Winter Park Tipperary Creek

The season finale for the 2012 Winter Park Epic Singletrack race series took place on Sunday August 26th, the King of the Rockies/Tipperary Creek XC.  This 25.2 mile race is a Colorado classic that many of the Sport's big names have competed in over the past 10 to 20 years.  It is still a racer favorite with its generous amounts of climbing, steep gnarly descents and tight twisty singletrack. 

The race began on County Road 50, a few miles west of Fraser, and finished at the Winter Park Resort.  All start groups from Pro to Beginner raced the entire 25 mile course, which allowed racers to see how their finishing time stacked up to the top pro racers in the State. We had ten Feedback Sports racers (in various start groups) out at 10:00am for a chilly start to what turned out to be a great day for mountain biking.

Race photos are courtesy of Annette Hayden and Mountain Moon Photography.

Racing in the Pro category were Lisa Hudson, Tim Allen and Ross Delaplane.  Lisa finished on the podium with a 3rd place finish, while Tim and Ross finished 7th and 12th respectively in the 24 racer Pro Men's field.

Rob Batey had a great race in the Expert 35-39 class, finishing second, just a fraction of a second away from taking the win!

Also coming through with strong finishes in the Expert class were Mike Schaub in 5th, Doug Hudson in 7th, Steve Warfel in 8th, Will Allen in 8th and Doug Meegan in 15th.

Colin Vito, racing in his fifth Winter Park race of the season, finished in 14th place in the Sport Men 35-39 group.

As the Tipperary Creek/King of the Rockies race was the last race of the season at Winter Park, overall series awards were calculated and given out.  Series championship awards were determined based on each rider's best 5 race finishes (out of the 7 race series).  Four Feedback Sports racing team members garnered podium finishes for the 2012 season at Winter Park!

Tim Allen finished in a tie for first place in the Pro Men's category for the season.  He did that with three race wins at Winter Park; the Hillclimb, the Valley point-to-point XC and the Grand Park short track.  Congratulations!

In the Pro Women's category, Lisa Hudson finished in second place!  She did that with consistent high finishes in all five Winter Park races that she entered this year.

Will Allen was a terror in the Expert Men's 30-34 category at Winter Park in 2012, with 3 podium finishes in the five races that he did.  That put Will in second place in the season standings! Nice job for a first timer at Winter Park.

Mike Schaub had a super consistent season at Winter Park in 2012, completing six races with two podium placings and top 5 finishes in all.  Mike finished in third place in the Expert Men's 50+ overall standings for the year.

As the 2012 season came to an end at Winter Park, racers and friends enjoyed some excellent food and beverages under the Feedback tent, while trading stories about the great season that just concluded.  But, there was no rest for the weary as cross season was just around the corner  . . .

2012 Breck Epic

Feedback Sports mountain bike racer Eric Davis took on the challenge of the 240-mile 6-day Breck Epic stage race this year.  The race is one of the most difficult and most rewarding in the world as it includes miles and miles of high altitude singletrack, 37,000 feet of climbing and long diverse courses each day.  Eric raced in the singlespeed category and finished the six day stage race in 23 hours and 33 minutes. Whew.  Eric's wife Mary also completed the epic!  Here is Eric's race report detailing how it went down:

"This year the 2012 Breck Epic held the unofficial Single Speed World Championship Stage Race.  Based on the luck (or lack of luck) I have had the past two years at the Breck Epic on a geared bike, I could not resist the lure of the SSWCSR.  It seemed like a good idea last January when I registered.  The closer I got to the race the more I questioned my decision.  I have had some success racing the SS in age group competition, but racing the SS against the 20, 30 and 40 year olds started to seem like a bad idea.  Not that I had any expectations of a podium but I also did not want to finish last in the SS category. 

The word Epic is defined as “extending beyond the usual or ordinary in size and scope."  This year the definition would prove to be accurate.  The first three stages are around 40 miles in length with over 6000 ft. of climbing.  Day 4 is the queen stage with 44 miles with 6800 ft. of climbing and day 5 while shorter includes the infamous hike-a-bike over Wheeler Pass.  Thankfully the final day is only 32 miles with only 3500 ft. of climbing.  Seems like there was a time in my life when 3500 ft. of climbing was an Epic day.

This year day 2 turned out to be the day that really hurt most of the field.  The race started with a drizzle of rain with a temp around 50.  That would turn out to be the nicest weather of the day.  Throughout the day the rain would go from light showers to downpours and trail conditions ranged from gooey to looking like stream beds.  It was hard to recognize riders since we were all covered in mud.  Some of the later racers were pulled at the last check point and given adjusted times to prevent hypothermia.  It was one of those days where you question why you aren’t on the couch next to the fire reading a book instead of out racing.  I am not sure how many people pulled the plug but the nightly meeting was certainly sparse after this stage.

Racing the SS this year has been an education in regulating energy output, when to walk and when to grind, not to mention learning just how long I can stay at or near anaerobic.  It is hard to say whether it is harder than racing the geared bike since they are so different.  It was certainly an adventure.  The SS field contained 19 racers.  Within the group there seemed to be two races.  The top three who are for the most part pros battled back and forth and then the rest of the racers had a race within a race.  I finished most days in 9^th or 10^th, with an overall of 9^th for the week.

This year Mary got talked into this race as well.  She raced it as team with a friend from Gunnison, women’s duo open.  There were only two women’s open teams but it turned out to be one of the most watched races each night (USA vs Canada).  The two teams traded podium spots each night with time deficits of as much as 18 minutes being made up from one day to the next.  Mary’s team went into day 5 (Wheeler Pass) down by 19 minutes.  They made up 17.5 minutes of that on day 5 and then went ahead by 3 minutes on the last day, day 6.  Mary’s team finished with about 32.5 hours of racing for the week."

Steamboat Stinger

The Feedback Sports race team had a strong contingent of racers out for the second edition of the Steamboat Stinger mountain bike endurance race on August 11th.  The 50 mile race, sponsored by Honey Stinger, consisted of two 25 mile loops, each with about 3,800 feet of climbing.  Much of the course was on sweet Steamboat Springs singletrack.  Word was that the views from around the course were amazing.

The Feedback team had a line-up of seven racers competing in the Pro-Open Men's field.  After one lap of the race, amazingly enough, five of the seven came through within about a minute of each other. (Rob Batey, Will Allen, Doug Hudson, Jerry Kopack and Brian Taylor).  

During the second lap, things sorted out a bit, with all five finishing between 27th and 37th place and within about 16 minutes of each other.  Rob Batey had the fastest time of all Feedback racers, coming in at 5 hours and 3 and a half minutes.  Will, Doug, Jerry and Brian soon followed. Also finishing strong in the Pro-Open Men's field were Jason Amrich and Jeff Connors.

In the Pro-Open Women's field, Emma Dunn and Lisa Hudson tore it up with 8th and 10th place finishes respectively.  All the more impressive given that both Emma and Lisa focus more on shorter races throughout the year.

All in all, the Feedback Sports team came back with lots of positive comments about the Steamboat Stinger bike race.  The course was excellent, The racing was tough and competitive. And the atmosphere was fun and laid back.  The word is out and there is no doubt that this race will continue to grow and draw even more racers!

Peaceful Valley Cycle Derby

The fifth and final stop of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Endurance (RME) series was the Peaceful Valley Cycle Derby, which took place on August 5th.  The mountain bike races were held on a 22 mile loop through the Peaceful Valley Scout ranch in Elbert, Colorado.  The ranch is located about 60 miles southeast of Denver, and is home to some great "Black Forest" singletrack.

The race venue was remote but also truly outstanding for mountain biking.  In fact, this is where the 2011 Colorado High School Cycling League championships were held.  The fun yet demanding race course included a number of climbs spread through the 22 miles, bringing the total elevation gain in at about 2,300 feet per lap. There were also plenty of rocky technical sections as well as wide open dirt roads throughout the course.  Marathon racers did 3 laps around the ranch, with half marathon racers going 2 laps and XC racers doing 1 lap.

About 200 mountain bikers made it out to compete in the various races.  Many were also vying for RME series titles that were still to be decided.  By the way, Feedback Sports is a proud sponsor of the 2012 RME series:

Two members of the Feedback Sports racing team were out at the PV Cycle Derby, and both were competing in the 44 mile half marathon race. (Both in the 50+ age bracket).  Feedback's Pat D'Innocenzo came away with the win:

And Mike Schaub finished in second place:

It was all Feedback Sports on the podium after the race:

As the day's results were finalized, overall RME series standings were compiled, and both Feedback Sports racers finished on the podium for that competition.  Mike Schaub finished first in the RME Half Marathon Mens 50+ standings for 2012. He held the series leaders jersey from May all the way to the end of the series!  In addition, Pat D'Innocenzo finished in 3rd place in the RME Half Marathon Mens 50+ overall season standings.

Photos are courtesy of Annette Hayden and Mountain Moon Photography.

Winter Park Race Rendezvous

On Saturday August 4th, racers assembled for the sixth race of the 2012 Winter Park Epic Singletrack mountain bike series, the "Race Rendezvous."  This race was one lap of an entirely new 12.8 mile loop through rocky, hilly and heavily wooded terrain.  The race venue was located on the North side of Rt. 40 between the Winter Park resort and Fraser, and proved to be a popular new addition to the series.

There were seven Feedback Sports race team members out at the Race Rendezvous ready for some fast and furious cross country racing. Will Allen led the charge for the team with a 3rd place finish in the Expert 30-34 category, and the fastest time of all Feedback racers:

Photos are courtesy of Annette Hayden and Mountain Moon Photography. 

The remaining Feedback team members all had strong races, with each placing in the top-ten in their racing category:

Lisa Hudson (Pro Women)

Heather Brion (Expert Women)

Steve Warfel (Expert Men)

Doug Hudson (Expert Men)

Mike Schaub (Expert Men)

Jeremy Brion (Clydesdale)

With 6 of the 7 races completed in the 2012 series, there are four Feedback Sports team members who are ranked in the top five in Series points in their categories.  Final rankings will be decided after the Tipperary Creek XC race on August 26th.