Race day on the Front Range

Fast flowing goodtimes!

This week found me racing the the Warrior Cycling/RME series Front Range 60. I wasn't sure I wanted to race this event as it is a short, FAST 60 miles! I raced in the 50 last year and did ok, finishing in the top 20 in the 40-49 guys. With 80+ racers in the 40-49 last year, I knew this year would draw a big crowd as well. I wanted a better start than last year due to the traffic jams on the climbs, but on this course it is inevitable. You will catch slower riders on the climbs. Seeing good friends is always a bonus of these close to home races and racing 10 miles from our house is nice! Sara spent her day doing her big ass loop in Buffalo Creek as she needed to get some long miles in before next weekends 12hr race in New Mexico. I started my race as fast as I dared, not wanting to blow up in the first lap and hit the first couple of hills fast. But, true to this race, I started up the golf course climb and came to a screeching halt.. Not much you can do with 20 people in front of you.. This is the only thing I really don't like about this race is the inability to pass on hills.. oh well.. Rolling down the other side I get the chance to pass a lot of the slower guys in front and settle into a decent pace. Trying to remember to drink and drink and drink.. I knew it was going to get hot and the Infinit Nutrition did a great job, again, of keeping the cramping down and kept me hammering. At the feed zone I had to stop every lap to grab another bottle and a few seconds each lap I figured wouldn't matter that much. After 3 laps I had a pretty decent pace going and wasn't going all out as I needed to leave some fuel in the tank for next weeks 12hr race. I checked my time on the 3rd lap and was pleasantly surprised to see under 2 hrs.. I had hopes of finishing in under 4hrs, but the traffic on the hills did me in and I finished in 4:02.. close! Checking the finishing times I saw I came in 6th out of 75 racers or so in the 40-49 and 30th overall. I'll take it! Having no expectations for a race is a good thing for me! Having a couple of hours to kill until the 30 mile race, I took advantage of the free beverages provided by Oskar Blues! Nice to have great sponsors at these events!

Cruising through the feedzone

Wahoos Fish Tacos were also there handing out free tacos, let the refueling begin! It was great to see so many friends at the finish and sharing tent shade with the Trek Store guys help cool things down, thanks guys!!
Racing in the 30 mile event were teammates Tim and Eric. Great to have these guys drive down from Eagle to race on the Front Range! These guys raced hard and with the temperatures pushing 90 degrees, did very well! Fun to cheer them on and watch someone else suffer in the heat! Goodtimes!!
All in all it was a great event with a lot of great people! Thanks to Ben Welnak and Jim Fu for the photos!
Now, time to get ready for 12hrs in the Wild West in New Mexico!