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)...............

Rabbit Valley Rally....mountain bike race.

My good friend Matt Simmons talked me into racing in the first Mountain States Cup race near Fruita, Colorado last Sunday.

The drive over the mountain passes was a bit snowy.

We had a cool view of the Colorado National Monument from our Hotel window.

Had some fun with a giant Corona bottle.

Checked out some of the fun trails off of 18 road.

Kessel's Run is highly recommended. I dragged Matt over there after he raced the time-trial. He's a good sport!

Here is a view of the race parking lot.

The race went pretty well. My goal was top 15 and I managed 11th which qualified me for the National Championship race in July. Not bad for someone who doesn't actually train to race bikes any more!

Oh, I tossed the tiny GPS in my jersey pocket for the race and here is the sweet interactive map for you to toy with:

Urban Assault- Spring Classic Edition.

Stick a fork in my legs...they are cooked!
Yesterday we headed out for the long version of the Urban Assault. It was much the same as the last Urban Assault with the addition of more Palmer Park trail time and a trip up Columbine and Buckhorn trails in the Cheyenne Canon area.

Here are some of the stats:

Dist: 47 miles

Ride time: 4:31

Vertical gain: 7600' (according to my super accurate TopoFusion program). Russ got around 5500'.

Climbing time: 2:13

Climbing distance: 19.25 mi.

Here is another interactive map for you to play with:



I kept asking myself: "Why am I doing this?". The answer is: Fun Bank surplus!

Fun Bank

Today, while riding with "Team Stunt Double", I created a new way to be positive about completely coming apart half-way through a ride.
First, let's back up to yesterday's lunch-ride in Palmer Park. I had been well rested and well fed and the hills were like speed bumps. I call it "light legs". I felt like a fit racer dude and it was awesome!
Today rolls around and I'm thinking I am gonna rock this ride. Felt pretty good against the crushing headwind and on the first few climbs and then we hit a bigger climb with Pro biker Matt leading the way. Not so good. Now I am faking it but it's becoming transparent. Maybe I need more food. Didn't work. Maybe I will cut this short and recover like a smart person. I'm not that smart.
Now Team Stunt 2x is pulling away and I can do nothing but watch. Like a car accident in slow-motion. Except I am the one who is crashing.
This is where you either get really grumpy or come up with something to entertain your lactic-acid infused brain. I came up with the "Fun Bank".  It's pretty simple. When  you are having a great ride and you are feeling invincible, you are making big withdrawls from the Fun Bank. Soon, you will be getting overdraft charges. Today was the day I needed to make some deposits. I made so many deposits into the Fun Bank today that I may be able to drop Contador on my next ride.
Give your riding buddies a break and give it a try because nobody likes to ride on sweet, sweet single-track with a grumpy bastard.

Here is the route we rode today. Climbing total was just over 5000' and ride time was just under 3:45. Gotta love the interactive web.

@trip - Falcon trail 4-3-10

Tuesday Night Rat Ride.

Spring is here and it was over 70 degrees today. That means it's time for the Pro Cycling group ride. Every Tuesday at 5:30 we all meet at the new Pro Cycling location and set out to suffer for about 1.5 hours. No holding back since the ride is so short. And that means pain is going to be a reality. Ummm, I had a grim realization that I haven't been riding hard too much this winter. Ouch!

Here is the sawtooth profile of this evening's adventure:

The huge wind gusts added to the fun. Nothing like descending a pot-hole filled road and having side wind gusts trying to steer you into said pot-holes. Good times!

My lovely wife coined the term "rat ride" and I like it. Just in case you were wondering.