July Racing News

Updated 8/5/2011!

July was an exciting month for the Feedback Sports mountain bike racing team. We had racers traveling the US and Canada testing themselves against some of the top competition around. Feedback Sports team members came away with wins in Endurance, Cross Country and Super-D races during July at the Laramie Enduro, the Winter Park Epic Singletrack race series, the Breckenridge B-32 and the Keystone Super-D.


Laramie Enduro:
Many of the top names in endurance mountain bike racing made their way to Southwestern Wyoming for the sixth annual running of the Laramie Enduro. The 72 mile race took place on Saturday July 30th under sunny skies and warm temperatures, adding difficulty to the already challenging course. The course included a diverse cross section of Rocky Mountain terrain, including dirt roads, singletrack, rocks, hardpack and forest.

Because of the excellent course, the friendly atmosphere and its uniqueness, the Laramie Enduro has to limit field size to the first 750 registrants. Feedback Sports racer Eric Davis has done the race in the past and reported back that this year's edition was very tough because of the hot and windy conditions. Proper hydration and nutrition were keys for success in 2011.

Eric certainly knew what he was doing as he won the Open 50+ Laramie Enduro race with an excellent time of 5 hrs and 46 minutes! Way to go Eric.


Steamboat Stinger:
On Sunday July 24th, Steamboat Springs played host to the first annual Steamboat Stinger mountain bike endurance race. The race was sponsored and organized by Steamboat Springs' own Honey Stinger energy bar and nutrition company. Of course, the Feedback Sports racing team is proud to have Honey Stinger as our energy and nutrition sponsor as well.

The 50 mile Steamboat Stinger race included 2 laps of a 25 mile course comprised of 90% singletrack trails with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. It was a chance for the town of Steamboat to showcase a number of new mountain bike trails, that have been under development for years. Most racers had lots of positive comments about the challenging, fun and picturesque terrain out there.

Feedback Sports had a team of five racers out at Steamboat for the inaugural running of the race. Four Feedback racers competed in the 100 rider "Open Male" category, which drew a stellar field of Colorado's best endurance racers. Rob Batey led the way for Feedback with a 32nd place finish followed by Jason Amrich in 51st, Jerry Kopack in 64th and Rich DiGeronimo in 65th. Jeff Connors competed in the Singlespeed category and finished in 8th place. The reports back are that this race should definitely be on racer's to-do list for next year!


Keystone Classic:
The 7th race in the 2011 Mountain States Cup series was held over the weekend of July 23rd and 24th at the Keystone Ski resort. The cross country race, on Saturday, was held on a 10 mile course with 1,900 feet of climbing. Much of the course was on either tight singletrack or rocky and rooted descents. Feedback Sports' Steve Warfel was there competing, and finished with a fine second place finish in the Cat 2 30-39 XC race. Steve also raced on Sunday and placed 2nd in the Short Track race. He ended the weekend in 1st place in the Overall Mountain States Cup Cat 2 (30-39) standings. Steve has a lead of 448 points, with four races remaining for 2011.


USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships:
The 2011 National Championships for Professional and Amateur Mountain Bike racers (XC and Short track) were held in Sun Valley, Idaho from July 14th through the 17th. The race course for the Cross Country championship races was short (less than 4 miles long) with most of it being either steep uphill or steep downhill.

Rocks were brought in to make an interesting downhill rock garden section for racers to navigate on each lap. There were no "rest" sections on the course. And of course, with the races being for the stars and stripes jerseys, the pace was blistering. This year, four Feedback Sports racers make the trip to compete against the Nation's best; Doug Hudson, Ken Benesh, Kyle Henley and Lisa Hudson.

Ken Benesh competed in the Mens Pro XC race and finished a very strong 26th in a field of 60 top National and International Pros. Wow!


Lisa Hudson also had a great showing competing against the Nation's best cross country racers, finishing 27th in the Womens Pro XC race!


Doug Hudson competed in the Category 1 (40-49) Masters class and finished 16th, while Kyle Henley finished in 8th place in the Category 2 (30-39) National Championship race.


Silver Rush 50:
Two Feedback Sports team members headed out to Leadville on Saturday July 16th to race in the Silver Rush 50 Mountain Bike race. The race is used by many competitors to prepare for the Leadville 100, which will be held in August. But, it is a very difficult and fun race in it's own right. It is a 50 mile long out-and-back course that includes about 7,500 feet of elevation gain, and surpasses 12,000 feet in elevation at its high point. Yea, it has a lot of climbing! But the course also includes a bit more technical descending than it's big brother race, the Leadville 100.

Rob Batey pulled off an excellent race at the Silver Rush 50 and finished 11th overall out of 750 starters! His time of 4hrs and 31 minutes also put him in 4th place in the 30-39 age bracket. Feedback's Drew Adams also competed in the Silver Rush and chose this as his first 50 miler mountain bike race. Let's just say that he chose a tough one, with all of the climbing and the altitude. Drew, however, came through in flying colors and finished 47th out of 175 in the 40-49 age group with a time of 5 hrs and 36 minutes.


Breckenridge B-32 Race:
Hundreds of endurance racers converged on the town of Breckenridge on Saturday July 16th for the Breckenridge 100 series of races. There was the Breckenridge 100 race, which is probably the toughest 100 mile mountain bike race in the country. It is on the NUE (National Ultra Endurance) series calender and drew a national field of ultra endurance racers.

In addition, organizers offered shorter B-68 and B-32 races for those desiring a bit less challenge. Feedback Sports racer Pat D'Innocenzo competed in the B-32 race, which was held on a super fun, but tough, course through some of Breckenridge's best backcountry trails. Pat finished first in the 50+ age bracket.


Keystone Super-D:
Emma Dunn traveled to Keystone on Friday evening July 15th and competed in the brand new Keystone Super-D race series. The Super-D races are held on 4 different Friday evenings during the summer and are promoted by Maverick Sports Promotions, the organization that runs the Firecracker 50 and Summit Mountain Challenge XC series.

The race on Friday the 15th was the second in the 2011 series. Emma competed in the Open 35+ category and won the race. Emma also finished with the fastest time of all Woman racers! She loves those Super-D's.


Full Tilt in Telluride:
Steve Warfel made the trip out to the Telluride ski resort during the weekend of July 9th and 10th for race #6 in the 2011 Mountain States Cup series. This year, the "Full Tilt in Telluride" race also served as the USA Cycling Colorado State Championships! Steve made a full weekend of it and finished in 2nd place in the XC race on Saturday and 2nd place in the STXC race on Sunday (Cat 2, 30-39).



BC Bike Race:
Feedback Sports team member Eric Davis traveled to British Columbia to participate in the BC bike race, a seven day stage race from Victoria to Whistler. The race route took the 500 participants on a tour of British Columbia's west coast each day. Eric reported back that it was a super fun race, with challenging courses, exciting scenery, top notch competition and excellent logistical organization. No wonder it's so popular each year.

The courses included lots of moist, rooty, heavily forested and highly technical sections of trail. Not what one normally finds in Colorado. Eric adapted and came through strong, with a 21st place finish in the Masters division. He finished the 7 day stage race in about 22 1/2 hours. That's a lot of racing!