2009 Results now updated

Great job in 2009 Team! Lots of top tens, and a bunch of podiums!

John Verheul, CX Dominator!

Our Cat 1 taskmaster and cycling coach has been rocking the NM CX race series!  5 races inm out of 7! Good show John! Good Luck!

See NM Cross Results by going to the Recent Results on:

http://newmexicosportsonline.com/home/home.aspx

NM State Criterium Championships

Colavita NM owns the Mens and Womens Masters 35+ State Crtierium Titles!

1st John Verheul: Men’s 35+

1st, Shantelle Pierce: Women’s 35+

John also took third place in the Men’s Pro, 1, 2 field, after super domestique Kenny Wehn worked hard throughout both races, and lead John out to the line! Kenny ended up 7th in the 35+, and 5th in the Pro, 1,2 field. Shantelle also competed in the Women’s Pro, 1,2 field and placed 4th.

Nice job team!!

Sandia Crest Results

Definitely a good showing for the CVNM team at the Bill McClain Memorial Sandia Crest Race, on 6/14/09.

We had riders in 5 categories.

Hugh and Verheul rode well to place 4th and 8th respectively. Mark hung tough to finish 13th. I had an asthma attack in the cold rain when we approached the frontside of Heartbreak Hill, and pulled out. Someday I’ll have a good race!

Shantelle dropped all the women in the Pro, 1,2  field. Finishing 1st. Proving once again she’s the best climber in the state.

Kenny is still a Cat 3, and finished 6th in that field. Ubinger finished 11th. John Zarling 17th.

Gretchen Selby finished 9th, after flatting and having to wait for a wheel for quite a long time. She was in 4th place when she flatted. Next time Gretchen!

Keifer

Hugh’s Report from Pajarito Punishment XC

Experpt from an email from Hugh Selby:

“

Speaking of crushed, I had an interesting return to MTB racing this
weekend.  As some of you know, I started racing mountain bikes back
in about 1993-4.  I was pretty terrible at it but being a competitive
fellow, I kept at it until ‘96 or so.  My last race was the obscenely
grueling Pajarito Punishment. It was there that I realized that I
hated getting pounded by guys I could routinely put the stick to on
the road – I left the knobbies behind and took up skinny tire racing
exclusively.  Somehow, the scarring from my MTB past had gone away
and by some weird twist of early onset senility, I decided to try my
hand (leg?) at dirt racing once again.  In a final irony, I started
back up in what is now my hometown race, the Pajarito Punishment.  I
suppose you can all tell me that you would have seen this as a bad
omen and tried something else; I also questioned my decision but
decided that the best way to deal with my issues was to face them
directly.  To paraphrase the Knight Templar from the third Indiana
Jones movie, I chose poorly.

The race itself was exceptionally well done and the course really
could not have been better.  Unfortunately, as I rolled up to the
start with my fork locked out (it’s what the pros do), I was only
aware of the vague sensation that I might soil myself whilst vomiting
as well.  This sensation did not ease as the start was
called.  Indeed, by the time we had returned to the ski hill proper,
I had the distinct sensation that I was carrying a basketball in my
midsection.  I had a reasonable start and so tried to ignore this
discomfort.  Alas, by the first bit of fire road climbing, my normal
climbing rhythm became syncopated by a third clenching muscle in my
nether regions.  Let’s just say that staying seated was the name of
the game.  I proceeded to, er, “gut it out” the remaining first lap,
stopping only once to howl in agony as I let more riders by,
clenching my lower half in a fierce battle to retain my innards.  By
the time I got to the descent, I had a bit of a let-up so I figured I
might as well get the miles in by finishing the race.  Again, I chose
poorly.  Needless to say, the second hike to the top was a
reintroduction to fantasies of Imodium and clean bathrooms, although
my legs did seem to be working reasonably well.  I have to admit that
part of the reason I kept going was that I didn’t want to disappoint
the Colavita cheering section (thanks Susan Oldham!).  How do you
explain stopping mid-race and charging into the lodge in front of the
cheering throng?  At long last, my deliverance was at hand as I
approached the final section of open road in front of the
lodge.  Susan cheered me across the line and I thanked her for
waiting for me to drag across the line, my reintroduction to mountain
bike racing complete.  That was about all the time I had before the
sweet vision of the lodge door invited me to its welcoming
porcelain.  I spent the next twenty minutes appreciating a completely
graffiti free stall (where’s the reading material when you need
it?)  and wondering whether or not El Parasol was a sound caloric
selection after all.

That was so much fun, I think I’ll do it again.”

Hugh Selby

Cottonwood Cycles opens 2nd store

Our sponsoring bike shop is officially opening their 2nd store in Aztec, NM today at noon!

 

Yea Cottonwood!

Keifer

Iron Horse Bicycle Classic- Durango, CO

It was a cloudy morning, 7:15 am, at the Durango Recreation Center parking lot, the start line for the 2009 IHBC road race to Silvertion, CO. 47 miles of mostly climbing, over two 10,900 ft passes, Coal Bank, and Molas.

I’d been getting some training over the past few weeks on the mountain passes, but not as much as I would’ve liked. The passes had snow, and pretty cold up there until the first week of May. I felt pretty fit for the event, and wanted to at least set a PR. I raced the Masters 35+ group, which was the second largest category at IHBC, only behind the 45+ Masters. 145 Starters!

Sometimes there is a tailwind for the first flat 11 miles north on Hwy 550, but not today, and with the chilly conditions, nobody wanted to push the pace, as with some other years. During the local group rides in Durango, we are normally rolling 25-30 MPH on this stretch, but not today. I was seeing 20-21 MPH, which is pretty slow for a large group like this. I went to the front and rolled 25 MPH a couple times, but couldn’t get any interest, so went back into the pack. After passing Hermosa Creek, saw the RR crossing gates coming down! One of the maintenance carts was coming down the tracks! We had to stop. The Masters 45+ group piled up behind us while we waited. After a few minutes, we were on our way again.

We waiting for the climb at the KOA (the steepest section of the whole race, mile 13), to start pushing. When we rolled by Rockwood, a few miles of climbing later, we were down to a lead group of 20. I was breathing hard, but not at 100%, so I sat in and let the others set pace.

At Cascade Lodge, the start of Coal Bank Pass climb, we were still about 16 strong. The first mile we were all waiting for the first attack. I was sitting in the group, feeling steady, at 10-11 MPH. I decided it was too easy of a pace, so I exited out right side and stood up to raise to pace. Most of the group jumped on my wheel. I settled back into a good hard pace. Within a few seconds a second attack jumped, and only a few riders stuck on. From there, we were all broken up into smaller groups, 2-3 riders each. Coal Bank climb had put us all in our place!

I rode a hard pace, caught a couple riders, and ripped the downhill on my Zipp 404 tubulars to the bottom of Molas Pass. I was caught about a mile into the climb by one rider, and I tried to stick his wheel. After a mile or so, I came unglued, and shifted to settle into my own pace. Another rider from Durango, John, caught me about a mile from the top of Molas Pass, and we rode together to the top. Now for 7 miles of screaming descent down to Silverton!

John and I worked together down the hill, screaming through the turns at 35-40 MPH, and hitting straights at  45-55 MPH. We hit Silverton together, with John leading the charge. The last 2 miles to the finish line are slightly uphill, and take forever. John drilled it at 1 K to go, to 30 MPH. I was drafting, but the legs were not happy, so I had to let him go ahead. I eased up knowing there wasn’t any threat from behind, and rolled through the finish about 10 seconds behind, for 10th place, 2:38 hrs.

I signed up the Omnium event, which included a Criterium on Sunday, and a TT on Monday. I won’t write much about these two because I didn’t recover well at all, through the rest of the weekend, and felt like crap, and unmotivated for these events. The Crit went ok, but I had no spunk and finished at the back of the lead pack. I hoped to save and recover for the TT the next day.

As soon as I hit the first little roller during the TT, I knew I was not going well. I was shifting and rolling too slow over the top of each hill. The legs were still not firing well. I rode as hard as a could, and ended up 3 minites slower than last year’s TT time. I was expecting to be a little faster, not slower!

For the Overall Omnium placing, I ended up 7th. I’m only satisfied with that, knowing I lost points on the second and third days. Next year will be better, for sure!!

Keifer

Bring on Iron Horse!!

Ok the road races have been pretty slim-pickens in NM lately. FINALLY a regional road race! I will be praying all week for the weather to hold out and give us a DRY Iron Horse road race to Silverton. There is also a Time Trial, and Downtown Criterium to make it a fun Omnium event.

See you there!

Keifer

Alien Run MTB XC

I tried out the new 3D Racing AL Singlespeed at the local annual Alien Run mountain bike race today. Looks like a good turnout, about 150 participants I would guess, including Travis Brown. Fortunately Travis was racing the geared bike today!

About 15 Singlespeeders were mixed in witht the PRO/1 Field for the mass start. I was running a 32 X 17 gear on my 3D 29er, with Geax Saguaro 2.2 tubeless to help with the bumpy rock slab sections. The start went up a smooth oil field road uphill and down to a bottleneck single track. I was spinning my gear very fast to try and keep a good place into the trail. I ended up in the top 15, and passed a few geared riders. I knew I was having a good race in the first 15 minutes; the legs were feeling STRONG! What a great feeling!

At the finish, my time was 1:46 hours. Good enough for 1st in the SS class! Schweeet! Not bad for my first SS race. It did help to know the twisty, and sometimes sandy trail though.

The owner of Cottonwood Cycles (Sponsor), Ralph also did well to take 2nd in the Masters XC.

There were a couple Pro times around 1:35! 25 miles in 1:35? Crazy!

Next race is Tierra Torture in Santa Fe. We’ll see if I wanna try SS or geared at that one.

Keifer

Adoption Exchange SR- ABQ

 

Who are these characters? John Stadick, Liz, Courtney.

I’m drinking a glass of champagne as I type this. No,  its not from the podium, but from my 8^th anniversary that I celebrated with my wife, Kathryne, earlier this week.  Quite special all by itself. But now,  here’s a toast to WINNING!  Its been a while for me, and I’d almost forgot what it feels like!  It wasn’t a big race.  It wasn’t the A race.  But I rode my heart out for it and I’m pretty proud!

 

 

 

The 15K TT on Saturday went as well as I could expect.  I love to TT but rarely get results.  This day suited me better than most though – not much wind, a winding road and some pretty steep hills.  I struggled to find a rhythm up the draggy first two miles.  But I quickly caught my 30 sec guy and had the next guy in my sights.  I was bummed to get caught by Bill Dahl of Sport Systems who started just after me, but I’m quite used to being passed so it didn’t phase me.  I knew I had to get it going then, though!  I hoped I might get back some time on him climbing out of the canyon to the turnaround, but he kept the gas on.  Coming back I let it rip and caught two more guys up the last climb.  The road was closed to traffic so there was little to distract me from the effort.  The last two miles I emptied the tanks trying to make up more time, but it was not to be.  Bill beat me by 1:03, putting me in second in the 35+ race. Still, I was just over 2 minutes behind the P/1/2 winner and Colavita’s own, John Verheul , so I had to be pleased (he beat me by about 4 minutes last month in Las Cruces!).  Meanwhile our new team mate, Kenny When from Aztec had a strong 4^th in the P/1/2  race, just 1:11 off of Verheul – not bad considering that he didn’t even see the course prior to his start.

John Stadick on the TT downhill- Maximum O2 uptake!

I was psyched for the crit on Sunday. The weather was near perfect and the course fast and smooth with 3 wide corners.  We had about 25 guys line up for the 45 minute race.  Kenny signed up for the masters crit (in addition to the P/1/2 which went off later in the day) to lend me a hand.  He worked hard throughout the race often getting in breaks and forcing others to chase.  In the process he took at least two primes.  I covered a lot of moves in between and tried to make a few breaks stick, but no one seemed willing to work with me.  We kept everyone on their toes though.  Race leader, Dahl, hung back most of the race making me wonder what he had planned.  In the last 10 minutes Chris Abbott of the Giuseppe’s Café team (I think)  took a big solo flyer.  He was down on the standings, so we let him go.  Before we knew it they were counting down the laps.  With two to go, Kenny went to the front and set a steady pace with me on his wheel.  A few guys took over the pace on the last lap but I stayed on Kenny’s wheel and near the front.  Chris was out of sight and had the win easily.  I wasn’t sure about my sprint but was confident that if I was the first rider into the last turn that I’d be assured a high place in the short slightly uphill homestretch.  So I jumped as hard as I could with about 300m to go.  That Jamis can really through down!  I railed it through the turn, putting trust my Vittoria’s (and my Rudy Project helmet) and gutted out the last 100m to the line.  I really thought I’d win the field sprint but William Steffen, who didn’t ride the TT, got by me at the line.  Kenny rode my wheel in to soak up 4^th place (judges gave him 5^th) which pretty much assured me of the Omnium win.  Bill Dahl, not a fan of pack sprints as it turns out, got home safely in 12^th place, slipping to 5^th on GC.

My family was expecting me back soon, but I had just enough time to watch our team mates Liz Cash and Courtney duke it out in the mens 3/4/5 race – their version of a warm-up before the women’s event.  They rode great with Courtney getting off the front at least once.  I didn’t get to witness the P/1/2 crit but was happy to hear that our ex-teammate Jesus “Chacho”  Zapata, now riding for Ten Speed Drive took the win in the crit after lapping the field.  Also lapping the field with him was Kenny, who took second in the crit, moving up to third overall.  John Verheul’s 7^th was good enough to keep him in first on GC.  Not a bad weekend for Colavita.  Hats off to the organizers, especially Sylvio Menezes, who put on a great race with a family atmosphere  complete with inflatable fun house– I was almost wishing I’d brought my wife and son.  Maybe next year.  Sorry to go on so long… now I’m drinking beer….

Submitted by John Stadick, Colavita NM