Happened to find a sweet picture of crossing the finish line in second place at Louisville!
21 May 2021
16 May 2021
Louisville Criterium
Last bike racing post for a while...there's a break in the races and I'm getting pretty close to the end of my road season anyway.
Today I drove up to Louisville, which is just outside of Boulder. There were some huge waves for this race. Our wave combined both the 40 and 50 year old category four men. We had over 40 in our group. A small breakaway of two formed very early. There were also a couple of other attacks, but the main group brought every one back except Simon. He was in the original break and stayed away. I kept to my strategy and sat towards the back of the main group for most of the race. On the last lap, and at the finish, sprint time! I finished second and on the podium again this spring.
With this finish I exceeded the mandatory upgrade points in the past 12 months, which means I have now been upgraded to category three. This is a big jump, and where the real racing begins. Not that what I've been doing hasn't been real racing, but you have to earn your way to category three and above.
For the record, here are my results from the last several months of racing in 40+ category 4. It's crazy how symmetrical the results were:
Today I drove up to Louisville, which is just outside of Boulder. There were some huge waves for this race. Our wave combined both the 40 and 50 year old category four men. We had over 40 in our group. A small breakaway of two formed very early. There were also a couple of other attacks, but the main group brought every one back except Simon. He was in the original break and stayed away. I kept to my strategy and sat towards the back of the main group for most of the race. On the last lap, and at the finish, sprint time! I finished second and on the podium again this spring.
With this finish I exceeded the mandatory upgrade points in the past 12 months, which means I have now been upgraded to category three. This is a big jump, and where the real racing begins. Not that what I've been doing hasn't been real racing, but you have to earn your way to category three and above.
For the record, here are my results from the last several months of racing in 40+ category 4. It's crazy how symmetrical the results were:
Louisville Criterium, 05/16/2021...2nd
NOCO Criterium, 05/01/2021...4th
Pueblo Chilly Criterium, 04/25/2021...1st
Cobb Lake Road Race, 04/18/2021...3rd
Fountain Festival Circuit RR, 04/10/2021...1st
Black Swift Cycleton CSP Crit, 08/30/2020...4th
Black Swift Cycleton CSP Crit, 08/02/2020...2nd
09 May 2021
NoCo Criterium & Pony Xpress Gravel
I'm racing every week this spring! May 1 was the NoCo Criterium up in Loveland and the following weekend was the Pony Xpress Gravel race down in Trinidad. I finished 4th in both of these races, so they get to share the same post. I had a lot of fun in my first gravel race! I know I'll be doing more of them in the future.
25 April 2021
Pueblo Criterium
Another first place this season! This one felt like my first real win though, since it was my first downtown criterium...
We celebrated my birthday with the family the day before, but my parents were able to come down and see their first race in person. It was a warm day. I made the right decision to chase after a breakaway that formed with the strongest riders. We almost lapped the rest of the field. At the end it came down to a sprint, and I went pretty early since I didn't want to risk missing the opportunity to use my best strength as much as possible.
Fun day all around. I have a lot of pictures to post with winning the race and my parents there in person.
We celebrated my birthday with the family the day before, but my parents were able to come down and see their first race in person. It was a warm day. I made the right decision to chase after a breakaway that formed with the strongest riders. We almost lapped the rest of the field. At the end it came down to a sprint, and I went pretty early since I didn't want to risk missing the opportunity to use my best strength as much as possible.
Fun day all around. I have a lot of pictures to post with winning the race and my parents there in person.
24 April 2021
Aaron's 43rd Birthday
We celebrated this year over at my parent's house again. Bailey joined us too. Julia made me her delicious chocolate cake, as well as on her own purchased and put together a very sweet picture frame with pictures of us over the years. I think we ordered food in, but I honestly can't remember!
18 April 2021
Cobb Lake RR
Well, after my first win the previous weekend, I got on the podium in a true road race for the first time. These two guys (whom I have later met at future races) rode away from the rest of the field. I was able to stay in the smaller peloton, then out sprinted the rest up the hill to the finish line. The season is turning out to be a huge success!
10 April 2021
Hanover Circuit Race
I decided last minute to sign up and race the Hanover Circuit today. I previously wasn't planning on racing this weekend, but the following weekend looked snowy and it was likely that those races would be cancelled. So, I headed down south and signed up the day of the event for my first race of the season.
Part of the reason I didn't want to race this is because it was a square course consisting of two paved and gravel transitions. Meaning, bumpy and slippery. Turns out the race went really well for me and I got into the last group of three as people got flat tires, dropped chains, and/or couldn't keep up with the pace. On the last lap I followed my teammate into the fastest and most sketchy corner, not really looking where I was going. He overcooked it bit, had to go wide, and in an instant was on the floor. I immediately jumped back up, not wanting to lose my first podium ever to a mistake. The motorcycle official yelled at me to "take it easy", but I just kept trying to get going as fast as I could. Slowly but surely I started making a little ground on the two other riders. My bike seemed fine, I seemed fine, and after a few miles I had caught back up with a mile to go. At the time of writing this, I have yet to lose a sprint, so I actually sprinted for my first win!
Part of the reason I didn't want to race this is because it was a square course consisting of two paved and gravel transitions. Meaning, bumpy and slippery. Turns out the race went really well for me and I got into the last group of three as people got flat tires, dropped chains, and/or couldn't keep up with the pace. On the last lap I followed my teammate into the fastest and most sketchy corner, not really looking where I was going. He overcooked it bit, had to go wide, and in an instant was on the floor. I immediately jumped back up, not wanting to lose my first podium ever to a mistake. The motorcycle official yelled at me to "take it easy", but I just kept trying to get going as fast as I could. Slowly but surely I started making a little ground on the two other riders. My bike seemed fine, I seemed fine, and after a few miles I had caught back up with a mile to go. At the time of writing this, I have yet to lose a sprint, so I actually sprinted for my first win!
07 April 2021
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