The 2011 mountain bike racing season has come to an end, and many Feedback Sports racers have transitioned over to Cyclocross. 2011 was a successful year for our team, as members were tearing it up all around the region. We finished 2011 with more than thirty wins!! Feedback Sports team member race wins during the year included:
-Winter Park Series Overall Championship (Team Competition)
-Winter Park Series Overall Championship (Pro Women)
-Winter Park Series Overall Championship (Expert Men 45-49)
-Winter Park Series Overall Championship (Sport Men 30-34)
-Mountain States Cup Series Overall Championship (Cat 2 Men 30-39)
-Ring the Peak 70 miler
-Oakridge Fat 55 (Open Men 35-44)
-Peaceful Valley 2/3 Marathon (Open Men 40-49 and Overall)
-Peaceful Valley 2/3 Marathon (Open Men 50-59)
-Sol Survivor XC (Cat 2 Men 30-39)
-King of the Rockies/Tipperary Creek (Expert Men 45-49)
-Winter Park Mountain Top Circuit (Expert Men 45-49)
-Blast the Mass XC (Cat 2 Men 30-39)
-CrankworX Colorado XC (Expert Men 45-49)
-Laramie Enduro (Open Men 50+)
-Keystone Super-D (Open Women 35+)
-Breckenridge 100/B-32 Race (Open Men 50+)
-Winter Park Super-D (Pro Women)
-Winter Park Super-D (Expert Men 35-39)
-Winter Park Super-D (Expert Men 50+)
-Winter Park Super-D (Sport Women 35-39)
-Winter Park Super-D (Sport Men 30-34)
-Winter Park Valley Point to Point (Expert Men 45-49)
-Wildflower Rush XC (Cat 2 Men 30-39)
-Ridgeline Rampage Marathon (Open Women 40-49)
-Ridgeline Rampage Half Marathon (Open Men 50+)
-Winter Park Hill Climb (Sport Men 30-34)
-Front Range 60 (Open Women 30-39)
-Rabbit Valley Rally XC (Cat 1 Men 19-29)
-VooDoo Fire Half Marathon (Open Men 50+)
-Cheyenne Mountain. Explosion (Cat 1 Men 19-29)
-Dawn til Dusk (Open Men 50+)And now, here's what was happening during the months of September and October.
Ring the Peak:
At 6:30am on Saturday morning October 1st, racers lined up at the America the Beautiful park in Colorado Springs for the kick-off of the Ring the Peak 70 mile mountain bike race around Pike's Peak. As a part of the Southwest Endurance Series, the race is unsanctioned and each racer is responsible for staying on course and tracking their own time. Feedback Sports racer Ross Delaplane gave it a go and finished first! (or tied for first I should say) Here is Ross' first-hand report of what the race is all about:
"Time to try something different. I was looking at the Crested Butte 100, but when that race was full, I found another Southwest Endurance Series race going on in Colorado Springs on the same day - the Ring the Peak. Over 70 miles you circumnavigate Pikes Peak, and with 10K feet of climbing, it looked to be a tough ride. This event is unique in several ways:
1) Outrageous fall color.
2) No entry fee.
3) It ends at McCabe's tavern in downtown Colorado Springs.
For much of the ride, you follow the Ring the Peak trail which is a very well marked route. You don't get any additional course markings or traffic control though (see no entry fee!). That said, for someone like myself who has never ridden on any of the event roads or trails it is a different experience as you try to navigate while racing. A GPS would have been nice for sure.
After a quick pre-race meeting in the predawn darkness, I found myself with a solid 5 man group right from the start. Sunrise came as we passed through Manitou Springs - surreal as everything glowed red and throngs of hikers were already out to climb the Incline. Things separated a bit as we hit the first significant hike-a-bike up the Mt. Esther trail and aspens were ablaze on the ensuing singletrack down to the big reservoirs that serve as drinking water for Co Springs. I made my first and worst navigational error and rode a self imposed 3 mile penalty loop around the wrong reservoir and fell back to 4th place. It would take me a couple of hours of riding before I would regain the front on Hwy 67.
The leaf peepers were out in force as the traffic on 67 was unpleasant so I made a point to ride hard to minimize my time on pavement. After a few more miles of easy pedaling on Gold Camp Road we had a 3 man group as we made the turn onto the hardest climb of the day - the dreaded FR376 to hike-a-bike segment. Interested readers will just have to go experience it for themselves, but everybody later seemed to agree that this section was distinctly brutal.
Now down to just 2 of us, I slipped away on the final singletrack down into town. This section was a blast and might take some kind of record for maximum elevation lost down - maybe around 4500'? Not often that I'm ready to be done with fun downhill singletrack, but in this case I was happy to be back on pavement for the ride back into town. As I tooled through downtown Colorado Springs, I was hanging at a stoplight just blocks from the finish when Patrick Coady rolled up. No matter - time for a brew!"
Thanks to Ryan Kohler for donating his time and effort organizing this event. Check out the website here:
http://ringthepeak.com/
Oakridge Fat 55:
Feedback team member Ross Delaplane extended his Oregon stay (for MTB Nationals) to partake in the Oakridge Fat 55 mountain bike race. The race venue was based in Oakridge, OR which is located about 150 miles South of Portland and 100 miles West of Bend. Trails for the race ran through the Willamette National Forest. Here's what Ross had to say about the race:
"Given all the great things I'd heard from Oregon mountain bikers about the trails around Oakridge, I was excited to tackle the Fat 55. Layed out in a 3 loop cloverleaf with close to 10K feet of climbing it was sure to be a hard effort. Over 50 riders showed up for the challenge. On the start line it was announced that there would be a $100 prime for the first rider to aid station #1. I figured I might as well give it a go - who can't use a little extra gas money? After some initial creekside singletrack things were looking good, and I built a sizable gap over the field, but was caught fairly quickly on the long climb to the aid station by Evan Plews on his singlespeed Ibis.
The race director had warned us repeatedly before the race that Heckletooth had many dangerous obstacles and to plan on dismounting. After a quick crash to safety, and a minute lost figuring out my pretzel of a chain, dismounting was indeed starting to look like the best course of action. It seemed that just about everyone crashed at least once on this singletrack. Thankfully, the trail was incredibly well marked and I found myself cyclocrossing many of the steep rocky switchbacks. Both incredibly fun and intense at the same time, Heckletooth is probably the most sustained hairball trail I've every seen used in a cross country race - I loved it!
Trailing Evan by 40 seconds at the completion of the first loop, it was time for the epic long fireroad climb to the Larisson Creek trail. This was my favorite of the three primary single tracks used in the race. Twisty, turny, with lots of roots, rocks and punchy little climbs, this trail was right in my wheelhouse. Starting the long paved climb of the 3rd loop I was still within 2 minutes of the lead, but I had a feeling the next climb wasn't going to be pretty. In just 4.5 miles of steep climbing, I gave up more than 10 minutes as the late indian summer sun climbed high in the sky. I was thankful to finally make it to the top with no chasers in sight, and bombed the super fast and buff Larisson Rock trail down to the finish in a hair over 5 hours.
Post race was a great mellow vibe with food for racers and live music right next to the beautiful Willamette River. Given this was only the second annual event, this race has a great future. I'd highly recommend to any visiting Coloradans to check out Oakridge if they are mountain biking in Oregon."
Ross finished 1st in the 35-44 age group and 2nd overall.
Fall Classic:The last mountain bike race of the season for Breckenridge was the Fall Classic, which was held on Saturday morning September 10th. The history of the Fall Classic dates back to the 1980s when local Summit county riders began holding races over their favorite backcountry trails. Over the years, the race has gone from being the first off-road stage race in Colorado to being a key XC race in a number of different race series. This year, the Fall Classic was a 34 mile XC race, and part of the Summit Mountain Challenge series.
The course served up almost 5,500 feet of climbing, numerous rocky and steep descents, a sizable creek/river crossing, and lots of great singletrack. Feedback Sports team members Ross Delaplane and Pat D'Innocenzo made the trip out to Breckenridge for a great day of mountain bike racing. There were sunny skies, crisp temperatures and mostly tacky course conditions. There also were a decent number of muddy and wet sections to keep those tires from hooking up too well.
Ross rode an excellent race at the Fall Classic to place 3rd in a very good caliber Pro field! Ross had the 3rd fastest time of all racers.
Pat raced in the Expert 45+ category and finished in 6th place.
Sol Survivor:Steve Warfel was in Granby on Sunday September 4th for the last race in the 2011 Mountain States Cup Series, the Sol Survivor. The cross country race, held on the same course as the 2010 USA Cycling National Championships, earned racers double points towards the season standings. The course was 9 miles long and included 1,750 feet of altitude gain per lap. Steve raced in the Cat 2 30-39 group, which did 2 laps.
Steve finished out his 2011 MSC season with a win in the Sol Survivor XC race! This solidified his first place standing in the overall series results. Steve traveled throughout the region to earn the 2011 Mountain States Cup series title, racing in Colorado Springs, Salida, Angel Fire, Crested Butte, Telluride, Keystone, Snowmass and Sol Vista. He concluded his successful MSC racing season with 4 wins and numerous podium finishes. Way to go Steve!
Peaceful Valley Cycle Derby:The growth of mountain bike racing can be seen once again with promoters offering yet another new race in 2011. Racing came to the small town of Elbert, which is about 30 miles Northeast of Colorado Springs. The venue for the race was the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, which offered excellent terrain, great amenities and fun racing.
The course for the races was 22 miles in length (a 15 mile loop and a 7 mile loop) and it offered some tight twisty singletrack, short steep climbs, rocky technical sections and wide open wind-swept dirt road sections. It was one of those courses that put a smile on racers faces, but left them knowing that they raced a tough course when the day was done.
Somewhere around 150 racers were out at the Peaceful Valley ranch for three different races; the 22 mile XC race, the 44 mile 2/3 marathon race and the 66 mile full marathon race. Four Feedback Sports racing team members made it out to the ranch on Sunday morning September 4th to race at the brand new venue. Rob Batey raced the full 66 mile marathon and finished in 4th place in the Open 30-39 category, with a time of 5 hours and 56 minutes. Rob also finished in 4th place in the overall Rocky Mountain Endurance race series (30-39 age group) for the season.
Racing in the 2/3 marathon were Ross Delaplane, Pat D'Innocenzo and Mike Schaub. Ross finished 1st in the Open 40-49 category (and 1st overall of all participants) with a really strong effort.
Pat D'Innocenzo and Mike Schaub finished 1st and 2nd in the Open 50-59 category, which was good for 4th and 5th place among all finishers.
All four Feedback team members raved about the venue and were excited to have raced on such a good all-around course. Mountain Flyer magazine did a write-up of the race which includes a nice photo of Feedback racer Rob Batey. Click
here to view the article.
