Boulder cross day 2

The second day of the USGP cyclocross races in boulder were even excellenter than the first day. The course was much hillier with a uphill run, a hard steep ride up, a long sand pit that was ridable by the pro races, but still really hard and lots and lots of hairpins and chicanes. There also a nice wind that made all the uphill sections in a headwind. The converse was that most of the downhills had a tailwind, so there were some resting places on this course. The hards were harder, but there were slight rests allowing for you to be in higher pain peaks. The races were much more exciting than the day before. With lynn Bessette actually sticking to katie compton for most of the race, before compton putting the hammer down. In the men's race, Ryan trebon had numerous bike changes and actually wrenched on his bike for almost a full minute in the pit and still nearly caught the lead group. Barry Wicks turned himself inside out to catch Todd Wells and Tim Johnson and then smoked them in the final sprint. Summary of the race on Velonews. Also a nice tech report on the bikes from the race at velonews here


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The race went better than the day before. I finished 61 out of 97 starters which was pretty good in that I was almost dead last after the start. The hard course suited me well. I geared down to a milder 36x17 and was able to ride the hill pretty quickly each time around. Alas, my legs were sore from the day before and not all that springy due to the hard race, my running was, uncharactaristically, a liability. I kind of ran like an old old man and I got passed a fair bit off the bike.

I unretired the circa 1996 kelly cross kit of screened swobo jersey and black shorts for the race.

Onto the movies:

In situ barrier repair during the women's race:

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The race was in a nice location in south boulder with the flatirons looming in the distance, thats me getting sucked along in the draft:

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Here is the first barrier on the first lap of the mens race. In order, Ben Jaques Maynes, Todd Wells, Jonathan Baker, Kabush, Jeremy Powers hopping the barier, Treefarm in white, Barry Wicks, Kabush lookalike, Tim Johnson and then the cast of thousands. Despite standing right there I did not even notice that powers hopped the barrier until I viewed the digital evidence.:

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The barriers had a tricky bend before them and were on a decent hill, yet Jeremy Powers hopped them all race. He was not all that much faster than the runners on the dismount and over the barriers, but he gapped people on the remount and probably saved himself some heartbeats in the process:

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