleet/snow mix?! That's April in Denver for ya--the day before it was about 70 and then we got a one day winter storm that just happened to be on race day. I was the only one from DFT brave, or crazy, enough to race. Let me tell you, it was no picnic out there. I had some serious ice buildup on my helmet, eyebrows and shoes when I was done. I was bummed because my time was a minute slower than the week before, but was still pleased that I had given it a strong effort. Unfortunately, the other women who beat me last week all decided to show up too and I ended up in 8th place. Go figure! The field size was drastically smaller and none of the pro/1/2 people showed...maybe they know something that I don't. Hmmm.

Kelsey came down to watch me race, here are a few lovely photos and video that he took!

Me during my warmup...brrr!
Some random person's car....look at all the snow buildup!

On the way back in. About mile 7

Lucky for Kelsey, he got to be inside his nice, warm car! :-)

Have fun!
Cory

Quick Florida Trip

Cory and I traveled to Titusville, Florida to visit her grandparents for the weekend. It was nice to get away for a bit and enjoy some sunny weather. It was 30 degrees and snowing when we left Denver. We went to the beach, Downtown Disney and on an airboat ride. Here's a video from that adventure!

Happy Trails!
Kelsey

Oredigger Classic

Cory and I both did races the weekend of April 5 & 6. Cory did a time trial race up Lookout Mountain on Saturday and I did the Criterium at the School of Mines on Sunday. It was a fun weekend, with beautiful weather and fun times with our DFT teammates!

On Saturday, Cory did a great job at the time trial and finished near the middle of the Category 4 women. As usual, she wasn't completely pleased with her time, but she felt strong, stayed relaxed and got another race under her belt. Since Cory raced last of the DFT bunch, we piled in Hillary’s car and yelled out some encouragement along the way.

Here are a couple photos from her race---look at her relaxed form!

Sunday’s crit was at the Colorado School of Mines campus and it was a technical course with 90 degree corners and a long hill (1/2 mile) to the start finish line. There were about 50-60 riders in the cat 4/5 race. The pack started fast and on the 4^th lap, I was sitting near the back of the pack and a gap developed right in front of me. We were headed up the long hill and I didn’t have enough gas to get around the other riders ahead of me and catch up with the pack. I sat up and waited for some guys to work with, but ended up with one other guy for the remainder of the race. We worked together and he pulled on the uphill and I did on the downhill. Overall, the pack got really split and a bunch of guys dropped off the back. On one of the 90 degree turns, a chunk of concrete came loose and my bike went sideways, my seat 90 degrees to my frame and thankfully I was able to hang on, get my seat back to where it belongs and still hang with the other guy. On the last lap I tried to recover a bit and right at the bottom of the hill, the other rider stood up and tried to break away. All I could do was to go hard and hope I had enough left in the tank to catch him. In an exciting sprint to the finish, I caught him with about 50 meters to go—both of us were completely spent, but I was able to beat him by a wheel at the finish. I felt like I was going to throw up for the next 30 minutes, but thankfully recovered. I ended up finishing in 12^th place. Another crit down!

Here is some video from this race---if you listen carefully you can hear Megan giving me some advice, or yelling...depending on how you look at it :-)

Happy Trails, Kelsey