Another Reader submitted entry by Chris B.

Colorado racing is some of the hardest racing in the country and IMO Colorado 35+ is probably the most bad ass set of riders in the country so sometimes for the working man just making the break is the win, hear Chris B's side of the story...

Cross season is upon us and much to my disappointment the 35+-3’s category is not there. Like a lot of riders I did well in the 4’s and moved up only to be introduced to the back of the bus. After 2 seasons of being beaten down in the 3’s I openly embraced the 35+-3’s as the saving grace to my racing season. I find myself in that no mans land where I don’t want to train like you need to for the 3’s and can’t go back to the 4’s. I’m over 35 and have family and interest outside of cycling that occupy my time as well. With no cat 35+-3’s for Cross this year and the 3’s going off too late for those who have other obligations (family, the list your wife has you working on, soccer games, etc.. ) 35+ Open is the only option. I predict that 35+ Open will expand this year to include the “Baby Boomers” of cycling. I have not been racing for 20 years, don’t have gobs of natural talent or the ability to fake my way to a top 5 in this category, I’m not alone. Once you clear out the “elite” in the 35+ Open, likely the top 20, you get to the “Other” group of which I’m a proud member. If you see me out there this season sprinting it out for 20th place you’ll know that I’m going for the “Win”.

Photo from ride-strong.com

Yesterday 303Cycling reported on the bad reputation we get when Boulder cyclist ride on sidewalks, now today its on to the group rides. The Daily Camera ran a story today about the sheriff's new cycling liaison group to help reduce tension between cyclist and drivers. 303Cycling had known about this group was unable to publish it yet for various reasons. The story in the paper is lots of interesting quotes and I'm sure within hours the comments will be near a 100. Here are some of the quotes from the story..

"They've also been following large packs of cyclists for several weeks, Pelle said, evaluating what the biggest problems are and how certain groups are giving other riders a bad name."

"We're looking at very specific things that can be done to reduce tensions, whether it's sweeping the streets more frequently or better signage," he said. "We want to do some practical things."

Unbelievable! Someone, I strongly assume it was the city department, has removed the 21 numbers up Flagstaff! I brought my camera with me this morning to take some photos of Flag but found they had been removed...ground off the pavement! Were these numbers offensive? Were they a safety hazard? Aren't we in a recession? If the city has time to spend money on the costly removal of these numbers than why didn't they ever find the money to sweep the shoulder up Flagstaff...

On the surface this new trail from Lyons to Boulder is great! This could go a long way to get more folks on bikes who are normally to scared to ride on the roadway with cars or who simply want a nice ride on a Sunday afternoon with the family. What most are thinking is that this trail will be the existing roadway (gravel) that already runs along the canal that flows from Lyons into the Boulder Resevor however that is NOT the case! Apparently Northern Water of Colorado, the current owner of the trail is not going to budge on allowing access to their trail and if your noticed over the past year their fencing now resembles that of a prison and less of a trail. The new trail will at times run along the canal but on the opposite side. This has created a huge debate with home owners along the proposed route and the cost will be much higher then just opening access to the trail. The county's response to gaining access to the existing trail is...

"This road is owned by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) who use it for canal maintenance. It is not a public facility and any non-authorized use of this road is prohibited."

Does this proposed process of not using the existing access point make sense to you?