Thru Endurance We Conquer!

The 2011 Ascent Cycling Series finished up on June 19th with a fun day at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. There were four races in the series this year, starting with a long, wet day in the saddle at Palmer Park on May 15th, then two short and speedy circuit races at Bear Creek Terrance, and the finale at CMSP. In the Women’s Pro/Cat 1 field, Stephanie W from WMBA of COS took the win, proving the most consistent over the four races. Despite missing the first race, I finished second in the series. Tracy H, also of WMBA of COS finished third, with Collen C in fourth. Rounding the loose switchback during the first Bear Creek Race June 1 – Bear Creek Race 1. It was a smaller woman’s field, with only four starting in the 6:00 group. Hillary and Jessica were both on SS, and Stephanie and I racing gears. Andy started us in our own group so we had a few minutes to get settled before the guys started passing us. I pushed the pace on the first lap hard, with Hillary right on my heels. The c...

It's always fun to get together with friends and ride, no agenda - just ride some fun single track and play on the rocks.Wednesday night proved no exception to that as Tracy H and Kristi O and I met up at Cheyenne Mountain State Park for some quality single track time. Kristi was riding her new bike for the first time and I don't think the grin ever left her face! Our original plan had been to ride the race course from Sunday, sans Sundance and work on some of the technical sections we'd had issues with during the race. Well, Tracy beat us there and had been treated (?) to tales of the big black bear that was at the junction of Medicine Wheel and Blackmere. Two riders individually warned us about the bear, so we changed things up a little - instead of hitting the race course right away, we meandered up the north side of the park, through the campgrounds, then back down to the main parking lot. The goal was to give the bear plenty of time to vanish into the woods before we g...

Nick was busy playing support all weekend. He took the camera out on course and got some cool shots and videos from the Beti Bike Bash. He also had a great time cheering and heckling the women racing in the Pro, Cat 1 and Cat 2 races. (He told me he behaved for the Cat 3 race - didn't want to distract anyone)  Ready to ride - my first Pro Number Plate  Racing in her first mountain bike race - working the steep road climb  Lisa Hudson from Feedback Sports getting the hole shot at the start of the Pro Women Race Not even two minutes in and already at the far back of the pack  Riding through the tall grass of Bear Creek Lake  Crossing the bridge on my third lap   Lona T - riding to the win in the Cat 2 race

For my first big mountain bike race as a Pro, I headed up north to Bear Creek Lake Park for the 2011 Beti Bike Bash, presented Stan's NoTubes and hosted by the Yeti Beti Cycling Team. There were over 200 women competing in event across all classes - Cat 3, Cat 2, Cat 1, Pro and Juniors. By far, the Cat 3 race had the largest numbers and there were plenty of smiles as the racers completed their two laps. A large and very talented Pro field assembled for the four lap, 16 mile race, drawn both by the prize purse provided by Stan's NoTubes and the opportunity to compete in a Women's only event. The smooth single track course lead to some fierce competition among the top pros. Georgia Gould held off Katie Compton 52:32 to 53:02, with Erin Huck taking third in 55:25, Kelly Boniface fourth in 57:54 and Krista Park rounding out the podium in 58:14. I finished in 11th, one place out of the money in 1:02:44. It was quite the introduction to pro mountain bike racing, but a fun event...