Give Me Shelter

For those of you running carbon rigs I saw this over on Velonews to protect the down tube from all the rock splatter. I know some of us looked at the Gary Fisher Superfly's last year, that Feedback Sports were riding and be the end of summer they were looking pretty beaten.

Unfortunately, running a carbon rig is still a dream for me!

New Jesse Crock Web Site

With Christmas coming up quickly, now is a good time to check out fellow Wheelmen, Jesse Crock's new website and pick up some great artwork.

Maybe we should commission Golden Wheelmen Helmets!

http://jessecrockart.com

Good Article About 29er's

Singletrack.com has a good (well I think it is good) article comparing 26 inch bikes to 29er's. When I say good, it is without a lot of the hype, etc and seems pretty unbiased.

Check it out.

http://singletrack.competitor.com/2010/10/features/taming-the-29er-trend-at-least-a-touch_10872

Cheers

John

PS: When it comes down to it, the motor is probably still the most important part!

2011 Tentative Race Schedule

I've been looking at the tentative 2011 race schedule for next year and listed below are some dates to keep in mind:

May 7-8 - Denver Fat Tire Festival - Battle of the Bear Race
June 4 - Teva Games - Mt Bike Hill race - Haven't done it but I hear the Swag is amazing.
June 11 - Winter Park Hill Climb
June 25 - Winter Park XC Superloop
July 4 - Firecracker 50
July 9 - Winter Park point to point
July 30 - Winter Park Crankworks race
Aug 13 - Winter Park Mary Jane Loop
Aug 27 - Winter Park King of the Rockies

Hope everyone's off season is going well.

Cheers

john

Denver Veloswap This Weekend (October 23)

Wheelmen,

I can't make it this year due to heading off to Moab for the weekend tonight, but I thought some fellow Wheelmen may be interested in the Veloswap.

http://veloswap.competitor.com/

Great deals for sure.

John

Climbing Time - Moab Trip Report

With the Winter Park race season over I haven't had much to post up about lately, so I thought I'd post up a link to a Trip Report I wrote over on mountain project. It's got some nice pics.

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/trip_reports/moab_tr__zenyatta_entrada_and_artist_tears/106910115
I'm off to Zion on Wednesday with a friend from NZ for about 10 days for some more sandstone fun. This bike riding is fun, but .....

Hope all the wheelmen are enjoying the "off" season!

Cheers

John

Winter Park Race Series Finale

Golden Wheelmen numbers were out in force on Saturday for the last race of the season. Top five finishes included Jason and Susan grabbing a 2nd placing and Mike and Rick third. Series winners included Mike and Susan with first placing and Rick with his third placing. Please let me know if I missed anyone!

Team Golden Wheelmen 1 was 5th and T2 10th in overall team results...

After the race we had a great combined BBQ with Green Mountain Sports. Thanks for the food and drinks. Also, thanks to everyone for pitching in some money to replace the base camp tent. If you missed this please pass some cash onto Matt the next time you see him.

Looking forward to next year I'll be putting on a 2 day Golden Wheelmen Training camp in Moab. Most likely this will occur either late March or early April. It will be a fully supported 2 day white rim ride (100 miles), with 4 wheel drive support and a chef. I've done this trip serveral times and can usually kept the cost down to about 30-50 dollars a person. Meet Friday night in Moab, home by late Sunday evening.

Once dates are finalized I'll send out an update. It will be limited to 12 riders.

I'll be posting up some links to photos later tonight or tomorrow.

Cheers

John

PS: A big thanks to all our sponsors for the season.

Link to Photos (free download for GW)

Doug's Series Pics

Last Race of the Series

Final arrangements have been made for the weekend. John will secure a spot for the teams at the base area. We will be combining with the Green Mountain squads. We have plenty of beer and food for all.

If you did not provide food this year, please bring a small donation to support the food purchase. A small donation would also be nice to help Phil with the replacement of the tent which sufferred a fatal blow at the last race.

King of Rockies Finale, Tipperary Point to Point Info

This Saturday we have an awesome course to race with 26 miles of rolling fun. For those that haven't ridden it before, it starts off with a few miles of gentle road before a great smooth single track climb to the top of Morse Pass. That's the big climb out of the way. From there its onto D2, WTB, D4 and before hitting the single track that we are now very familiar with closer to the finish. Total climbing is about 4000 feet.

We are all riding the same course the start is more compressed with all racers starting between 10am and 10.42.

Our official photographer, Doug is going to be on site so many sure you smile for the camera!

After the race we will be passing the hat around to repay Phil for his destroyed tent and also have a Barbie. Hopefully everyone can hang out after the race and enjoy the food and fun.

See you there on Saturday

Cheers

John

PS: Check out this web site to see daily rider cam footage of the Breck 100. Maybe next year. Yeah, right!

http://www.jeffkerkove.net/2010/08/breck-epic-stage-1.html

To view the other stages, just replace the "stage-1" with 2, 3, 4, etc.

Lookout Mountain Hill Climb - Wednesday 5pm (August 18th)

Some of us are meeting at 5pm on Wednesday to ride/time trial Lookout Mountain. Meet at the Pillars at 5pm if you would like to join us. So far Doug, Terry, myself and maybe Mike will be riding.

Mary Jane Race Results

Another good day or racing was had by all on Saturday, with the Team tent the only one that entered a DNF! Unlike last year the weather this time around was perfect.

Mike recorded the top spot with first place. Susan and Rick were close behind, with a 2nd placing in their respective groups. Matt didn't have any tire problems this weekend placed third, proving that having air in your tires does make a difference! Paul recorded a 4th placing and Karen and Adam placed 5th.

The last race of the series is on August 28th. The Tipperary Creek course packs plenty of fun in its 26 miles, including the WTB section again! The start times are much earlier than normal, especially the sport and beginner categories. Remember that it starts in Fraser.

http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp?page=racedes/race8des.html

We are planning a Barbie at the end of the race and most likely taking a collection to replace the Team tent!

See you all there next Saturday

John

Race photos:

http://www.vandavauk.com/goldenwheelmen

Please contact Doug directly if you want high resolution copies.

Mary Jane Loop Update

Rae and I rode the Mary Jane circuit today in great weather. It is a really fun and enjoyable ride. No sign of rain this afternoon. We rode up the road, but tomorrow we can take the lift.

The race starts with .75 of road (part of the hill climb) up from SunSpot and then a hard left turn to some single track (Upper Roof of the Rockies) that takes you back to Sunspot. The single track is bouncy with a lot of tree roots at weird angles... From there you have some smooth singletrack (Green World) and then onto a road (Gunbarrel) and a steep climb to the top of Pioneer Lift which is about half a mile. From there there is some undulating double track followed by a mile of single track with a lot of tree routes and some sharp rocks which dumps you back at the start of Upper Roof of the Rockies and then back to the start of the loop by Sunspot.

The descent is pretty smooth with the majority of it on Green World and Lonesome Whistle. The sting at the bottom is the climb up the service road to the Upper Cherokee trail which we have done many times before.

We deviated a little bit on the decent due to some sections of the trail closed and didn't ride the Vasquez road section. Been there, done that.

To look at the profile check out: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44385972

The plan for the team tent is to set it up on the North Bench Parking Lot. To get to this lot, go pass the first entrance to Winterpark where the lights are and take a left at the second set of lights. Do a hard left turn, followed by another left turn straight away onto a gavel road to the north bench parking lot.

I'll be there from 8am and give me a call if you can't find it. 3 oh 3 7 two 7 oh 5 oh 3.

Cheers

John

Mary Jane Circuit

It looks as if our insider information was correct! The course has changed for next weekends race. I think the loops at the top of the mountain are the same. (Please feel free to correct me if someone know otherwise.) The change looks to be in the descent. This trip down the mountain looks to be more fun than the past course. It looks like we will descend through fun single track to the base of the mountain. If anyone has a chance to preride the course, please provide an update.

Here is the link to the new course. http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp?page=racedes/race7des.html

Crankworx Colorado X-Country Update

Saturday turned out to be a hot and fine day after all the forcaster's permitted heavy rain and thunderstorms... The race seemed long than I remembered.

Overall team standings show that GWM 1 has fallen to 6th place, GWM 2 to 13th and GWM 3 a no show since Race 3.

Susan continues to shine with another first placing, followed by Kevin with his 2nd place. Both are having an amazing season and I'm sure they will be getting those letters at the end of the year and turing Pro! Matt, usually a strong contender had a mechanical and dropped down in the field. Matt, you need to put air in your tires. Ben was the only other top 10 finisher in GWM 1.

Team 2 only had 3 riders but Adam as able to record his first top 5 finish coming in at 5th. Paul continues to ride strong with another top 10 finish.

The next race is the fun Mary Jane Circuit. If haven't rode it before, you take the chair up to Sunspot, do a couple of laps and then down a wicked singletrack, with lots of rocks and bumps. Towards the end you have to climb a steep and twisting singletrack hill to the finish line. Last year wet conditions made the tree roots interesting.

From the Marshall insider (Rae) there is discussion about changing this course for this year so keep an eye on the epicsingletrack website for any updates.

Till next race ...

John

Clean Bottles

The other day watching the Tour I saw a person running around looking like a water bottle. Well, his name is Dave and he is the inventor of the first Clean Bottle. These water bottles have ends at both ends so you can throw them in the dishwasher to keep them spotless.

Check out his website at

THE CLEAN BOTTLE... RIDE CLEAN.

Maybe a potential sponsor for next year!

Cheers

John

Down Hill Photo Update

Check out photos from Sunday and also earlier races at http://www.vandavauk.com/goldenwheelmen/

Contact me or Doug directly if you would like full size quality pictures.

Cheers

John Mac

Valley Point to Point and The DH

Another great weekend of racing at Winter Park for Team Golden Wheelmen. On Saturday the Valley Pt to Pt Race, was in great shape if you were fast and riding the the Export or Sport classes. Otherwise, you got the added bonus of riding in heavy rain for the 2nd half of the course and having fun with tree roots and mud.


Top ten finishes included: Jason, Susan both 2nd, Mike 4th, Matt, Doug and Karen 8th, Scott (Swagman) 9th and Kevin 10th. Please let me know if I missed anyone!

Back at the Team tent food was provided by Doug and Anna as well as some friends from Denver. Many thanks.

On Sunday the DH course was a riot, fast and hard. Six hardy folks showed up and everyone got a top 10. The race consisted of a 30 yard dash to the bikes, and then a 100 yard ride to the start of the single track. Surprisingly it was quite a workout.

Top ten finishes included: Mike and Rick 2nd, Doug 4th, John 5th, Phil 7th and Chuck 8th. It was the largest turnout at WP for the DH ever and some groups, like Chuck’s had double if not triple the number of riders, compared to some of the other groups. Chuck is in a very competitive group this year.

Also, there was a large turnout of the fairer sex! One member of the Golden Wheelmen Team, who shall remain unnamed, made an interesting remark about women and body armor.

Overall, the teams are still doing well with Team 1, in 6th position, Team 2 in 11th and Team 3 in 29th. They have all dropped a couple of notches due to the downhill on Sunday, but when the best of 5 of 6 are counted I’m sure they will jump back up after the next race on July 31. Hopefully, everyone can make it.

One team member, Adam from Breckenridge, just couldn’t stand watching the Tour de France from his TV set so has scooted over to France to watch from the side of the road. He plans to be back at the end of the month to continue his racing career.

Doug Davis shot several hundred photos on Sunday and I’ll be posting up a link in the next day or so.

John Mac

Cross Country Super Loop

We had another good day of racing at Winter Park. A total of 16 team members showed up to race on Saturday. The course was excellent and we had a number of good results. The highlight of the day would go to Mike Paris with a first place finish. We also had two other podium finishes with Susan Weiler taking 3rd and Rick Miller also taking a 3rd.

In the team results, GW#1 dropped back a few places to 4th. We definitely missed having the points of a full team of 8. If we even had one additional racer we would have held in second place. (I won't mention any names Ben.) GW#2 jumped up to ninth in the standings as all 8 members raced! Nice job.

We have a few weeks until the next race/races. The Saturday race course is still up in the air. Sunday is a super D.

If you have any pictures from Saturday, send them my way.

PS

I almost forgot, Golden Wheelmen #1 is in first place after the Hill Climb! Let's race fast tomorrow!!

Winter Park #2

It looks like another fine day for racing tomorrow. I haven't seen a map posted yet, but I'm guessing that will show up later today. It sounds like the course may be a little shorter than last year, but not sure yet.

I posted a few pictures from last week. I'm sure everyone saw the email from John with the link to all of the photos. Let Doug know if you want larger copies.

I also posted photos of the vest. If we can put together an order of 12, we can get those rolling. We probably won't see them until the end of summer, but they will be nice in the fall.

First Race of the Season

The Golden Wheelmen had a nice start to the season. Unfortunately, with the 1 week weather delay, we had a number of riders who couldn't race. Nonetheless, we had some good results. Highlights include first place finishes for Jason Cherry and Amy Rosenbaum. Jason's time would have placed him 15th in the Pro division! I have updated the results section with all top 5 finishes.

Team results aren't accurate at this time. Team 1 only had 7 riders counted despite the fact we had 8 riders present. I don't know how our standing will change, as it looks possible that the same error occurred for other teams. The WP race department told me they would look into team scores and have them corrected by Thursday.

I have one picture to post so far of Amy on the podium. I'm expecting a number of photos later this week. I'll post them as they become available.

Next weekend's race is a good one. It looks to be the same course we raced last year.

Most of you saw the wind vest which I was able to sneak onto the order at the last minute. If you like this vest, let me know. I've been wearing mine quite a bit. It is very nice on slightly cool days. We can place an order if we have at least 12 people interested in ordering. Cost was $66.

Time to Climb!

After a false start to the WP series last week, we are set to go tomorrow. It looks like good racing weather.

We'll have the tent set up at the bottom. Look for the Golden Wheelmen banner. Don't forget you are supposed to mark your age and class on your calf. I believe they requested the left calf. eg. If you are 42 and racing the Sport class, you would mark S 42 on your leg. I'll try to have markers available at the tent.

For those who haven't raced this event, it's straightforward. The course takes service roads to the top. It has a section that is a bit steeper at the bottom, there is a flat section about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way thru the race, and the last couple hundred yards are a bit steeper. The rest is relatively constant with a few small rollers. The nice thing about this race is that you don't have to memorize much about the course. There's only one hill...

Good luck to everyone. Ride Fast!

Rained/Snowed Out

It was a tough day weather-wise at WP. It was raining and windy at the base, and snowing at the top. Long story short, the hill climb was postponed until next Saturday.

I know everyone was fired up to put down a good effort this morning, so we are planning for a team ride tomorrow morning on Lookout. A good time trial up the mountain should keep the legs primed for the race next weekend. Meet at 9 am at the pillars.

By the way, here are the final team rosters for the season. We have 3 full teams of 8!


GOLDEN WHEELMEN
Team 1
Name Class Age
Matt Miller Expert 40-44
John McNamee Beginner 45-49
Jason Cherry Expert 40-44
Doug Welscott Clydesdale
Susan Weiler Sport-women 40-49
Ben Simcox Expert 45-49
Kevin Langan Expert 40-44
Chuck Gallagher Sport 45-49

Team 2
Name Class Age
Terry Chontos Beginner 45-49
Scott Bristol Clydesdale
Adam Walsh Beginner 50+
Karen Cannon Sport-women 40-49
Paul Beasley Beginner 45-50
Mike Paris Sport 35-39
Phil Archer Sport 40-44
Rick Miller Beginner 50+

Team 3
Name Class Age
Jesse Crock Sport 25-29
Charles South Expert 35-39
Steve Rocheleau Clydesdale
Phil Walczynski Sport 40-44
Mike Rosenbaum Beginner 45-49
Mike Waltz Sport 40-44
Pete Linsley Sport 45-49
Mitch Moffett Beginner 50+

Mt Falcon - Liar of the Bear Loop by macmoo at Garmin Connect - Details

Mt Falcon - Liar of the Bear Loop by macmoo at Garmin Connect - Details

Here is the map from yesterday's ride. Thanks to John for arranging. There has been a new expectation/rule for team rides. Cold beverages are expected at the end of the ride. Apparently the precedent began with Mike's time trial and continued with John's ride. (Time of day is no excuse for not filling the cooler. John had cold beer waiting at 10 am.)

Weekend Ride

I'm sure you all saw John's email about a ride this weekend. Meet at the lower Mt. Falcon parking lot at 7 am on Saturday. Hope to see you there.

There was a nice gathering last Wednesday for a Lookout time trial. Some fast times were posted. Great training for the upcoming WP hill climb.

Speaking of WP, we are only 2 weeks away from the first race. I have 8-9 entries already. If you are racing the series, send me your entry ASAP. I need to start putting the teams together.

Team Rides

If you haven't received an email, there are a couple of rides for next week. Monday night some folks are gathering at 5 pm for a spin up Lookout on the road. Meet at the Pillars.

On Wednesday, Mike Paris is arranging for a time trial up Lookout. Once again, meet at the pillars. His last email said 5:30 or 6:00 pm. If you want to ride, it would be best to email him for a last minute update as to the exact time.

We are coming to the end of the discounted registration period for the Winter Park series. Make sure you get your entry in and then forward me the confirmation. So far, we have 8 confirmed entries.

Kits

We had most everyone come by this evening to pick up gear. If you couldn't make it, email me to let me know how we can hook up for the exchange.

It should be a nice weekend for a team ride. I'll try to post something towards the end of the week about a place and time.

Jason Cherry continues to ride very well. He had a 2nd place finish Saturday at the Sunshine Hill Climb. Way to go Jason!

The Goods Have Arrived!

I picked up the kits yesterday. They look great! I think everyone will be pleased.

I will be out of town this weekend at the MSC race, so we talked about having a team gathering next week to hand out the gear. We talked about maybe Monday or Wednesday night. Please email and let me know what works.

Front Range Mtn Bike Series

5/2 Front Range MTB Series Cancelled

Due to the recent and forecast inclement weather as well as an already saturated course, the Front Range MTB series has been cancelled for 5/2 in an effort to preserve the venue from environmental damage.

Registration is Open

The registration for Winter Park is open. The race schedule is slightly different this year. There is only one Super D.

Here is the link. Send me your registration confirmation.

There are a couple of good races this weekend. If you want to race on the road, the Lookout Mtn. Hill Climb is tomorrow. This is always a good way to test your fitness level and establish a new PR for the pillar to post ride. I think most people drop their times by 1-2 minutes on race day. The course is slightly shorter as you stop short of the 'post', but race day conditions always seem to push you a little harder.

Sunday is the 3rd race of the Front Range Mountain Bike Series. This will take place at the Louisville Rec Center.

Drop me a line if you race this weekend. I'm trying to keep the results section updated with all top 5 finishes.

Winter Park Registration

I received an email from Chuck this morning. He has been in contact with the WP race organizers and has this information. Registration opens on May 1, pre registration for the series goes up in price on May 25th.

As we did last year, please email me your registration confirmation. Once I have gathered all of the information, I can submit the teams. When you send me the confirmation, also indicate whether or not you will be attending all races. We want our 1st team to consist of folks who plan on racing all races. This will give us our best chance of putting a team on the podium.

No official word yet on the kits, but I'm expecting them within the next 2 weeks.

Sunday's Ride

We had a nice team ride today at Bear Creek. The trail is in great shape.

Kevin Langan had another strong showing at the Front Range Series. 3rd Place;nice work Kevin! We watched him slowly work his way through the chase group. If the race had been a little longer, I suspect he would have picked off the next couple of riders.

This upcoming weekend is the opening race of the Mountain States Cup. If anyone is interested, there is a time trial on Saturday and a XC on Sunday.

Team Ride for Sunday

We will be meeting Sunday at 10 AM at Green Mountain Sports for a team ride. We are planning on a loop of the race course for the Battle of the Bear.

As of this morning, White Ranch is dry on Belcher. I rode up to the top where Maverick heads north, and this was in good shape. Maverick had snow and mud within the first 100 yards so I turned around. I also rode up the bottom of Chimney Gulch. It was dry until the first north facing section after the first bridge. I once again turned around as the next portion of the trail is all north facing. I'm guessing theses trails will need another week or two of warmth and no moisture.

Possible Yeti Demo

I talked with Corky last week about a possible Golden Wheelmen Demo Day. He has to discuss with Yeti to see if we can coordinate. We talked about bringing a selection of the Yeti bikes to Corky's house in North Golden. This would allow for easy access to the trails on North Table Mountain. I'm sure we could also talk with one of our other sponsors, Foss Building Wine & Spirits about beverages for the event. Send me an email or post comments below if you are interested. This would be an exclusive event for Golden Wheelmen only.

I received word from Primalwear that we are expecting our order to arrive somewhere around the second week of May. I'll keep everyone posted as I receive more information.

I saw a few posts about the upcoming race at Bear Creek on May 8th. There are options ranging from 10 miles up to 50 miles depending on your class and the race you choose. The course is a little difficult to decipher by looking at the map. If you want details, let me know and we can ride. I raced here last year. By my third lap, I was going slow enough that I could take detailed notes as I moved to the side of the trail for the fast riders.... (I rode the course over the past weekend and it is completely dry.)

I'll try to keep the race results current. I'm trying to post all top 5 finishes. If you race and I don't see your result, feel free to email me with details.

Easter Ride

The trails are starting to dry out. Green Mountain was mostly dry. There are still a few muddy/wet spots, but those will probably dry out this week.

We had a few Wheelmen racing over the weekend. Jason Cherry won his division in the Koppenberg Circuit Race, and Kevin Langan took fourth in the first race of Front Range Mountain Bike Series.

If the weather holds, look for updates here for team rides in the next 1-2 weeks.

Remember our Sponsors

The snows are still flying, but they seem to melt almost as quick as they fall. The trails will be wet for awhile, but its definitely time to get out the road bike if you haven't already.

Don't forget to support our sponsors. You can link to their sites by clicking on the names at the upper right of this page. If you visit Green Mountain Sports, make sure you mention you are part of the Golden Wheelmen and they will give you a nice discount. Let me know if you need the order form for Honey Stinger. They also provide a nice discount on all of their products.

I know the main focus is on the Winter Park Series, but here are some other races of interest.

Here is a new Front Range series with a number of races starting in early April.

There is the Battle of the Bear. This race consists of anywhere from 10-50 miles depending on the race and distance you choose. The course is fast. Race date is May 8th.

The other major series is the Mountain States Cup. This series stretches across the state and even beyond.

We will plan on scheduling some team rides in the next few weeks.

Cross Training

I know this is about cycling, but cross training is important. These turns came after a reasonable amount of hiking.

Don't forget, Team fitting next Sunday, 2/21 from 3-6.

2010 WP Race Series

I noticed the 2010 schedule is posted.

2010 Series Schedule

▪ Race 1 - June 12 - Hill Climb Kick-Off
▪ Race 2 - June 26 - X-C Super Loop
▪ Race 3 - July 10 - Valley Point-to-Point
▪ Race 4 - July 11 - Super Downhill
▪ Race 5 - July 31 - Crankworx Colorado X-Country
▪ Race 6 - August 1 - Crankworx Colorado Super Downhill
▪ Race 7 - August 14 - Mary Jane Circuit
▪ Race 8 - August 28 - King of the Rockies Finale

Here is the link to the website. http://www.epicsingletrack.com/default.asp

With skiing being somewhat marginal, I know there is already some training taking place.