Racing with Lance

Feedback rider Jason Young #41 at the start of the Snowmass MSC race in August 2009.
"At 10 seconds into the race I believe I could say I was ahead of Lance Armstrong (#71)..."　

Winter Park Hill Climb -- Feedback Sports Red Team On Top

In his first appearance in the expert class, Feedback Sports rider Jeff Connors picked up where he left off last year -- standing on the top of the box. Jeff stomped the competition in the Expert 30-34 class at the Winter Park Hill Climb on Saturday June 13 to take his first win of the season, ascending the 5.2-mile course in a smoking fast 39:29. Last year Jeff won the Mountain States Cup Sport 30-34 class with a steady string of 1st place finishes. No pressure, Jeff, we expect nothing less from you in '09.

If you want to get technical, however, about which Feedback Sports rider was the fastest on this course -- which climbs more than 2,060 feet -- then that honor goes to Doug Hudson, who put up 39:04.9 on his way to a 3rd place finish in the Expert 40-44 class. Doug is known for unleashing the beast within on the race course and he certainly did not disappoint Saturday. No doubt, it didn't hurt that his Tomac Type X weighed about 19 pounds on race day, complete with 310-gram Maxxis tires. Let's be honest, as the founder and president of Feedback Sports, Doug's got more pressure than most to make sure he wins the team's internal weight weenie contest. Hats off for the performance and the bike.

Heather Brion rounded out the Feedback Sports trips to the podium on Saturday, pegging it for 48:24.2 minutes to deliver a 3rd place finish in the women's Expert 30-39 class. This was a great showing for Heather, too, because it was her first race as an expert following a very successful 2008 campaign as a sport rider. She's clearly on track to have a breakout season.

The rest of Feedback Sports racers all had fantastic showings at the Hill Climb, with 9 riders earning Top 10 finishes in their respective classes. In the Expert 35-39 class, Scott Tucker jumped out with a strong 6th place finish and a time of 40:16.5. He was closely followed in the same class by Jerry Kopack, who nabbed 7th place with a time of 40:34.4. Jon Harrach sailed up the mountain in 43:31.2 for a 5th place finish in the Sport 25-29 class. Steve Vanderburgh, riding retro-style in the old yellow and blue Feedback Sports kit, put up a 45:54.2 for 7th place in the Sport 45-49 class. Kyle Henley put a personal record of 44:28 for an 8th place finish in Sport 35-39. Jim Bergman, riding in the ridiculously strong Expert 45-49 class (seriously, look HERE at the times these old guys put up), went 44:03.8 for 10th place.

All in all, strong performances from riders across every racing category helped vault the Feedback Sports Red Team into 1st place in the overall team competition. Great job to everyone.

NEXT UP: We've got racers who will be in Crested Butte on June 20-21 for the Wildflower Rush, a MSC race. We are all pulling for Jason Young, one of our first-year pro racers, as he heads to the Butte. Wildflower is a course that really suits his talents as an unbelievable climber and smoking fast descender. Good luck to you, JY!!

The next Winter Park race will be June 27 for the Cross Country Super Loop, the first XC race of the series.

Chili Challenge

Details are filtering from last weekend at the Chili Challenge in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Here are some picture from Tracy...

The captain's pre-race ritual

How can this weigh the same as a FS race bike?

Here's a brief race report from Doug...

My pre short track rest strategy didn't help too much. It was kind of
strange having a race start at 5:30 in the afternoon. Jason didn't start
until ~6:15pm.
Tracy carried the torch this weekend with two podiums. Greg G also podiumed
with a 3rd in STXC. Good job!!
We had a double wide tent/pit area with Zach's sprinter van, which was nice
for the intermittent rain.

STXC: short loop with a 100 yard climb, a washboard straightaway, a few
turns and a high speed loose gravel corner.

Tracy T = 2nd
Greg G = 3rd
Nick T = 4th
Doug H = 9th
Jim B = 10th
Jason Y = 12th

XC: The usual 2K feet of climbing/lap with crazy but super fun descent. We
all did 2 laps except Jason Y with 2.5 loops. Weather was cool and it
rained off and on during the expert race adding difficulty to an already
technical course.

Tracy T = 2nd
Doug H = 6th on the old Yeti Hardtail using Sean Madsen's newly dialed in
fit dimensions.
Greg G = 8th
Jim B = 14th
Nick T = 15th
Jason Y = 25th/43 on Lisa's hardtail Scott. He broke a suspension bolt and
realized it ~45 min before start time.

I have a bunch of pictures also that I'll send out later.

Doug

Team picture and new kits

Last Tuesday was the first Tuesday night shop ride from Big Ring Cycles in Golden for 2009. The redesigned Feedback Sports kits were handed out. They look great. After wearing blue and yellow for 4 years it's going to take a little while to get used to the new colors. Most of the team showed up to get their new kits and to do Chimney Gulch / Apex loop.

We're the total package -- fast and good looking...

Rabbit Valley Time Trial Pics

Below are a few Rabbit Valley Time Trial pics courtesy of a post on the Mountain States Cup forums. Notice the brand new kits! The cross country is tomorrow (Sunday).

Jason Young making his Pro debut

Nick Thelan

Greg Gorrell