Palmer Park race

Last Saturday was the fourth time I have raced a bike in Palmer Park (In Colorado Springs). Coincidentally, I am the only person that I know of who has participated in every Mountain Bike/Cyclocross race on the trails of Palmer Park. Also, wanting to keep that tradition alive has caused me to renew my USA Cycling license and enter a few races this year. Don't be fooled, I am not planning a comeback or even training to race again. This is purely for fun.

Proof that I am in it for fun!

Ron on the other hand, is looking pretty serious about the race. He rode me off of his wheel and went on to win our class, putting around 3 minutes on me. Good job, Ron.

I somehow managed to talk Matt and Dean into dusting off their racing legs and do some laps in the Park. I think they had fun, too.....

Momma Bear wanted to show her two cubs some sweet single-track. Unfortunately for my friend Matt Simmons, he lost a few minutes waiting for her to finish her tour. I think he was glad to oblige.

Here's Matt flexin' his way up a rock. I think the bear gave him super powers.

Kelli raced the Pro Men's and finished a very respectable 5th place. She told me that it was "friggin' hard!". This, coming from a World Class Professional racer who has raced all over the globe. Kinda gives our local riding spot some credibility!

Christian Murdock took this unbelievable shot of Kelli riding through "Little Moab". Very nice!

Thanks to "Ultra" Rob Lucas, Tim Bergsten, Randy Lindblad and Brian McCarrie for being there with their cameras blazin'

Helmet-cam from a lap at Phil's World in Cortez

I finally got 90 minutes of video edited down to just under 6. This was my third lap out of four, so the racers were spread out all over the course.  The afternoon sun made for some cool shadows.
Grab a snack, put on a Snuggie and click "play"!


12 Hours of Mesa Verde at Phil's World 5-8-10 from Alan Keeffe on Vimeo.

12 Hours of Mesa Verde

Last weekend Russ and I headed down to Cortez, Colorado for a 12 hour endurance mountain bike race (12 hours of Mesa Verde). We were entered in the "Geezer Duo" category (average age of 50) as "Team Stunt Double".

Pre-riding the course was so fun that it was hard to go easy.

Miles and miles of buffed out single-track.

                               

A great view that I never saw during the actual race

                 

                     Here is an interactive map of our pre-ride.

The venue was a fairgrounds with ample room for over 300 teams.

Russ was the Team Captain so I was assigned to start first. It was a LeMans start with over 300 crazed cyclists in cycling shoes running a few hundred yards to our waiting bikes. I dreaded it, but it was actually really fun.

 

2-way traffic in the tunnel was interesting. So was the Pirate theme. I did see a plastic pirate sword out on the race course. No doubt lost by a pirate biker.

Lucky for me, Russ is one helluva fast biker (and I don't mean geezer biker). We won our class by over an hour.

Here's a tip: don't let Durland run free with your camera. You will end up with some interesting pics!

Bonus! I saw the living legend John Tomac milling around the crowd after the race and asked if he would pose with me for my "wall of champions". He told me he wasn't in good shape and I believed him until I saw his lap times. Once a champion....

Stay tuned for the live action view of the race course. I wore my helmet-cam for an entire lap (lap 3)...............