Well, here is the race report. Lots of people showed up for the 12 Hours of Snowmass. If you were not there.....you missed out on one hell of an event. Due to the "Lance factor" there was a ton of spectators and media. Mark it on you schedule for next year. Especially if you like to climb!
My race went as expected coming into this event with 2 weeks of racing that consisted of a 50 miler and a 125 miler. Due to the fatigue factor, I teamed up with Sonya in the Co-ed Duo category instead of flying solo. Both of us had some miles under our legs so we came into the event with the goal of hitting the podium. The race started at an early 7 AM, which made for a chilly start. Temps at the high point of the course were under 30 degrees! Brrrrrrr. Our race started well, as I was the 5th person to come in on lap one. This gave "Team Ergon" the lead in the co-ed race early. Sonya and myself alternated laps for the majority of the race.
As the race led on the climbing got to us both...and the rest of the racers attending. A 7 mile loop with 1,500 ft of vertical in the opening miles of each lap was a total kick in the butt. I saw my granny gear a lot! At the 1/2 way point of the race we lost our top placing. A consistent pacing "Basalt Bike & Ski" caught us and put 2 minutes on us. Sonya and myself kept alternating laps but could not make much ground as we went through the motions.
In the later hours of the event, I was getting a 2nd wind. I decided to do back-to-back laps in hopes of catching the women rider from the leading team who was roughly 4-6 minutes up. That never happened...the legs did not have the power. We would go onto finish in 2nd place in the Co-ed Duo race with a total of 13 laps. The top 3 teams in this co-ed race would all finish with 13 laps and separate themselves by only 12 minutes! Needless to say it was a tight race right from the gun. And no, I did not pass or get passed by Lance. We were never on the course at the same time.
Another race...another podium! It was a good day! Maybe it was the button?Lots of photo posted here.
Video to be posted here.
More video on Velonews.
Story and photos posted here via Cyclingnews.com
FYI, Dave is off the pastry diet, and now onto pizza. Wonder what is next?
Check back on Wednesday night for the next update. Sonya and myself are doing a little mountain bike tour to Winter Park and back. There is new Ergon product to play with!