World Cycling News

Cycling News from around the Globe

Tacks Glass Found Along Colorado Bike Race Routes

Submitted by David on

News Item: 

Tacks, glass found along Colorado bike race routes

Official: Objects purposely placed on road to be used for Pro Challenge
Associated Press
Posted: 08/16/2011 07:21:02 PM MDT

DENVER -- Colorado authorities are warning cyclists that tacks, box cutters and broken glass have been found strewn along popular bike routes that are part of course plans for major races next week -- including the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

US Pro Cycling Challenge Stage 4 & 5 Spectator Information

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

News Item: 

Friday afternoon stage 4 will send riders into town on highway 131 and once closer to town US40/Lincoln Ave. People driving up on Friday can cut through Silverthorne and over Gore Pass to watch racers come past the small town of Toponas (population 5). If you turn left from Gore Pass and head South there is a significant climb at near 9000 feet with good spectating opportunities about 5 miles out from downtown Toponas. From Toponas to Steamboat the course is about 40 miles and specators could potentially drive back over Gore pass and into Steamboat on US40 to catch the finish. Driving time is estimated at 1.2 hours/73 miles, but racers may cover the 40 miles to town in well under 2 hours.

Overcoming Fear While Mountain Biking

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

News Item: 


Sheri Boltz

by Sheri Boltz, Tough Girl Cycling

We've all experienced fear at one point in time or another; whether it be fear after a crash or fear riding obstacles such as drop offs, narrow trails along a ridge, down a steep descent, across loose gravel, or through rocky sections. Fear can come and go at any level, it is not just for beginners....and it can happen to both men and women.

Last August, I fractured one of the vertebrae in my neck riding an obstacle I had ridden many times. Several months later, I got back on the bike and when I did, there were a lot of scary obstacles out there. Because of being tentative and hesitant, I struggled with obstacles and trails that I routinely rode, and worked my way into a continuous pattern of crashing. Finally after a few weeks of crashing and being on the verge of changing sports, I realized I needed to acknowledge this new found fear because it wasn't going anywhere until I faced it head on. I went back to the basics by returning to the simplest of trails. After several successful rides (with no crashing), I started to work my way back into my usual network of trails. While this seemed like a huge setback to me at the time, I was able to quickly return to where I left off, get back into the racing scene, and have FUN.

What can you do to overcome your fears and move forward? When I am feeling the fear, I acknowledge it and then develop a game plan for conquering it. Fear should not be perceived as a negative, or something to beat yourself up about. It should be used as a building block in your quest to be a zen master of mountain biking. As for game plans, I like to keep mine simple. I will typically start off by asking myself a few questions like, do I need to find something smaller and less scary to work my way up or can I watch someone ride it or follow someone off/thru the obstacle?

Breck Epic - Stage #2

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

News Item: 

Stage Two – The Colorado Trail - Powered by Panache CycleWear

Pictures

For other stage information, photos, results and other media outlets check out our 2011 Breck Epic page

08.15.2011 – (Breckenridge, CO) A bit of overnight cloud cover again brought warm temps to the start. The precipitation that rolled through in the evening was just enough to compact the soil a bit with the result being luscious dirt that was super-grippy. In local parlance, “hero dirt”. The kind that lets you rail your bike through a corner, trusting that the rules that govern the physical universe that we all occupy have been temporarily and somehow benevolently altered for your personal benefit.


Photo Credit: Devon Balet Photo

As luck would have it, the weather conditions coincided with one of the most fun stages in the event, “The Colorado Trail”. Summit County is home to several sections, the most popular being the North, Middle and South Forks of the Swan, “Swan” in this case referring to the Swan Drainage, home to a massive 2000-acre open space purchase painstakingly negotiated between local city, county and federal land managers and the B&B Mining Company.

The CT is simply a thing of beauty, and for the most part, at least in Summit County, it seems to be purpose-built for mountain biking. Long rhythmic climbs lead riders to endless narrow descents, ones that make your face hurt from smiling so much. And did we mention that the soil was also tacky? Brothers and sisters, Stage Two of the 2011 Breck Epic was MTB Valhalla, and each rider was a golden, thundering omnipotent god, if only for a day.

Bringing this long rambling preamble (that almost never happens around here!) to a merciful close, we saw a bit of a shakeup in the mens’ single stage standings. Out front for most of the stage, local billy goat Josh Tostado (Bach Builders/Santa Cruz) led La Ruta champion Lico Ramirez for nearly three-quarters of the stage, getting reeled in on the second-to-last climb of the day. Tostado said that Lico seemed to pull him in effortlessly and “then just sort of dropped a gear and steadily walked away.” Cameron Chambers rode put in a strong effort, crossing the finish line a bit more than 2 minutes in arrears of Tostado.

On the women’s side in the 6-day event Sonya Looney (Ergon-Topeak) continued to put her CTR prep to good use, punching out the stage in 4:11, nine minutes ahead of Bicycling Magazine’s “The Fit Chick”, Selene Yeager, who’s definitely wrestling with altitude issues, but seems to be getting it under control. In third was Steamboat Springs rider Katie Lindquist, riding an incredibly strong race and keeping both Sonya and Selene on their toes.

Show Support for USA Pro Cycling Race coming to Boulder in 2012

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

News Item: 

On Wednesday evening at 6:40 PM, Boulder fans will host a rally to show the national organizers of the Pro Cycling Challenge the strong support for bringing the race to Boulder in 2012. While an effort was made to hold a stage here this year, the lack of hotel space due to the timing of the event and other factors made it financially prohibitive. However, increased funding opportunities (such as the passage last year of the increase in Boulder's hotel occupancy tax), economic returns demonstrated by this year’s race, and the potential for advance planning all are expected to assist a Boulder bid for 2012. Shawn Hunter, CEO of the Pro Cycling Challenge, will be at the rally. "We are well aware of Boulder's rich history in cycling. It's exciting for us to see the City taking steps to get the support it needs to bring this amazing event to Boulder in 2012." In addition to Hunter, organizers expect a surprise guest or two at the rally.

Cyclists Reunion like never before.... or again

Submitted by Kris Thompson on

News Item: 

The US Pro Cycling Challenge is giving creators of the Red Zinger/Coors Classic reunion a chance to happen. The reunion is for cyclist, officials and even voulenteers of the great former race. Opportunity to have so many great cyclist together at once is a once in a life time event, Joe Herget of the US Bicycling Hall of Fame said, "I don't think I've ever seen that many HOFamers at one event before..... says a lot about the quality and impact of the Red Zinger & Coors Classic on American cycling."

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - World Cycling News