Justin's Mountain Bike Team

24 Hour National Championships

2011-10-02T19:08:00.001-06:00

Justin's Cycling added another two national champions to our roster today! Mark Gouge & Kelly McGrew teamed up with Russ Kappius and Mike Trimble to win the masters 24 hour title in Colorado Springs. The course was at Palmer Park, right in the middle of Colorado Springs but it felt as if it was in the middle of the forest with dense trees, twisty single track & sandstone rock formations.

Congratulations!

Russ Kappius teamed up with Justin's riders to win the 24 hour national championship today.

Dakota 50

2011-09-06T12:42:00.000-06:00

Dakota 50

A group of Justin's riders headed out to Spearfish South Dakota over the labor day weekend for the Dakota 50 and came home with a podium sweep! We traveled out & camped with out friends from Alchemist Threadworks who gave us all the race tips & info.

Justin's sweeps the "geezer" podium

The Dakota 50 has grown to a major event, selling out this year with a 600 rider cap. It may have become one of the richest MTB races in the US with a prize list over $25,000. The pros may disagree with this value as there is not even a pro category & the money does not go to the pros. The cash prizes are distributed over all age categories & there are drawings form the top 3 in each category for SRAM XX group sets, shocks etc.

John Bliss

Toni Geer on the typical Dakota 50 single track

The course is fantastic. It may be blasphemy to say in the MTB world, but perhaps there is too much "floweybutterysmoothalicous" single track. Yes - I said too much. There is very little opportunity to pass ever in the entire race but you really can't complain about the riding. After a brief neutral start there is a 3 mile gravel road climb. The 50 veterans know this is a critical piece as at mile 3 you dive into single track & will be there for about 40 miles. The course trends gradually upward on twisty narrow trail for about 20 miles - a few steep kickers & a few ripping DH sections. After about 20 miles the trend is downward with very fast twisty descents & a few open forest service roads. There are 2 steep climbs on the way home - the worst being at 35 miles climbing up to the "bacon station" for a slice of bacon & a PBR swig of beer before the last 10 mile rip home. The entire race is fast, heads up riding - no hour long climb slogs. They have a ton more oxygen than we do with a start around 3500 feet making the event even more pleasurable.

Michelle Bliss

Drew Geer entering the early single track

Kelly McGrew led the Justin's train out up the gravel climb. John Bliss was a bit under the weather & had to temper his start. My legs were not happy at all in the really cold morning air but I knew Kelly was right & I suffered to hand on his wheel up the gravel positioning climb. Kelly made the brilliant move to the front of the main chase group just at the entry to the single track moving us into the top 20. Things did bind up here even at the front of the race. I'm sure just 20 or 30 riders back was tight & slow. Kelly set a nice tempo in our group of 10 chasers & my legs recovered. As there is no passing - really - we rode in pretty much the same order for 12 miles. The tempo was quick, climbing at 10 - 12 mph & descents at 30. Kelly missed one quick right hander about 15 miles in & that single dab knocked him off the train for the rest of the race. He chased about 2 minutes back, reeling in a rider here & there. My legs got stronger as the miles ticked off & I actually held my position all the way through the finish. In the first 2 hours of riding there it stayed "brisk" & we rode through vast meadows still glistening with frost. It warmed up but never got hot. After the tough little grind up the the bacon station, the final 10 miles is all descent on smooth single track. This is full speed descending - the ear to ear grin kind of riding.

Kelly McGrew leads Drew Geer at the head of the first chase group

We finished up 1, 2, 3 on the 50+ podium: Geer, McGrew & Bliss. I was 18th overall with Kelly just back at 21st & John just a few more slots behind. Michelle Bliss was around 7th in the large & super fast ladies field. Toni took a high speed tumble about 20 miles in & pulled herself - rattled but no big injuries.

This needs to get on your race list. It is a class event & really fun riding! Start planning on 2012.

Mt. Rushmore is just a quick side trip - well worth the detour on the way out

Winter Park Final

2011-08-28T16:25:00.000-06:00

It’s hard to believe that the race series is over. It seems like just yesterday I was lining up for the hill climb and wondering to myself how is it possible to put yourself through so much pain in such a short amount of time.

We did great as a team. Overall out of 35 teams we were 2^nd. Just 54 points out of 1^st. Congratulations to everyone!

Yesterdays King of the Rockies Tipperary Race Course was fantastic. Everyone had great results and races this year. A glimpse of the results shows that constant improvement from beginning of the season to the end.

A quick review of the team:

Sheri Boltz Pro Women 2^nd overall. A fantastic race series!!!

Coreen Wright Pro Women 4^th overall!

Considering that Sheri and Coreen were racing in a very tough field, work full time, have a few years on most of the girls and still rocked it! A look at the field of who raced in the pro women, Erin Huck, Melissa Thomas, Amy Dombroski, some pretty fast gals!

Scott Pavlakovic- 4^th place overall Expert Men 35-39 and just off the podium by 3 points. This was a very tough field.

Rus Kappius Single Speed Open- 2^nd overall and putting down times that would be solid finishes in the pro field on a single speed. Of course being a genetic freak who trains really hard doesn’t hurt. Rus had one race all year where he cracked and finished 5^th. Otherwise he was first or 2^nd at each race. Yesterday’s race was a sprint finish with Jesse Swift who won the series. I’m trying to imagine a sprint finish on single speed…… buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Dave Wright 3^rd overall in the Expert 45-49. Dave never ceases to amaze me. This season he was constantly fighting injuries and still had solid results at each event. Battling an upper leg infection, then gout and most recently some cracked ribs (raced the last two races with them) he still puts down some very fast times!

Kay Levesque Expert 40-49- fast and always smiling!!! 6^th overall for the series with a 7^th place finish yesterday while racing the geared girls on her single speed. Woo Hoo!!

Jack Boltz Expert 50+ - Jack and a good year and placed 12^th overall out of 35! Great improvement this year for Jack. Overcoming cramping issues from last season and steadily improving in speed. Racing in a very tough field, that includes myself, Gary Thacker, Wade Wilderman, Russell Asleson, Mark Gouge and many other fast guys. A bit of fine tuning will see Jack on the podium many times next year.

I feel fortunate to have won the series. After a very slow start on the hill climb where it seemed like I was stuck in reverse, I had some consistent rides and was able to finish 2^nd yesterday behind Wade Wilderman and in front of Gary Thacker. There were a lot of fast guys this year. I hope everyone eats a lot of donuts and sits on the couch this winter. This class just keeps growing with faster guys coming in each season.

Everyone should be very proud of their season! A huge thanks to all!

Keith Sanders

SAK LLC Managing Member

Beavers Sports Shop, Ski4less, Snow Mountain Sports, Winter Park Ski Rental

Colorado State Criterium Championships

2011-08-20T17:45:00.000-06:00

Michelle Bliss took to the roads & was 2nd in the Colorado state criterium championships.

Leadville 100

2011-08-16T12:22:00.001-06:00

You may love it, hate it or both - but the Leadville 100 mountain bike race is the biggest & best known mountain bike race in the USA. This year under new ownership with Lifetime Fitness it became even bigger & Lifetime stepped up & made it even better. They are a class act when it comes to race organizing! The field did not boast TDF winners this year but with US national champion Todd Wells & UCI world marathon champion Alban Lakata & former Leadville women's' winner Rebecca Rusch the field did not disappoint.

Crystal clear sky & a full moon @ 6am on the Leadville 100 start line

The start was a cool 45 degrees at 10,000 feet but it was unseasonable hot & dry & things warmed up quickly. Six Justin's Cycling riders were entered - Jeff Hall, Kelly McGrew, Todd Baker, Mark Gouge, Ward Baker & Drew Geer. Unfortunately Ward blew up his back hours before the start & had to back out. A new start procedure has seeding which is a treat if you happen to be seeded & perhaps not if you do not have a Leadville time from the last 3 years. The neutral start, for those of you who know Leadville, is anything but neutral. It is downhill on pavement & immediately we had wrapped out our top gears & pegged our max HR. Leadville starts really fast & you need to be ready.

The field this year expanded to 1600 riders (out of over 8000 entrants plus qualifiers), the biggest ever. All the Justin's riders hit St Kevin, the first 3k climb in the top 200 & were able to navigate the field well. St Kevin is short but has 20% segments & gets ridden at 100% early in the race as riders are still jockeying for position. A brief single track respite follows before the 6k, 5% Hagerman climb where the road is wide open & you position will settle down.

This was the driest dustiest year Leadville has ever seen. The power line descent, while not overly technical had a new component this time - zero visibility. All I saw at 25 mph on loose dust was a glimpse of a tire in front of me. If it bobbled left I cheated right hoping for some trail over there. An aerial view of the dust could would have been fantastic. The flats to the dam were fast & dry and the Columbine climb (12k at 7% with a max of 19%) was fast though very loose at the top.

Kelly McGrew heading over the Twin Lakes dam @ 40miles

The race really begins at 70 miles heading back up power line - 5k of hot heinous loose climbing, kicking up as much as 23% grade. Over the top of power line you have 2 more climbs but those are pretty tame & you know you are going to bring it home.

There is a reason they call it "power line" - hot, heinous, loose, steep & straight up the cut under the power lines.

All along the course random fans were yelling - "go Justin's"! There was no "go Lifetime Fitness, or go Carmichael" though those were the most common jerseys in the race. They LOVE Justin's. I also got the loving "love your nuts" comments & "kneed & squeeze baby". I have no doubts we had the favorite kit in the race.

Todd Baker at the Twin Lakes dam

On the line Mark Gouge was 100th in 8:10, Jeff Hall 104rd in 8:10, Drew Geer 148th in 8:31, Todd Baker 227th in 8:50 & Kelly McGrew 227th in 8:50 - all finishing under the elite 9 hour mark & getting the coveted "big buckle".

Leadville is a "must do" for every palmares. The new qualifiers are a fantastic addition. Plan on it next year - you may hurt but you won't regret it.

drew

Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey

2011-08-16T11:39:00.001-06:00

A few Justin's riders headed up to Crested Butte July 31st, 2011 to test out a new race - the Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey. This is part of the new Leadville 100 qualifier series & run by the same folks who have acquired Leadville, Lifetime Fitness. Toni & I were looking for a new adventure & this 100k seemed the perfect choice. I was already in Leadville & Toni was not interested in Leadville this year so the "qualifying" aspect was not important. This was just a perfect 100k race.

Thomas Dooley called me from Boulder as I was in the registration line looking to go on a long ride. Hearing I was in the Butte he immediately jumped in his car & drove the 5 hours to enter the race as well - THAT is short notice.

Sunday AM we rolled out in a field of 300 for a 15 minute neutral start. Some roadie name Lance Armstrong also showed up & was joined by Rebecca Rusch, 2 time Leadville winner. The start was actually neutral as opposed to the Leadville start & we were able to get warmed up on this 40 degree mountain morning.

As the neutral lead pulled off on the Slate River road the pace "hotted up". As you can imagine having Lance in the pack changes the group dynamics. No one wanted to get left & a pack of 50 riders hung together for the first 45 minutes of the gradual climb. Lance, Rebecca & a handful of riders were chatting it up but myself & most the rest were redlined. As we hit the Slate River switchbacks & the grade kicked up to 20% the group shattered. Dooley headed up the road & I headed out the back. Cresting the 20k climb you had to keep from being distracted by the gorgeous views. This is Crested Butte & you are climbing around Mt. Baldy to the top of Schofield Pass just under 11,000 ft. We were riding well maintained jeep roads & the surface was easy, it was just the gradient that put you under. The descent down Schofield through Gothic was pure fun - really, really fast descending with a snowfield & a couple creek crossing thrown in. At the back of Crested Butte Mountain we hit a single track up the back & down the front of the mountain. This 10k was pristine mountain riding - a smooth narrow track with flowers higher than your bars.

Down through the village which was barricaded off like the TDF & out a different climb - up Washington Gulch back to Schofield again. The Washington climb is more gradual at the start but has on mile of a wicked kick at the end. More Gothic descent & the CB single track to the finish.

Lifetime did this race right! Great courses, feed, support, instant live results. Everything was perfect. Anyone complaining they did not get into Leadville should hit a qualifier. It is THE way to get into Leadville. This course is perfect for a Leadville warmup. The climbs are a bit harder than Leadville but the riding is not technically hard. The 100k distance is perfect 2 week before a 100 milers.

Thomas finished 23rd (9th 40+), Toni 2nd (50+ women) & I was 38th (2nd 50+). I'll be heading on to Leadville while Thomas & Toni have no interest in that this year.

Fantastic race - consider it for next year - Leadville or no.

drew

Toni at the finish of the Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey 100k

It is not too often that you make the same page of results as Lance Armstrong - look on down for Justin's riders Thomas Dooley in 23rd & Drew Geer in 38th. OK, just ignore that time back thing.

USA Cycling National Championships - Sun Valley, ID Post #2

2011-08-02T10:20:00.005-06:00

The Cat 1 races were decided on the mountain side trails in Sun Valley. The resort is a great location for the races, but the trails were extremely congested and poorly thought out to give a fair national championship. So despite the fits of pushing your bike in a long line of single track, there were sections where you could actually race. In the Cat 1 Women's 45-49 field, Karen Hogan finished 2nd. Mike Hogan and Dave Wright raced the Men's 45-49. Mike finished 2nd while Dave had some trouble with traffic and flat tires along the way.

Colorado Trail Race

2011-08-02T10:07:00.001-06:00

Ward Baker, riding for Justin's Nut Butter, is currently on course racing the Colorado Trail Race. This is a fascinating event. It started at 6am August 1st & runs 480 miles along the Colorado Trail to Durango. There are no stages - you start & ride until you camp - then repeat. There is NO support allowed. You must carry your food & sleeping gear, but you can stop at a store along the way. Any of you who have ridden segments of the trail know much of this is highly technical & slow riding. This is one tough race!

Follow this event LIVE on the web. Each racer is carrying a Spot satellite tracker that transmits their position every 10 minutes or so.

Complete Race status:

http://www.trackleaders.com/ctr

My individual progress:
http://www.trackleaders.com/ctri.php?name=Ward_Baker

MTB cast- Audio of racers calling in during the race from pay phones and cell phones.

http://mtbcast.com/site2/

General race info, past results and course records:

http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/

Ward's race ready bike - packed for 5 or 6 nights camping!

USA Cycling National Championships - Sun Valley, ID

2011-08-02T09:41:00.007-06:00

Gary Thacker highlighted the results for the Justin's Cycling Team winning the stars and stripes in the Men 55-60 category. He led from start to finish in the cross country race climbing up through the traffic on the course all the way to the 30-34 category. Gary also finished 3rd in the Super D.

In other news Liz Hogan finished a strong 4th in the Girls 11-12 category. Mark Harris was 7th in the Boys 9-10. In the 13-14 boys field, Ben Hogan finished 7th and Henry Harris was 9th. Ben and Henry were a force together and rode much of the race helping each other along. The kids course had a very steep mountain road climb followed by a narrow switchback descent into the village where they were met with the fly over and the river rock garden. They ended up riding together quite a bit.
In the Cat 3 Race, Rachel Harris won the Women 15-16! Congratulations Rachel. Hank Harris was 5th in the Cat 2 Men 40-45.

Beti Bike Bash

2011-06-13T09:13:00.000-06:00

Michelle Bliss won the SS category this at the Beti Bike Bash all women's event!

Gowdy Grinder Wyoming

2011-05-24T09:14:00.002-06:00

Justin's Cycling was very well represented at the Gowdy Grinder this past weekend at the Curt Gowdy State Park near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Big Nuts did extremely well and the Little Nuts did even better. It was amazing to me how many people took notice of our team and of our presence there. Many of them asking "What is Justin's?" Our friends at Mountain Flyer magazine put together a great report here http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/gowdy-grinder.html and you can find complete results here http://laramiemtbseries.com/grinder/gr_results_11.php

In the beginner's race 10 year old Mark Harris and 11 year old Elizabeth Hogan dominated the adults by winning. In the intermediate race, Ben Hogan finished 5th in a field of 57. In the Open Men, Ward Baker led the team in 7th with Thomas Dooley and Mike Hogan finishing 9th and 10th. And in the Open Women, Karen Hogan was 3rd and Stacy Moller was 4th. Great finishes by all. Next time we need to remember to bring more nut butter as the crowd was begging for it.

I think everyone would agree that this was the best $10 race you can ever find. The course was fantastic, the competition was great and you couldn't have asked for more fun racing your mountain bike. This is one of the top 5 destinations for great single track riding within 4 hours of Boulder.

12 Hours of Mesa Verde

2011-05-09T17:17:00.001-06:00

Kelly Mcgrew paired up with Gary Thacker & won the "duo geezer" category in southwest Colorado this weekend at the 12 hours of Mesa Verde. Justin's new teammate Todd Baker was 2nd with each team putting in 8 laps & 130 miles (65 miles per rider). Jack Boltz placed 8th in the same category 2 laps back.

This is a great race for your 2012 "to do" list!

Race report coming soon.

Front Range 60

2011-05-08T20:26:00.003-06:00

Justin's nuts Keith Sanders & John Bliss went 1-2 in the "1/2 marathon" Front Range MTB race this weekend. The course in Golden was run clockwise this year for the first time & was screaming fast.

Michelle Bliss won the single speed women on the half distance course.

The full marathon - the Front Range 60 - is part of the Rocky Mountain Endurance series. Justin's rider Stacy Moller was 7th in the 30-39 women, Jeff Hall, new to the team this year, was 5th in the 40-49 men and Pete Watson was 11th in the 50-59 men.

Keith Sanders & John Bliss

Michelle Bliss

Cape Epic - Stage 7 - Final Day

2011-04-03T10:22:00.002-06:00

The 2011 Cape Epic is all wrapped up. Thomas rode another good stage & finished the entire event. He is listed as one of the many riders who lost a partner & finished solo. Mike actually recovered slightly & rode stage 7 with Thomas - the rules allow him to ride but Mike is not listed in the results.

Stage 7 video: http://www.vimeo.com/21959075

Hi Everyone. Thomas rode alone yesterday in Stage 6. I could not ride with the broken rib. Here is his video from his lonely day. http://vimeo.com/21865408

I decided to ride the last 65k stage into Lorensford. The broken rib was good for about 30k. Then, I blew my nose and it popped. It was pretty painful the rest of the way, but Thomas and I finished the stage. Special thanks to Thomas for getting me to the finish. We will send a full report shortly.

If you are interested, here is a link to all of the videos that have been sent up to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=estrucko&aq=f

Mike

Cape Epic - stage 6

2011-04-02T06:29:00.000-06:00

Thomas had to carry on alone today on stage 6 of the Cape Epic after Mikes stage 5 crash. Mike was still trying to get ready for the start but at 6am it became apparent that he was too injured to continue. Thomas unofficially 'teamed up' with marathonmtb.com's Mike Blewitt whose teammate was also taken out by the crash.

Thomas rolled another great ride at around 6:15 which would put him in the top 10 again. The race structure does not list your placing any longer if your teammate is out. Look at the end of the results under "individual finishers" for stage times.

Injury report: Mike has no broken bones & is up & cheering Thomas along.

Cape Epic - stage 5 crash

2011-04-02T05:45:00.002-06:00

Cape Epic - Stage 5

2011-04-02T05:44:00.002-06:00

http://vimeo.com/21826861

Hi everyone. Thomas and I had a great stage today in the Queen Stage of the Cape Epic, until 2k from the finish. It was 143k with 2300M of climbing, truly epic. Unfortunately we had some bad luck that put Mike out of the race. Thomas continued on this morning with Stage 6, while Mike is back in Oak Valley nursing some cracked ribs. That's mountain bike racing....anything can happen.

Mike

Cape Epic - Stage 5

2011-04-01T06:25:00.000-06:00

Singletrack.com / Justin's Nutbutter cracked the top 10 again today after todays 127km stage. Thomas & Mike are back on form & still sitting in 13th overall.

Cape Epic TT

2011-03-31T14:43:00.001-06:00

8th place at the finish today for Singletrack.com / Justin's Nutbutter. Mike & Thomas rode the 2 man 30k TT in 1:28 7 were able to sneak up one spot in G.C. to 13th. This is 76th overall in all classes in an unbelievable field.

Todays pro event was won by the team of Chris Sauser & Burry Stander, both world champions, with a time of 1:10. The masters event was won by Udo Boelts / Carsten Bresser at 1:18. They have won every stage so far. Udo may be a familiar name to road cyclists as was 9th in the 1994 Tour de France & finishing 12 consecutive Tours. As Jan Ullrich was about to crack en route to winning the 1997 TDF, Udo pulled him back & offered these kind words of encouragement: Qual dich du Sau (meaning something along the lines of "Goddammit, move your ass, you son of a bitch". This is also the title of Udo's autobiography. 5th place in the Master's G.C. is Thomas Frischknecht - 5 time world champion in MTB, MTB marathon & cyclocross. Thomas was 2nd in the 1996 Olympics - behind Bart Brentjens who is kindly riding the pro class in this years Cape Epic & sitting in 7th overall. The list of Olympians, Tour riders, current & past world champions stretches on. This is one impressive field!

Tomorrow is the Queen Stage at 143km and 2300 meters climbing. Here is the route description from the organizers:

It's a real classic epic day out, the longest stage in years. With fast open roads, marked by 3 obstacles along the way, riders are advised to save their strength and cooperate with other teams to form larger groups, to take turns at the front to lighten the load. The first climb of the day will be a shock to the system, not only from the gradient but also the track?s surface. In parts, the climb is rideable, barely, and only the fittest and best bike handlers are likely to make it up without dabbing a foot. As with everything, what goes up must come down, and those with full suspension bikes will be grateful for their weapon of choice. More open roads will help get some kilometers under the belt before the radio mast comes into view. Down the other side of this deceptive climb is a fast chute into farmlands and waiting for them is a set of rolling hills that?ll deaden the legs of even the most hardened campaigner. At the 100km mark, riders reach the foot of the exquisite Groenlandberg, the grand old legend inviting us back in 2011 thanks to Cape Nature Conservation. The 15% gradient on the concrete path should be paced conservatively, with the remainder of the climb taking most riders well over an hour to complete. The north-facing slope will make for a challenging ascent on a hot afternoon but the rocky downhill section leads to the famed Oak Valley singletrack to make it all worth it.

Master's General Classification after stage 4

Mike & Thomas with our younger, faster & skinnier friends -
Mike Blewitt & William Hayter of MarathonMTB.com.
They are sitting in 39th place overall. Check out their much more professional web site at:
MarathonMTB.com

Cape Epic TT

2011-03-31T05:55:00.000-06:00

Mike and Thomas just rolled through time check #1 in 4th place. They are very late starters and most of the masters teams are already finished. Fastest masters time at the finish is 1:18.

Cape Epic Stage 3

2011-03-31T03:08:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,
The video says it all. We spent over 7 hours out there on what people are saying is the toughest Cape Epic Stage ever. It was 125k and 1900 m of climbing. We dropped pretty far down in the results, but there is plenty more racing to happen. The rain at the end of the stage was helpful to keep things cool. We are now in Worcester. http://vimeo.com/21729196

Off to do a short 30k time trial today...

--
Mike Hogan
mhogan.wp@gmail.com

Cape Epic - stage 3 video

2011-03-30T20:35:00.002-06:00

Hello All,

Here is the link to Stage 3:

http://vimeo.com/21729196

Cape Epic - stage 3

2011-03-30T14:35:00.001-06:00

Tough day in the heat for the boys from Boulder. They came in 35th masters on the stage & slipped to 14th overall. Still close enough to move up to a top 10 overall finish. Lots of riding still to come.

A little worse for the wear after stage 3

Excellent recovery plans

The GC after stage 3

Cape Epic - stage 2 video

2011-03-30T09:18:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Here is a link to the Stage 2. http://www.vimeo.com/21683918

We are hanging in there...just finished Stage 3... over 7 hours. Ouch.

Mike

Cape Epic - Stage 2

2011-03-29T09:05:00.000-06:00

Six hours under the sun for Thomas & Mike during stage 2 of the Cape Epic. The heat sucked their power away after 50k of the 100k race & they slipped a bit on G.C. to 9th place. They were 11th on the day's stage. They face 5 more stages with tomorrow being even longer at 125k, though with much less climbing at "only" 1900 meters.

We'll get a report from them after they rehydrate & recover.

9th place & still sipping cappuccino in the leaders start block tomorrow!!

Stage 1 update

2011-03-28T16:33:00.001-06:00

Stage 1 report. Team Singletrack.com/Justin's Nut Butter

Team Singletrack.com/Justin's Nut Butter ran into the hell that is Cape Epic dropping to 6th overall in the Masters GC. Leading the Frischknecht team by 2 minutes at 42k, we lost nine minutes to them by the end. The day got hotter and hotter and Thomas bonked hard about two thirds into the stage. The rest of the story was sheer survival with Hogan pulling the dying Dooley to the finish.

One highlight was racing along Roberto Heras on the penultimate climb. He had a bigger motor on the final, relatively flat 26k to the finish.

Thomas Dooley crashed toward the finish breaking a brake lever. Luckily he was alright and the SRAM finish crew was able to put everything back together. Except his pride.

Now for Stage 2 tomorrow. Hopefully, we can make up some lost time and move up a bit. But in this heat it will be difficult.

We are sitting in 6th, but still sipping cappuccino in Starting Block A.

(The above message was brought to you by Thomas Dooley)

5 hours in the African Heat!

Cape Epic: Stage 1

2011-03-28T16:25:00.001-06:00

Just under 5 hours in the hot sun brought the Singletrack.com/Justin's duo of Dooley & Hogan across the line in 6th place masters. They started the stage from the elite starting block which provides a significant advantage - only the top 10 teams get to start here. "Sipping cappuccino in starting block A" has been Thomas' life goal & that is now complete. They are 49th overall in the general classification of 600 teams. A good ride tomorrow will get them back on the podium & there is a lot of racing to come. In epic adventures like this the time gained or lost in a stage can be hours, not minutes. A simple mechanical can cost you the entire stage.

Tomorrow is a 100km stage that starts off with a 2000 meter monster climb! Forecast is for 97degrees F.

Check out their Stage 1 video:
http://vimeo.com/21603274

Follow the race live & see full results at:
http://live.cape-epic.com/

Cape Epic 2011 Prologue

2011-03-28T05:43:00.002-06:00

Hogan and Dooley end up 3rd on the prologue, first time any masters from America have been on the podium ever. Here is some video. http://vimeo.com/21570258

Cape Epic - the race is on!

2011-03-27T05:57:00.001-06:00

Cape Epic has started Sunday morning March 27th. You can follow the results live here. Thomas Dooley & Mike Hogan are sitting in 3rd place / masters after the 27km prologue. There are 200 masters teams racing the event. Our pair rolled in 37th overall in the 600 team field which includes multiple world champions & elite riders both from the road (tour de france) world & mountain bike world.

Cape Epic 2011

2011-03-22T11:01:00.003-06:00

The wild and untamed African adventure begins today.....
Denver to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Cape Town.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDT8GyNfYLg&feature=player_embedded

Masters Cyclocross World Championships 2011 Trip Report

2011-02-02T10:32:00.028-07:00

Boulder Crew at the base of the Koppenberg

Masters Cyclocross World Championships 2011 Trip Report
You’ll never hear someone ask, “cyclowhat?” in Belgium. Belgians are tough as nails, especially when it comes to bike racing. Cyclocross thrives in Belgium; the terrain, soil and weather produce some of the best racing conditions possible. With my 2 CX bikes stuffed into a modified cardboard bike box, I set off with 5 good friends to race the big one… Cross Masters Worlds in Mol Belgium. Pete Webber(current 2 time US CX nat champ), Brandon Dwight(past US CX nat champ), Michael Robson, Brian Hludzinski, and Kurt Perham. It was a 12 day, 4 race adventure. We stayed in Oudenaarde at a cycling specific guest house run by a former road pro from Texas and his wife. Gregg and Holly were great and the place was dialed for racers, we shared the house with world cup pros from Canada and the UK on their own CX worlds campaign. http://www.thechainstay.com/
Our first group ride on Belgian soil consisted of the legendary Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) sections, including the famous cobbled Koopenberg climb. The cobbles were wet and slick, with no good lines to choose from. I have a new level of respect for how hard cobbles are to ride, especially to race on. Impressive.

The 4 races were amazing, each providing a completely different racing challenge.
Race #1- Langemark, Belgium. Jan 15th. 11am race start, 30degrees, raining , mild wind, MUD. When we stopped the van in the middle of these huge flat fields far from anything that looked like a city, I looked out for what would be a city center or populated area that would hold the race, but we were actually at the race course! It would be like setting up a race here in Colorado across multiple farms in Hygiene. The course had paved sections on house driveways and back alleys, the fun doubletrack sections winding between and around outbuildings, stables and sheds, with long straight sections following farm fences on old farm work roads. It was amazing, true field racing. Unfortunately for us, it had been raining for weeks and the standing water was everywhere. This was the most muddy race I have ever raced, and one of the most difficult. The mud was so thick and deep, we ended up running 40% of the course. It was the kind of mud that would pull your shoes off if you did not have them tight. Our lap times were almost 10mins and they shortened the race to just 4 laps. Bikes were heavy and slow, with pounds of mud on board. I pitted on every lap and took a clean bike. That race was brutal but exactly what we needed, Langemark would help us appreciate the next courses. Pete 1st, Brandon 2nd, Brian 8th, Ward 9th, Kurt 13th, Robson 16th.

Langemark post race rejoice!
mud field running
more ankle deep mud

Race #2-Bakel Netherlands, Jan 16th. 1pm race start, 40 degrees, partly cloudy, moist ground, no mud! Bakel was my favorite race and town, it was as if someone compiled the course from all the best ingredients. Tacky dark soil, rolling hills with single line banked turns winding thru dense trees sections. This course was a bike handling dream and flow was amazing. The one paved section was short and quickly led into more fun fast turns and technical sections. The sand area was like nothing we have in the US, it was a new experience in bike handing. The 30ft hill of sand was steep and we traversed into it sideways, off a short descent. The best approach was to actually ride one footed into the approach and across the sand until you could unclip and start the run up. Very challenging and something you just can’t practice for. My call up for this race was almost last row, so I spent most of the race picking off racers one by one, passing in tight turns and on the less desirable line thru technical sections. It was a drivers course more than a fitness course. Below are some pics that show just how amazing the venue and course were. Brandon 2nd, Pete 3rd, Ward 7th, Robson 8th, Brian 9th, Kurt 22nd. A post race video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGoUJ6a4QrU

lap 1, full throttle from the back row, dugast rhino's at 22/23psi.

s turns heading into the pit area, setting up to pass.

what locals call the "brown stripe racing", it's what cyclocross dreams are made of

key to moving thru the pack- pedal out of every corner earlier than the others.

image hitting this turn at full speed and not washing out, it's was beautiful...

Race #3- Zilvermeer, Mol, Belgium. Jan 22nd. Masters World Championships. 1pm race start, 36degrees, cloudy with light rain. Moist course with several difficult sand sections and long flat power section, almost no recovery sections.
This was the big one and it was a tough course, there would be no fakin it here... This is the worlds race that defines a year of hard efforts. The venue was again almost perfect, Zilvermeer is a resort fun park area that covers a huge wooded areas, lakes and varied terrain. The registration process, course marking, call ups and race organization was great. The course was amazing. The sand sections were long and technical, image the Boulder res sand but 5x harder. In my mind, the sand sections would be the differentiator in this race, at least for me. If you can ride sand well, you could relax and ride them without effort. Or like me, sand is not one of my strengths yet, so I had to pin it at 110% into every sand section and blow myself up trying to ride/run the sand without loosing any spots. In practice I could clean the main sand section 50% of the time, in the race I cleaned that sand once in 6 laps! This course was fast and the pace of the race was like a first lap effort, but on every single lap. Any mistake or slight bobble and there was 2-3 guys taking advantage and attempting a pass. The same was true for racers ahead of me, I tried to exploit every mistake they made and forced passes in sections I would normally not attempt in Colorado. Consistent and aggressive riding would be the theme, and there were no sections to even think about resting or soft pedalling. Our whole crew had a decent call up, with all of use being on the 3rd and 4th row out of 9-10 rows. We all raced great and left nothing in the tank at Worlds. Pete 4th, Brandon 6th, Ward 12th, Kurt 14th, Brian 16th, Robson 18th. It was the pinnacle experience of my limited 5 years of cyclocross. The level of competition was amazing, the course was fair and challenging, it permanently defined the sport for me.
Some video’s of the worlds race.
Start and first sand section, with 9 mins of good footage from different sections of the race course.
http://www.youtube.com/user/attacketv#p/u/6/UfS7kxXk2wc

Last part of race and podium presentation.
http://www.youtube.com/user/attacketv#p/u/5/RfoqAaPLrXY

lap 1, full speed into the famous Mol sand section, Nico(green #48) won the world title.

givin' er' thru the fast flowing straight aways. Rhino's at 21/22 psi

fast barrier section with dense sand

chasing Kurt in the pit area, fast fun turns

Post race group shot. behind us is the paved 90degree turn that dumps into the large sand section.

Race #4- Assenede, Belgium. Jan 23rd. 11am start, 32degrees, cloudy with light rain, muddy farm field course but 100% rideable. This race was a lot like Langemark, minus the unrideable mud. Its was flat and fast with great 180 turns and flowing sections that covered several neighboring farms, passed thru outbuildings, climbed dirt piles, crossed irrigation ditches and paralleled long fence lines. It was a great race to end an epic trip on. It was also the last race of the VCC, the Flemish Cyclocross Cup (similar to our ACA cross cup series), so the local Belgian masters national champions, past masters world champions were all lined up with us. It was another great day to be on the bike. We all started in the back row and out of respect did not challenge for the points awarded on lap 1, these are prems points awarded and go towards to overall title. At the start of lap 2, it was race on and I gave it everything I had left for my last race of the trip. I bridged to the lead group with Brandon, Pete and Robson and hung on for a few laps but got dropped with 2 to go. I managed to work my back up to the top 5. Pictured below is our new friend Mario Lammens , sporting his Belgian champion stripes and world champion stripes. He is the current Belgian national champion(5th time) and past 3x Masters World Champion. He’s a legend in Belgium and has won over 300 cross races. He’s a true champion and a great racer, we all tried to convince him to make the trip to USA for the 2012 Masters worlds, hopefully he’ll be able to make it. Brandon took the W and flowers today, with Pete 2nd, Ward 5th, Robson 6th, Brian 7th and Kurt 12th.

full gas in the flat sections, and (temporarily) bridging up to Brandon and the leaders.

mid lap s turns , really fun section, rhino's at 22/23 psi.

large dirt pile descent, the course rode up the dirt ridge and back down into the field. great feature.

reward of a hard last lap effort, goal- catch Robson.

Multi Belgian and World Champion Mario Lammens and the Boulder crew

Hoogerheide Netherlands-Jan 23rd-3PM elite mens world cup race- 36degrees, cloudy with light rain, no wind and a muddy course. The world cup in Hoogerheide Netherlands our last stop. So we hustled into our van after our Assenede race and set off to catch the last world cup race of the season before elite worlds. Unfortunately we missed the womens race but made it just in time for the men's race. Being a superfan and attending a world cup race in person was a great ending to the trip. Imagine taking our USA nationals event and multipling it by 20. The area was packed with tens of thousands of fans, the bars were full of screaming rowdy Euro's, the most avid one's wearing "supporter" jackets for their favorite racer. There were massive jumbotrons showing all sections of the race course, several cranes and huge booms with camera crews maning each one, dozens of racer private RV's and warm up tents, the complete town was taken over by cross fans. Outfittted with pit passes from our Canadian elite racers, we were able to get in for free and also view the race from inside the pits. I was blown away with the sheer speed and power of the lead group. These elite men were so fast, it was impressive to just watch. The heavies like Stybar, Nys, and Albert would actually pedal thru muddy off camber corners that I would probably coast and brake thru. They would control the bike's drift thru corners and not even hesitate. It was like watching a magic trick as a kid and trying to understand what just happened. I still don't know how the do it, but I now have a whole new set of tricks to figure out for next season! Thanks for reading.

Hoogerheide world cup pit area. Kurt, Ward, Robson.

Justin's / singletrack.com Heading to South Africa for the Cape Epic

2011-02-01T10:56:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDT8GyNfYLg&feature=player_embedded

Thomas Dooley and Mike Hogan are accepted into the 2011 Cape Epic starting March 27th in Cape Town South Africa. For updates, follow http://twitter.com/thomasdooley .

Ward Baker at Nationals

2010-12-14T09:30:00.004-07:00

Scuba Gear would have been appropriate for many of the sections of this course at the Deschuttes Brewery in Bend, OR.

Ward and the love of his life, Heidi post Men's Open Race.

Ward Baker rode a strong race in the 40-44 race finishing 9th. He came back in the Men's open race to finish 49th. Now it is off to Belgium for the Hard Man from Boulder. Way to go Ward.

2010 National Cyclocross Championships-Bend, OR

2010-12-14T09:10:00.008-07:00

Epic days in Bend, OR. Karen Hogan wins National Championship.

Ben Hogan en route to a 3rd place finish in Jr. Men 13-14.

Mike Hogan battling with Rod Yoder at the start of the 45-49 race. Mike ended up 6th.

Palo Duro Canyon - Texas

2010-11-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Despite what those nuts who carry their bikes on their shoulders instead of riding, Justin's Cycling is not done racing mountain bikes yet. Three team members headed south to race in Texas last week bringing home a couple of victories! Palo Duro is only 6 hours south of Colorado Springs. Kelly McGrew gives us this race report:

What a great time! The drive from Canyon, Texas to the Palo Duro State park is 10 miles of prairie before you arrive at the huge hole in the ground. It was absolutely beautiful when we got there. The sun was coming up and the low angle light was bringing out all of the color. You descend 700 ft down to the bottom and wind along the canyon. The race started at 10:30 and it was around 50 degrees but quickly warmed up to the mid 70's. What a glorious day in November to race a mountain bike. It was a 3 1/2 loop course that was almost all single-track and was really busy, constant elevation and direction changes. There were not big climbs but parts of the course had some challenging sharp short climbs. It was quite a workout. There were three Justin's riders there, Beth Gouge 1st 40-49 (3rd Women and in the "$$"), Mark Gouge 10th Open (16th overall), Kelly McGrew 1st 50+ (15th overall). This race is most certainly worth the drive!

Kelly

Kelly on the top of the podium!

Cyclocross, cyclocross and more cyclocross

2010-11-23T08:51:00.003-07:00

What can I say? With so much time being spent on cyclocross, it does not leave much time for an update or two. Now with the last few weeks of the season upon us, I will try to keep people up to date.

Let's see. Last time we checked in with the Justin's Crossers it was mid October. Aspen Lodge Cross was a first up in Estes Park, Colorado. Justin's was all over the front of many of the races. Highlighting the results was Hank Harris in the 35+/4s. Ward Baker used his technical skills to finish 2nd in the 35+ with Mike Hogan, Jamie Kilcoyne and Dan Mellish all battling it out. Ben Hogan finished a strong 2nd in the 13-15 group. Karen Hogan finished 3rd and Michelle Bliss had a strong finish all in the Women's Open.

The next weekend had the ever popular Blue Sky Velo Cup and the Boulder Racing #3 at the Louisville Rec Center (aka Bowl of Death). At Blue Sky Mike Hogan won the M 45+ and Karen Hogan was 5th, Michelle Bliss was 15th. Ward Baker rode the Men's Open to 13th Place. There are a ton of people that I am missing and will try to get caught up here over Thanksgiving.

USA National 24 Hour Championships

2010-10-12T11:49:00.000-06:00

The 24 Hours of Moab

The master men's podium: Drew Geer & Keith Sanders

(Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley had to leave for work before awards)

Thomas Dooley - his podium shot in the Justin's Championship Jersey

The master women's podium Michelle Slingsby, Coreen Wright & Kay Levesque

(Stacy Moller had to leave early)

Justin's / Titus bought home 7 more national championship this weekend winning both the women's & mens masters 24 hour championships. The 24 Hours of Moab, in its 16th year, doubled again as the national 24 hour championship venue with titles awarded in solo, duo & 4 person team events.

Coreen Wright, Kay Levesque, Stacy Moller & Michelle Slingsby (Justin's guest rider) won the women's race with 15 laps. This is Kay's 2nd national title after winning the duo title in 2008.

Mike Hogan, Thomas Dooley, Keith Sanders & Drew Geer climbed one step up on the podium after a 2nd place finish last year. Mike is the 2010 XC national champion (as well as multiple marathon titles), Keith the 2009 national XC champion & this is the first title for Thomas & Drew.

Dave Wright rode in the super fast 35+ category & was 3rd. Dan Busse rode for a composite 35+ team & Ben Hogan put in killer fast laps in a 5 person mixed team.

Thomas Dooley in his special championship white shorts

Dan Busse - our 2010 kits were designed to match the Moab sandstone just for this event

Dave Wright - on route to a 3rd place in the 35+ championship

Kay Levesque

Ben Hogan - putting in a 1:19 lap at age 12!

The weather last year was record perfect, only to be surpassed by this year. Don't count on good weather in 2011 - it just can't hold up. Moab has a reputation of very tough conditions - high wind, extreme dust, sand rain, snow, ice ... This year had very low winds & no rain. It had been raining daily the week leading up to the race which makes for a fast course. The usual sand bogs were packed into a fast groove. Riders still had a bit of "sand surfing" but none of the power sucking long sand drags. The technical sections were fast & fun. Only "nosedive" & two steep sand run-ups defied riding this year.

For anyone not familiar with the 24 hour format, the race starts at noon with a "Lemans" style running start. The lead rider runs 500 meters with 350 other runners in a dust fest before grabbing their bike & starting lap one. After the first lap, the lead rider tags the next rider & so on for 24 hours. The ride order can be altered as needed during the day & night. At about 6pm the lights come out. That is when the riding gets fun. Moab is a fun, technical course. It is a 15 miles loop with everything - a bit of dirt road, sand, rock, drops, ripping fast single track & loose rock descents. In the day it requires attention. At night it is best if you remembered your line from the day lap. The lines get blurred & as more riders take the wrong line it begins to look like the correct line. It is pretty easy to launch off a 6 foot drop at night when you were sure that was only 1 foot in the day. Riders have ridden off into the desert briefly & found themselves way off course.

Keith Sanders starting into the first climb

Clear skies, sun & no wind - perfect racing weather

The sun setting "Behind the Rocks" at the Moab race venue

The first night lap is fun, but getting dressed & ready to go out at 3 am when it is 25 degrees takes a bit of prodding. Despite 350 riders on course at a time, it is lonely out there - cold & really dark. The 1am to 6am laps are the toughest. At about 7 the sun comes up for the coveted sunrise lap. You can finally turn off your lights & rip another fast lap. In the early AM the moisture makes the course as fast as it ever gets.

Night riding is what 24 hour racing is all about!

The men's team rode smooth & consistent. We had a few mishaps but no crisis that was not easily fixed. Mike took a big crash on his face during his first night lap but put it back together & pulled out a 1:17 night lap. Thomas lost power on one light, not an uncommon occurrance. He then crashed & knocked out his 2nd light & had to ride the rest of the way in the dark, tagging on other riders with lights - & still finished in 1:23. Our bikes were perfect. The full suspension Carbon X takes the rough parts & smooths them perfectly. You really notice this at high speed. They are very quick - a nice touch to rapidly change lines at night. We rode the Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 tires, electing for the larger surface area in the sand. They stuck to the rock & rolled the sand pits perfectly. With the higher speed this year we choose a bit higher tire pressure, running 26-30 psi, tubeless & this was an excellent choice. Not one flat for any team member.

Mike Hogan

Our support teams were the best! The race is harder for them than the riders - cooking, charging lights, keeping the gear warm & dry & getting the riders to the exchange at the right time. They pulled "all nighters" & every rider need was met perfectly. Big thanks to all our crew & also to all our sponsors!

Seven new national titles for Justin's / Titus

The sun setting behind the rocks in Moab Utah

National Champions

2010-10-08T10:58:00.005-06:00

Congratulations Ward Baker for your National Championship in Super D and Mike Hogan in the Cross Country at the 2010 USA Cycling National Championships in Sol Vista, CO. Your jerseys are in! Special thanks to Brian Worthy from Vermarc USA, they look great.

Boulder Racing Cross and Alpha Cross

2010-09-27T08:48:00.002-06:00

This weekend's racing featured races from Boulder Racing and Alpha Cross. Both were the first in their respective series.
Saturday was up in Longmont at the Xilinx course. Brian from Boulder Racing laid out a pretty technical, twisty turny, off camber, jungle cross course. It was a fun course, you really cant go bad there. Justin's had a few guys out to race with Mike Hogan getting 6th and Jamie Kilcoyne 11th. Both had front row starting positions and raced with big nuts on their chest! Hank Harris battled some technical issues in the 35+4s and finished way behind where he typically does. The 45+ group brought out the big guns with Gary Thacker, John Bliss and Justin Green sporting the big nuts. Honestly, it is an unfair advantage that we have big nuts on our chest. I hope that no one discovers the unfair advantage it offers. Gary finished 14th, John was 20th and Justin 21st. Solid starts to their seasons. If I missed anybody's finish out there, let me know. You can see photos and other good stuff at http://www.303cycling.com/xilinx-boulder-racing-1-results-photos-report
Sunday' race at Alpha cross did not have as many folks there but Hank Harris finished a solid 3rd in the M 35+ field. Way to go Hank!
Next up Frisco Cross.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...Cross Season is underway

2010-09-21T15:58:00.005-06:00

Colorado is a special place. I am constantly amazed at the cycling opportunities that we have within a reasonable proximity. This weekend marked the second official weekend of cyclocross races. The schedule is booked through mid January this year with at least two races each weekend. The vast majority of these events are within a 45minute drive from Boulder. Lucky.

The Justin's-Titus team was alive and well at this weekend's Green Mountain Velo Cross race in Golden. Corky sets up a mean course that is a little on the rough side, but is a lot of fun to race. Ben Hogan led the Juniors with a 4th place finish in a strong 13-15 field. Mike Hogan rode to 6th place in the 35+ field. Karen Hogan finished 3rd in the Women's Open race. The last Justin's crew to hit the course was the 45+ men's field. Thomas Dooley, Justin Green and Mike Hogan raced in this one. Hogan ended up 5th and Dooley 7th with Justin Green in 24th. For complete results click here. We all got consistent comments on the Justin's kits. Go Nuts, Go Justin's, etc., etc. There is nothing like riding around on your bike with big nuts on your chest!

I am amazed at the size of fields in this race. If it is any indication, you need to get some points for a call up or get to races a little earlier than last year if you want a chance at a hole shot. There are a LOT of cross racers around this year. This is in part due to Cyclocross Super Evangelist, Greg Keller from http://www.mudandcowbells.com/

Also, for those that are interested, the Bowl of Death crew is meeting on Wednesday mornings for some cross hot laps. We generally have from 6-15 riders that do some hot laps at the BOD. Feel free to join in. Mark your calendar for the Bowl of Death Intergalactic Cyclocross Championships on October 24th put on by http://www.boulderracing.com/ . Go Justin's!

"You are better than you think you are"

2010-08-24T12:58:00.001-06:00

Bad Legs

We've all all been there. Sometimes there is a day when you just do not have the legs to ride well. The french say "Un jour sans" - a day without. The Italians phrase it "Giornata no" - no day. This a day with no strength. My 2010 Leadville was one of those day. I have had a perfect training plan, perfect hours for me, perfect intervals & a great taper. Soon after the start I felt I was not going to have a great ride. You have to be careful though because you can start out feeling crappy & roll into a great race. My training buddy, Davis Phinney, had a couple of his greatest races where he started out feeling as if he was not going to finish & ended up with a win. I always remember this & hang in there waiting for to power to return.

Anyway - PRs were not going to happen & my power did not return. However, I was going to finish. Leadville is about finishing. 9 hours is the arbitrary cut off time for a "big buckle" - at Leadville (the buckles themselves are a good story - google it). Typically about 100 riders meet this mark. This was not any big goal for me. I have buckles & really was shooting at 8 hours. As this was not happening I just wanted to ride peacefully & quietly to the finish.

At 99 miles - actually 5 miles to the finish as the Leadville 100 is just about 104 miles - a friend blasted up behind me (he too having a bad day as he was behind me), gave me a big push & screamed "You are better than you think you are! You can do more than you think you can". Any Leadville rider or runner knows these are the words of the Leadville founder Ken Klouber. This is part of his outstanding pre-race talk. We had 16 minutes to ride 5 miles uphill to make the 9 hour cut off. I was pretty fried at this point or I would not have been at this point anyway. Its not as if I had been saving my legs all day just to sprint 5 miles. The truth is I think I am better than I am, not the other way around. I also am better at math than I am at riding. Lets see - 5 miles in 16 minutes should be just about 18 mph - uphill. hmmm - not happening. I'm also an electronic geek & have GPS splits of Leadville in 06 & 07. I know the "Dirty Boulevard", an ugly 3 mile gradual uphill to the finish takes me 20 minutes on a good day. I let my friend go & kept up my pathetic pace still just wishing to be left alone. I was content.

Next a motorcycle pulls up beside me. They have a camera - not a home video type but a big ass real movie camera. Great. This is the film crew for "Race Across the Sky". Ah - just what I need now. I have to pedal a bit harder as this is very embarrassing. Maybe they will leave soon. A couple minutes pass & they are not gone. The cameraman says "You have 14 minute to make the cut off. Can you do it?". My answer - "that will be hard". They still don't leave. He then says "That's not what I asked. Can you do it?". Ok, I think - what is the right answer to this question & when will they leave. "Yes - I can do it". Still they stay. They plan on following me thinking I am going to be the last rider to make the 9 hour cut off. Unfortunately for them, my math is better than theirs. There is no way I am making that cut off. They should be up the road 5 minutes. After 10 minutes they finally figure I am lost & zip away in a cloud of dust. I finish in 9:05 - not unhappy with this. All the footage will not make the movie as I did not make the cut off. My friend also did not make it despite his effort: 9:02. My teammate Kelly McGrew rolled in just behind me, also suffering. Legs - some days they just are not there.

Leadville 100

2010-08-24T12:11:00.000-06:00

Toni Geer in her first Leadville 100

1400 riders lined up at 6:30 on a brisk Leadville morning to start the Leadville 100. It was 34 degrees but the sky was crystal clear. Lance Armstrong had pulled out the week before but a star studded field remained led by Levi Leipheimer. The already popular race swelled to the largest field ever after last year's movie - "Race Across the Sky". Rider after rider said they came because of the movie.

Ward Baker through the Powerline aid station at 30 miles

Justin's / Titus managed to get four riders in the race through the strict lottery process & we had a great day out there. Ward Baker led us home in 17th place overall setting a personal best by 10 minutes in 7:35:56. Toni Geer, riding her first Leadville with a goal of finishing was 27th woman in 10:45, well under the 12 hr finish time. Drew Geer in his 6th Leadville & Kelly McGrew also with multiple Leadvilles did not have the legs for the day & rolled in in 151st & 165th (9:04 & 9:11).

Leadville has really grown over the years & a mass start of 1400 riders of all abilities on a paved downhill start requires a bit of attention. Ward, being seeded on the front line from last year did not notice any of this & screamed off the line with Levi & JHK. Leadville vets will recall the start used to be neutral at 10 mph until the dirt a few miles in. This is no longer the case & that is probably just as well - the rapid initial pace strings the huge field out a bit. Start position outside the top 100 is first come, first serve & battle to keep your spot. Toni & I started near the end. Recalling the fantastic moves of Thomas Dooley a few years earlier I rolled right up the right, inches from the edge & passes hundreds & hundred of riders in the first 3 minutes. Despite this, as the race really started on the dirt after 5 minutes, I was 5 minutes back & 300 place.

The out & back profile with the peak climb up Columbine to 12,550 ft

The first climb is St. Kevin; just 3 miles long & 10-15% grade. The surface was fast & the only problem here is traffic - you just can't ride fast. That does have the advantage of forcing an easy start for a long day. By the second climb - Hagerman pass; 6% for 5 miles topping out at 11,000 feet - the sun had warmed us to a very nice riding temperature. Off Hagerman there is a fun drop down the "Powerline". That becomes less fun on the ride home but the early morning descent is a lot of fun. The recent rain packed the track very fast & smooth but the large groups exercised some wise caution. You can't win coming off powerline but you can DNF here. The "pipeline flats" are fast easy riding, typically 20-30 mph. The pace depends largely on what group you can put yourself into here. Long pacelines form in the wide open areas of road & double track.

For you long time Leadville riders, there is a new piece of trail skipping the infamous "Northface". This is a great trail but it does add 1/2 mile each way & adds a total of 3 minutes outbound & 7 minutes inbound (as calculated by my GPS tracks over the past several years).

Across the Twin Lakes Dam, pick up a quick feed & head up Columbine - 8.5 miles, 3,100 feet of climbing on easy road with an average grade of 7% & a max of 20%. This tops out at 12,550 feet. On any given training day, this climb would not be hard. The last 2 miles average 11% & are easily ridable - unless you are racing Leadville. On race day, 3 1/2 hours in, the narrow 20% grade gets walked by most riders. Around the turnaround aid station, down Columbine in fast 2 way traffic, across the dam & into the wind. The slog home across the pipeline is often a trying section. The sky stayed clear but the winds picked up to 15 mph straight into your face coming back. Still the riding is easy & there are no huge climbs.

Coming back up the Powerline at 80 miles if always the most painful time. I rode this clean & easy the day before Leadville in a 27-32 & stayed in a zone 2 heart rate with no effort. After 5 - 6 hours Powerline is a brute. It is a 3.8 mile climb averaging only only 7.5%. The max grade is 22%. After this heinous effort you are rewarded by a nice drop back down Hagerman pass, back on the pave to climb 3 miles but now the wind is a strong tail wind! All nice mostly down hill riding then until the "Dirty Boulevard" - the last gradual climb to the finish.

103 miles - 10,700 vertical climbing

Drew Geer returning across Twin Lakes at 60 miles

Leadville is an exciting race. It is not technical. There is no butteryflowysmoothalicious sweet single track. It is a very hard day. What there is "energy". The field is huge. The top riders are riders you pick up an autograph from - & you are on the line with them (well - kind of, seeing as you are really 1000 riders behind them). The feed zone at Twin Lakes is populated by 5000 people screaming for everybody - you run a gauntlet that feels like the crowd on L'Alpe d'Huez. Unless you are one of the top 3 riders, you are not riding for place. You are riding for a personal performance & every other rider out there is helping you. There is camaraderie. The "sport men" syndrome does not exist here (this occurs in most bike races where the the 50th place sport men scream at all other riders - particularly the expert women - "get out of my way", despite the fact that they are not even in the running for anything). The goal is to ride your best, finish (under 12 hours), finish under 9 hrs for a "big buckle" etc. I was able to talk with several of the top 10 riders after the finish & they were thrilled with the race. They loved & it will be back.

This is a race to do at least once - it can be fun, it can be miserable, but if you race mountain bikes you have to do Leadville.

Drew - directeur nuthead

A familiar face - Ned Overend - riding his first Leadville 100

The high point under these crystal clear skies is Columbine - where Ned just descended from

Yes - most of our races are covered by helicopters

This is the 2nd 20 riders heading across the Twin Lakes dam at 40 miles

Leadville is an "out & back race" - Dave Weins (#2) is coming back at 60 miles to ultimately finish in 4th place at 6:33

The rider going out is at 40 miles & still needs to climb for about 2 hours & 3500 feet before the turn around.

It is a great event as everybody & everybody is part of it.

Laramie Enduro

2010-08-03T17:19:00.000-06:00

Three riders from Justin's / Titus continued the endurance circuit this weekend in Laramie Wyoming. The Laramie Enduro, a 70 mile marathon, is rapidly becoming one of the best endurance mountain bike events in the west. It's popularity unfortunately has led to sell out registration as well.

Ward Baker finished 6th in the 40+ category. He had a fantastic start, riding in the lead group but perhaps went out too fast & faded a bit in the end. This course lulls you in with fast "easier" miles on the front end with the tough riding stacked in the last 20 miles. Gary Thacker was 5th in the 50+ group & Kelly McGrew was 6th. Kelly decided to soften the blow from a crash with his face 1/2 way through the event, but was one tough "nut" & finished.

This is a great race to put on your 2011 calendar. It is tough. It has every kind of riding - easy dirt roads, wide open fields, single track winding through aspen & pine forests, steep hike a bike & wading through ponds & bogs.

Kelly McGrew sporting a bit of face damage

Gary Thacker holding off another rider on the line

Breckenridge 100

2010-07-21T12:38:00.001-06:00

Two 2nd place finishes for Justin’s/Titus at the Breckenridge 100 !!

In the 6^th annual Breckenridge 100 the team of Oberg-Green-Hoobler secured 2^nd place. It was a gorgeous day for high alpine riding with more than 400 racers showing up to test their mettle against a rigorous course with loads of elevation gain and technical descending. Oberg managed to stay upright despite 2 years off the bike. The descent from the Wheeler saddle on Loop 1 between Peaks 8 and 9 was like a Vancouver luge run. Racers were getting shoved over the edges of the deeply rutted, loose trail creating high altitude mayhem and carnage-o-plenty. Green launched himself up the climb on Loop 2, passing a competitor to firmly secure 2^nd place. Hoobler, peddling a demo bike on Loop 3, with antics including an endo in a water hole, dumping ice in his shorts to beat the heat, and downing 3 bottles of water at one aid station, easily held on to the 2^nd place slot.

In the solo race Stacey Moeller powered through the strenuous 68 mile, two-loop grind to nab a solid 2^nd! Despite fighting a cold she proved her substantial fitness and bike handling skill was more than enough to battle the trail, her under-the-weather state, and her opponent’s challenges. Nice going Stacey !!

Adam Gorove, after volunteering for race set-up on Friday, provided substantial support with a primo spot on the lawn with his RV at the start/finish; Great food, fabulous accommodations, and diligent wrenching. Doesn’t get any better than that! Thanks Adam!

Two more podium places!

Justin's Kits

2010-07-18T14:17:00.002-06:00

Team: Please share this with your friends & family. Justin's has a small number of jerseys, jackets & shorts for sale on their web site. These are the same as the team kits except the jerseys are 3/4 zip instead of full.

This is great pricing - actually better than the team prices!

J ustin's Kits

USA National Championships - Super D

2010-07-18T13:33:00.003-06:00

Ward Baker's Hardware Collection

Ward Baker just rode to a national championship in the Super D this morning at Sol Vista. This is the 2nd 2010 national championship for Justin's / Titus. Both Mike Hogan & Ward piloted the Titus X carbon to their wins.

Ward collected 3 medals this weekend: 1st Super D, 2nd XC & 3rd Short Track. Nice collection of hardware.

Super D podium - Justin's Ward Baker on the top step

Short Track Podium

USA National XC Championships

2010-07-18T13:30:00.002-06:00

Mike Hogan on his way to a national championship

The 45-49 2010 USA National Championship Podium

Mike Hogan winning the 45+ category 1 race (photo @ Hank Harris)

Mike Hogan brought home the first stars & stripes jersey for Justin's / Titus this year with a win at the 2010 USA national championships. Hogan has multiple titles in the national marathon & finished 2nd at that event 2 weeks ago. The XC title has eluded him until now. He races a brilliant race on a beautiful course to best a top notch 45-49 field. Ward Baker took the 2nd step on the podium in the 40-49 field & Gary Thacker was 2nd in the 55+ field. Keith Sanders, the defending champion on the similar 2009 course had a mechanical setback & finished 4th in the 50+ filed leading in teammates Mark Gouge (6th), Drew Geer (7th), Jack Boltz & Dennis Haberkorn. Dave Wright stepped onto the 3rd spot on the podium the day before in the category 2 race.

Karen Hogan on the final descent

Coreen Wright

Sherri Boltz

Karen Hogan, reigning champion, fought a hard battle to finish 2nd behind Anne Gonzales. Coreen Wright was 3rd - matching her marathon national podium spot. Sherri Boltz finished 3rd in the 40-45 field.

Ward Baker surfing the dust

Gary Thacker on the opening single track climb

The race started early but it was already hot at the gun. The course, designed by Keith Sanders, was a perfect championship course. All the quirks from the 2009 course had been worked out to make for a great race. It has been hot & dry in the valley the past few weeks so the course was loose & very dusty. The start again went straight up the ski hill road - very steep but allowing for some field split. A brief section of smooth single track followed made up of steep switch backs. A nice 2nd section of road climb allowed for a general sorting out of places followed by more single track & more road. The top loop was all moderate climb over small rough rock. This was easy enough to ride but hard to ride smooth & fast. Then came the descents - rough, dusty, twisty single track with sudden obstacles appearing around the corners. This was a real treat. There was nothing technical enough to be scary, but riding this fast took finesse & the best riders made up a lot of time. The final drop eliminated "Patriot" from the 2009 course & instead took us down the beginner DH run - groomed burms & fast turns down to the start finish for a 2nd loop. The course had everything it needs to decide a champion: climbing, technical pieces & fast DH.

Keith Sanders knows how to ride this course fast
He should - he designed this fantastic course!

Mark Gouge

Drew Geer enjoying the X Carbon to it's full extent

Jack Boltz

Dennis Haberkorn

Justin's / Titus started 12 riders in the 2010 USA national championships & came home with 1 win & 8 podium places.

Karen Hogan (2nd), Coreen Wright (3rd)

Ward Baker (2nd 40-44)

Gary Thacker (2nd 55+)

Keith Sanders (4th 50+)

Dave Wright (3rd)

Leavdille Silver Rush

2010-07-18T12:43:00.000-06:00

Toni Geer was the sole Justin's / Titus rider in the Leadville Silver Rush - the warm up to the Leadville 100. She finished 3rd over the difficult course. The Silver Rush is a 50 mile event on a totally different course than the 100. It is pretty much all up & all down with 4 big climbs. There is no tough technical spots but the 15% climbing on loose rocks takes it out of your legs.

Another podium place for the Nut Butter. One spectator commenting on Justin's - "you guys are everywhere".

Firecracker 50: USA Marathon Nationals

2010-07-08T19:22:00.000-06:00

Mike Hogan navigates the single track section on route to 2nd place in the USA national marathon championships -

July 4th 2010

Breckenridge again hosted the USA marathon national championships last weekend at the Firecracker 50. This was the last year for Breck to have the nationals as they are moving to Bend Oregon next year. The weather was perfect with cool, crystal clear skies. The course was dry & very fast this year but as always took a heavy tole on the field. The Firecracker is known for equipment shredding rocks & relentless, recurring climbs at over 10,000 feet.

Ward Baker

Justin's/Titus fielded 15 riders & while missing out on any national championships was able to bring home 5 podium places.

The race started very fast as always up the Boreas Pass climb. There was a stiff headwind this year slowing the overall times & making drafting a critical issue. The first flume section was fast & dry providing a fun respite from the over-threshold pace on the first climb. The Iowa Mill climb was smoother than years past but certainly no less steep, reloading the lactate in the legs. A nice fast, loose drop down "nightmare on Baldy" brought the still tight field to the first single track section - fast, twisty & very fun. Little French creek at over 20% grade was the hardest point on the course but fully ride-able this year. We were then treated to the French Creek flume & a fast drop to the short Lincoln Park climb, more fast double track to the Sally Barber climb & the drop to Carter Park through the ever rough Moonstone & the Jedi Forest before repeating the whole thing on lap #2.

Mark Gouge dropping through the switchbacks in Carter Park

Keith Sanders

Drew Geer

Jamie Kilkoyn

The new Titus X Carbons were uber-fast on the rough & twist descents. It was an absolute treat to pilot them past our struggling competitors. They are really quick through the tight turns. The perfect front/back balance allows full speed descending down the steep, loose sections. They are super stable at high speed on the rough rocks thorough the Moonstone section.

Sherri Boltz is having a fantastic season, finishing 2nd in the 2010 Firecracker

Mike Hogan was riding just behind the eventual 40+ winner Pete Webber when he picked up an ill timed nail on the Little French flume. A quick tube put him back in the race & he finished 2nd. Ward Baker was close behind with a 7th place finish. Hank Harris knocked nearly an hour off his last season finish to come in 28th. In the 50+ field, Mark Gouge led Justin's/Titus home with a 2nd place finish, followed by Keith Sanders in 4th.

The ladies also brought home hardware in the 40+ race with Sherri Boltz in 2nd & Coreen Wright in 3rd.

5 podium places

Next up - a big weekend:

USA National XC championships at Sol Vista
The Breck 100
The Leadville Silver Rush

Jack Boltz

Hank Harris

Correen Wright - 3rd place Women's 40+

The Sparkler is the 11 mile junior event featuring the same two initial climbs before dropping down the last descent. This is a difficult, technical course & these kids shined!

Ben Hogan - 1st

Henry Harris - 2nd

Anna Hogan - 1st

Rachel Harris - 2nd

Winter Park Super Loop

2010-06-28T09:17:00.002-06:00

The Winter Park series officially kicked off on Saturday with a great turn out of racers. The course was 18 miles of some of the best the Winter Park Ski area has to offer. The area is losing trees very fast due to pine beetle kill. Apparently on one trail alone, there were 30 trees down in one week which makes it very difficult for trail crews to keep up with. The pine beetle is having an effect on the trail system there and forcing race promoters to look over their courses the morning of the race due to trees falling down over night.

The course and race was amazing. Winter Park sets the standard when it comes to a well oiled race. The course was amazing, there were two course marshalls at every intersection, support, timing and awards all very smoothly handled in a 1st class manner. Hats off to the WP Comp Center for their efforts.

The Justin's Titus squad was out in full force this weekend and were all over the podium.
Coreen Wright and Sherry Boltz went 1-2 in the Expert Womens 4049. These two are riding amazingly fast and would have been in the top 5 in the Womens Pro field. Mike Hogan was 14th in the Mens Pro field. Dan Mellish was 17th in the Expert 30-39s. Jamie Kilcoyne was 19th in the Mens 40-44 field. Dave Wright was 6th in the Expert 45-49 group. Keith Sanders and Mark Gouge went 2-3 in the Expert 50+ and Jack Boltz was in 14th. This group is also huge and extremely competitive. If we missed anyone, let us know. Great job everyone.

Next up is Firecracker. Be sure to load your pockets with Justin's Nut Butter to hand out to all of the people watching the parade. It is also nice to have out on course too!

"The Baily Hundo"

2010-06-27T17:21:00.000-06:00

Friends!
Thank you so much for supporting me and the great causes of the Bailey
Hundo. What a great experience I had! Very special to be part of a
first ever event and to have raised cash for Trips for Kids and the
Colorado mountain bike race league that high schoolers will hopefully
enjoy being a part of. Wish I had had mountain biking to compete in as
a teen! All told, I raised $675 in less than a month.

And it was thanks to you all that I even finished the race. One
hundred miles on a mountain bike is one long day. We had over 10,000
ft of climbing to do, a lot of it during the hottest part of the day
through the shadeless old Hayman fire burn area. I felt subpar race
day, having been struggling with an ear infection and dealing with the
toll antibiotics can take on one's body. I didn't think I'd get
through the ride but I did, mostly because I didn't want to report
back to you that I couldn't finish. So thank you! I took 2nd in my age
group (30-45) and needed 12 hours to finish the day. Many others
behind me weren't able to get through the course so even finishing is
a great accomplishment. One of the four state senators sponsoring the
race finished the entire course. Way to go!

The race organizers assured me that they would be mailing out receipts
to all the donors. If you do not receive one within the next several
weeks and you need one, please let me know and I'll be sure to track
that down for you.

BTW, I have never seen so many blooming columbines - what a gift that
was to see such beauty all day long!

thank you again!

Kay

Winter Park Hill Climb

2010-06-23T16:27:00.000-06:00

Jack & Sherri Boltz

The Winter Park season finally kicked off after a weeks delay due to weather. It seems they were concerned our Justin's white kits would get muddy so they postponed the event one week after a sudden snowstorm.

The ladies ripped it up at the opener with Sherri Boltz winning the 40+ field & Toni Geer winning the 50+. Sherri is on fire this season, racing a lot & pushing the pace every time. Gary Thacker continued his winning streak with a time of 39:23 besting pretty much everyone of all ages except the pro field. He did elect to use his cross bike on this decidedly non-technical course giving him a bit of speed advantage over the fat tire crew. The remainder of the Justin's / Titus crew all put in outstanding finishes: Coreen Wright (4th), Dave Wright (5th), Jamie Kilkoyn (6th), Mark Gouge (4th), Jack Boltz (16th)

3 wins!

The Mountain States cup continues this weekend in Crested Butte. Firecracker 50 is coming up!

Justin's in Switzerland

2010-06-07T14:32:00.000-06:00

I just had to come over to Switzerland to show these guys how superior Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut is to Nutella. I spent the day on the UCI track in Aigle Switzerland with a team of juniors. We were coached by the world champion & world record holder, Sarah Hammer. I'm pretty sure I was the fastest 50 year old nut on the track today.

I'm actually over here coaching, wrenching & directing a team of 8 USA junior MTB racers. They are riding fabulously against the best riders in the world! You can follow them @ http://ellierides.blogspot.com/

Spent yesterday at the Swiss Racer Biker Cup UCI races with our USA junior team. On the pre-ride I tested out our white kits. This is the most technical mountain bike course I have ever seen. I crashed more in one day than I have crashed in 5 years combined, including endos in the mud. The kits hold up just fine. The mud does wash out. Got to watch Julian Abselon race afterwards, in a white kit, & he did not get a speck of dirt on it. That seems impossible. He just floats over everything with seemingly no effort. Amazing!

Tomorrow we have a long ride above Champery Switzerland. In typical euro fashion there will be tons of very steep vertical & endless views (& cows, with bells). I'll have to leave it up to Mike to keep the blog up to date for a couple of weeks.

The Growler

2010-06-07T14:14:00.000-06:00

3rd annual Gunnison Growler was another great day on the bike. Perfect weather with minimal wind, the singletrack trails were fast and dry. Racer field was stacked and the 300 spots filled up in just hours from registation opening on Feb 2nd. Dave Weins once again raised the bar and delivered another amazing event, with proceeds going to benefit Gunnison trails.http://www.gunnisontrails.com/ . This years course ran counterclockwise, as did the first annual Growler. It made for a few loose hiking sections but also delivered some technical fast descending down trails like rattlesnake. Justins team had several riders lined up in our brand new kits, spectators loved the new white kits and a few spectators even asked me for Justins nut butter while I was on course!

Gary Thacker, Mark Gouge, Beth Gouge, Stacy Moller & Myself were all on the start line at 7am. Gary Thacker took the top step on the podium in the 50+ age group by 3 minutes with a winning time of 6:33. I finished 4th in 40-49 with a time of 6hrs even. (last year I was 4th overall with a time of 6:03, this year I was 14th with 6hrs, showing that this race is growing and drawing good competition)

Pro photographer Rob O'Dea was on hand to capture some stellar pics for singletrack.com.

http://singletrack.competitor.com/2010/05/race/photo-gallery-third-original-growler_8342

Postrace party/awards in downtown Gunni was top notch with free New Belgium Beer, Catfish&Jambalaya from Sugah's cafe and plenty of post race stories among friends. The bike culture in the Gunnison county is spectacular and this event should be on your 2011 calendar!

Ward Baker

The Big Nut Arrives

2010-05-20T18:21:00.002-06:00

Drew Geer demos our new jersey - stay tuned!

The kick of of the fantastic CU cycling short track also brought out the first new Justin's/Titus jersey. The kits are not actually in yet - a box of a few items arrived hours before the race and a single jersey was scrounged up for show. The shipment is due next week!

The course was shortened due to rain & mud leaving a twisty 2 minute loop with little room to pass. The fields were smaller as many were scared off by a possible storm. The weather held off & all the races ran in dry condition. Drew Geer, Jamie Kilkoyn & Justin Green raced 25 minutes of lung & leg searing effort in the B class. Jamie got a nice start with Drew on his wheel. Justin was stuck behind a start crash & had the pleasure of working his way up the entire race. Just before dusk, the A field set out at a blistering pace with Ward Baker representing Justin's/Titus. No results yet but Ward was clearly holding his own against a top pro field.

Jamie Kilkoyn

Justin Green

next up:
Gowdy Grinder - Larmie; Saturday http://laramiemtbseries.com/gr_race_info.html
Front Range Series in Louisville Sunday

Chalk Creek

2010-05-20T17:42:00.000-06:00

Round #2 of the Mountain States Cup brought all the top pros to Nathrop for the "Chalk Creek Stampede". Justin's/Titus fielded two riders. Coreen Wright continued to rip up the field with a 40+ category 1 win. Ward Baker finished 4th in the 40+ men.

New Belgium Short Track

2010-05-18T18:23:00.000-06:00

Ward Baker met Mike Wirth from Titus & raced a Rock Star Tuesday in the final "New Belgium Short Track". This is the first race on the 29er for the team - maybe the first ever as the Rock star is brand new!

Tornado warnings and black clouds covered Fort Collins as the New Belgium Brewery STXC racing started, but things only got better from there. The course drains water quickly and there were only a few standing mud puddles. All race categories went off as planned, as well as the season wrap up raffle, with tons of excellent prizes, with the grand prize being a NBB fat tire cruiser, outfitted with local custom made racks. Jason, Laura and Casey from NBB have created a great community race and grown this local NBB series into a famous Colorado favorite. Huge thanks for all their efforts and 4 years of success with their local ST series.

Mike and the Titus trailer were there with a 2010 quiver of Titus bikes for racers to demo. I was lucky enough to grab one of the LAST available demo bikes in the rack, it was Ti 29 HT, full XT build with fresh Candy pedals. The HT 29r was perfect fit for that ST course, even though my legs could not push that bike to it's limits.

Ward

CU Cycling Short Track

2010-05-17T17:32:00.000-06:00

The CU Short track series is firing up again this Wednesday May 19 & continuing until August 11. If you have raced the series you know the scoop. If you have not, check it out. This is a perfect midweek high intensity session. 20 minutes of pure pain & you just can't get better than that. CU runs a great show & this supports our friends on the CU cycling team.

Front Range 50 / Battle the Bear

2010-05-12T20:26:00.000-06:00

The Colorado weather was perfect for about one day - just in time for the Front Range 50 race. The early morning start was brisk but the sky was clear & there was no wind. Justin's / Titus fielded 12 riders in the 50 miles event & had another 4 starts for Battle the Bear, run over the same course later in the day.

Both races are run over a 10 mile loop at Bear Creek Park in Morrison. The course is fast, smooth, twisty with three steep punchy climbs. Much of the course is single track making passing at full speed an exciting proposition.

The Justin's gals had outstanding results with Toni Geer winning the 50+ field, Karen Hogan 2nd in the 40+ followed by Coreen Wright in 3rd & Michelle Bliss in 14th. Michelle lost a rear derailleur on lap 4 of 5. Most would have called it a day but she ran in the last 2 miles, fixed her bike & headed out for the last lap - chapeau!

Mike Hogan was 8th in the 40-49 crew followed by Jim Reuter (14th), Thomas Dooley (18th), Jamie Kilkoyn (22nd) & Hank Harris (48th). Gary Thacker let home our 50+ team in 4th with Drew Geer in 6th & John Bliss in 9th.

The organizers used a wave start this year with the older riders starting at the back followed by the women in last. The problem is that these groups are certainly not the slower riders and anyone starting at the back had to pass literally hundreds of riders over the 50 mile race. On the fast single track this was at least quite exciting.

The Battle the Bear uses the same course with a lower lap count & therefore higher speeds. Sherri Boltz not only won the 40+ women's field, she was the top women amateur over-all. Keith Sanders dropped by from Winter Park for his first mountain bike ride of the year winning the 50+ division. Jack Boltz was 6th & Dave Wright was 13th in the 40+ field.

13 starts
3 wins
5 podium places

Next up: Mountain States Cup - Chalk Creek

12 Hours of Mesa Verde

2010-05-12T19:32:00.000-06:00

Kelly Mcgrew and Mark Gouge traveled to Mesa Verde for the 12hrs of Mesa
Verde. Long drive but riding Phil's World trail was worth it. A great
event for your 2011. Phil's World trail outside of Cortez was hyped in
the Mountain Flyer last fall. It's a combination of winding singletrack
like Pueblo and some technical rock drops like Fruita. Mark raced as
Duo open with Kervin from Rotor. Finished in 6th (14th overall) only 2
min out of the podium position. Kelly has been nursing a broken thumb
and gutted out 3 laps with CTS coach Mike Durner. They finished 16th
and 43rd overall. Beth Gouge raced solo and finished 6th with 5 laps.
With a little tough love from the crew, she really showed her toughness
to gut out her last lap to make that happen.

12hr races are the new 100 milers. Snowmass anyone?

Rabbit Valley - Mountain States Cup Opener

2010-04-29T09:40:00.002-06:00

Geer pilots the 2010 X through the Rabbit Valley TT course (photo Mike Kane)

The Mountain States Cup kicked off last weekend in Fruita with perfect weather & even better courses than last year.

Justin's/Titus opened with just 2 riders in the TT; Gary Thacker 4th & Drew Geer 11th in the 40+ cat 1 division. It's a little narrow minded to think that a 15 minute race is not worthy - tell that to the Olympic 100 meter men. The Rabbit Valley TT course is a fantastic leg burner & a true test of anaerobic capacity. It starts with a 1.5 mile climb, the last half running 10-15% grade. At the crest the course continues a gradual climb on very narrow, twisty but smooth single track for another mile. This section is very difficult to maintain speed as it is always turning & is on a side hill. A one mile drop is fast with 4 drop-offs that require a bit of attention to detail. The last mile kick in is full speed single track over dozens of rollers that will throw you in a second. The whole race is ridden at max effort & ideally near you maximum HR.

Sunday AM was the return of classic old school XC racing. The entire Hogan crew was out in form with wins from Mike, Karen, Anna, Liz & a 2nd from Ben Hogan! The juniors were out first on their own course which was a mix of sandy roads, steep climbs & rollers.

The 50+ cat 1 men were up next & led home with a win by Gary Thacker. Drew Geer was 4th, John Bliss 8th & Jack Boltz 9th. Mike Hogan won the 40+ men in a close sprint finish. Karen Hogan won the 40+ women followed in closely by our new team member, Coreen Wright in 3rd, Sherri Boltz in 4th & Michelle Bliss in 11th.

The course all started out following the Kokopelli trail. Heavy rains 2 days earlier packed all the sand & the course was fast. The first 20 minutes are largely downhill, just punctuated by a steep 3-4 minute climb. This of course means you will pay for that coming back. After a brutally steep climb out of the valley the course follows the mesa rim on a rocky track before dropping back into the valley.

This year's course used the "Western Rim" trail for the last 30 minute finish stretch. This piece of trail is fun enough for a trip out there just to ride it. It is all single track, mostly smooth, always turning & very fast. The scenery could distract you from racing. Then it is back to the Kokopelli & a fast run in on "trail 2" to the finish. The course is not too spectator friendly - you are out there for 2-3 hours - but is one of the best courses on the circuit.

Nice early season effort for all the Justin's/Titus crew!

Next up:
Front Range Mountain Bike Series in Louisville - 5/2
www. racepacepromotions.com

Front Range 50 & Battle the Bear in 2 weeks
12 Hours of Mesa Verde in 2 weeks
OR 18 hours of Fruita

Whiskey 50

2010-04-29T09:04:00.001-06:00

Ward Baker rode was in Prescott Arizona last weekend for the Whiskey 50. The 50 is a big, well run marathon with an amazing amount of climbing. Ward finished in 3:38 - 18th place in the open category.

Race Report from Ward Baker

7th annual Whiskey 50 was great event, with MTB legends like Tinker on the start line. 7:30 am- Race weather was perfect. Clear with no wind. Quick Breakfast of Justins maple almond spread thick on a wheat bagel hit the spot. On board I carried a Ziploc of Bakerbars and 4 gels. It was a real treat being able to ride and race in my home state of 26yrs and get to line up with some old friends that I first learned to ride with on the trails around Phoenix.
The Titus presence was huge and in their backyard. The field was packed full of their bikes, and several of the top 20 racers finished on Titus bikes. I even snuck in there for 18th place. It was a bonus to have Mike from Titus on hand to give me the quick 101 on the bike and race tune the suspension on the new 2010 Titus carbon X. One word comes to mind when describing the new carbon X bike after 1 race on it- STELLAR... That bike climbs fast and descends even faster. There is no flex when out of the saddle on climbs and plenty of plush travel when hitting rutted water crossings at 25mph. It handled like a slot car in the tight singletrack sections, with no rear end sag pedaling out of fast corners. 100% efficiency in full race mode.

Not just cactus & sand in Arizona - The Whiskey has long wooded climbs

The race course and trail network in Prescott keeps getting better every year, with the help of longtime friend and local rider Mike Shumaker. He and a handful of locals have recently formed PMBA(Prescott Mtn Bike Alliance) They work long hours to maintain existing trails and add new singletrack to their local network.

Big thanks to Todd and the crew from Epic rides for putting on another great MTB community event. These guys have always put on the best MTB events in Az, and his event is no exception. Any race that gives you a logo’d pint glass and beer at the finish line is a must do event!

Vermarc Kits

2010-04-29T08:57:00.000-06:00

Our kits are still residing in Belgium but are nearing completion. We got a late start this season but they will be worth the wait.

The 2010 Justin's/Titus kit in production in Belgium

Meanwhile, out in California our water bottles are being printed. Here is the layout for the bottles.

Sea Otter

2010-04-28T22:56:00.000-06:00

Justin's/Titus sent 8 riders out to the classic Sea Otter race in Monterey California. To complete the weekend we parked ourselves right on the waterfront on Cannery Row of John Steinbeck fame & enjoyed fabulous fresh fish, perhaps combined with too much fabulous wine. The Sea Otter is a complete spectacle - a huge collection of road, MTB, & BMX races combined with the biggest outdoor bike show in the US. The weather was perfect, which is apparently rare as the even is known for rain, mud or scorching heat & high wind.

Thomas Dooley nears the finish of the 40 mile race

The cat 1 course was a very fun fast 20 mile loop with 3500 feet of climbing per loop. There was a bit of everything, starting off with a lap of the motorcar raceway. Much of the course was single track - very fast & smooth but tricky to keep your speed up on. The gravel road descents saw speeds over 40 mph - quite a wild ride. The climbs were short & punchy - all middle chain ring - but the climbing did take a toll on our legs.

The fields were bigger than any of our Colorado races. The race started fast & did not slow. The oxygen rich environment allowed really high level efforts with good recovery. That certainly helped the lungs but the legs were screaming.

Drew Geer on the grassy finish stretch of Sea Otter

Mike Hogan battled the fit California field to finish 3rd in the 45+ field, followed closely by Thomas Dooley in 4th & our new teammate Jim Reuter in 14th. Mark Gouge is riding into great form with a 7th place finish in the 50+ field, with Drew Geer in 12th & John Bliss in 15th. For the ladies, Michelle Bliss was 11th in the 45+ field.

We had our pro-level support with us as Mike Worth brought the Titus truck & kept our bikes running perfect & fast. We actually set up dual support as we used Todd Gold to transport the bikes as well as provide support. That is a fantastic service & highly recommended if you have the chance.

Mike Hogan riding to 3rd place

John Bliss in his first race of the season

The following day, Mark Gouge was back on a road bike in the 10 mile Gran Fondo - a classic eurostyle mass start road race with no category breakdown except men & women. He finished 9th overall. Toni Geer, unable to get a road bike, grabbed a full suspension Titus FTM & rode to 7th place in the Grand Fondo. No surprise there - after all it was a Titus.

Michelle Bliss

It may be best to skip next year. It was so perfect & given the history we may have just picked the finest Sea Otter weather in history.

Next up:
The Mountain States Cup opener in Fruita & the Whiskey 50 in Prescott Arizona

Early Season Racing

2010-04-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

It is almost May & there is still snow on most of the trails on the front range. Justin's/Titus riders put in some strong showings in some early season road & MTB races. Jamie Kilkoyn was our sole finisher in the Koppenberg on April 3rd, perhaps the windiest day in 10 years. He braved the gale force wind to finish 19th in 35+. The same day Gary Thacker was representing us at the opener for the Front Range MTB series in Golden.

The following week while Fabian Cancellara was ripping the legs off all mortal men at the Paris Roubaix, our riders were riding the combination dirt/pave course of the Boulder Roubaix. Karen Hogan was 5th in the cat 3 women while Michelle Bliss was 9th in the 35+ field. Ward Baker rode the extremely competitive cat 3 class to a 28th place. Mike Hogan was 2nd in the 45+, with Gary Thacker 19 in the same field. Thomas Dooley ws 4th in the 45+, 4 field.

Riding in the Cold

2010-04-11T17:51:00.000-06:00

It is just melting out a bit down in Boulder but Keith has a couple more months of snow to contend with up in Winter Park. The Sky Hi Daily News just did a write up on Keith including a couple of his cold weather riding tips. Check it out:

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20100410/NEWS/100409869/1079&ParentProfile=1067

Ward's "Bakerbars"

2010-02-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

Our newest team member, Ward Baker, has perfected his own energy bar. Looks like lots of protein, glucose & sodium - perfect. Here is the secret award winning recipe (of course it is not really a secret anymore at all as we have posted it to the blogsphere, nor has it won any actual awards except that it is really good).

Bakerbar © (Justin’s maple almond)

Part 1:
¾ cup whole grain oats(small oat)
1 ¼ cup of puffed millet
1/3 cup dates(food processor chop with flax seed meal until ¼ balls form)
2 tbsp flax seed meal
¼ cup pistachio’s
1/8 cup sunflower seed
¼ cup pepitas(pumpkin seeds)
¼ cup almonds(chopped)
1 tsp sea salt

Part 2:
1/2 cup rice syrup
2tbsp maple syrup
2tbsp brown sugar
2tbsp honey
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup-Justin’s Maple Almond butter(Justin’s is key, much better than normal PB or almond butter)

1. Combine part 1 in large mixing bowl.
2. Bring part 2 to boil in small sauce pan, then stir in Justin’s maple almond butter
3. Pour part 2 into bowl with part 1 while mixing.
4. Stir together until all dry pieces are combined by liquid
5. Press into buttered 9x11 baking pan, light sprinkle with sea salt, cover with wax paper and compact into even sheet.
6. share with all your friends.

Enjoy,
Ward

Justin's / Titus Cycling Team

2010-02-10T21:09:00.002-07:00

We are back with an all new look! Here is the 2010 Justin's / Titus kit. Justin's Nut Butter is a company out of Boulder Colorado that produces 9 flavors of organic nut butter.

We are joined by two more new sponsors; Vermarc & First Bank. Our returning sponsors are Titus Cycles, Chipotle, Fox, Crank Brothers, Schwalbe, Singletrack.com, Boulder Cycle Sport & of course TDA ad & design.

This will be a coolest kit to hit the dirt in 2010! Kneed & Squeeze!

2010 Team Announcement Coming Soon!

2010-01-24T08:04:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for 2010? The team will be back this year with shiny new bikes from Titus and with a shiny new kit designed by TDA in Boulder. Are you ready for this?

Stay tuned...

Want a FREE Titus FTM?

2010-01-12T16:06:00.002-07:00

The only catch is that you have to get a tatoo... It is Titus for life. Check on Facebook for more details or click on the above "Want a FREE Titus FTM".

Karen Hogan in action

2009-12-15T14:09:00.003-07:00

Karen Hogan in action at the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships. Here is the report from Karen Hogan.

The racing was intense and satisfying in many ways, and disappointing and tough to swallow in others. Bend was snowy and cold with changing course conditions by the ½ hour. Ben raced first and in typical fashion had a lousy start but rode beautifully and moved himself up gradually to end up a little better than mid-pack (15^th out of 34). He races in a funny age group – 13-15 years. He is 12 (it is just the way cyclocross age-grouping works). He lined up with a lot of kids that looked similar to himself, but also many that looked like man-children, being 1 ½ feet taller, sprouts of hair on their chins and bulging muscles. The top 10, at least, benefitted from this extra human growth, having more power and watts to push them around the course. Ben has some good power himself for his age and his technical skills are superior, so he was able to ride a smooth race throughout. He was the first Colorado boy, having beat a handful of boys that have challenged him all year here. He was pleased. He’ll get to race in that age group for a couple of years so he’ll have a better chance in the future.

I was next. The course was shaping up nicely, yielding a thin layer of mud on top of the frozen earth below (temp peaked just above freezing at that moment). This was significant because the course up to that point was so slippery it was downright dangerous. A little thaw gave us a bit of friction. Not to bore you with too many details, but my race was a heartbreaker. Early issues with traffic (They started several age groups in a staggered start, just 10 seconds between. We were 2^nd up, with a group of 30, but there was a group of 40 just ahead of us. I caught the tail end of that group early, right when we transitioned from pavement to singletrack – all of the lead gals in my group did, so it was comparable for all of us but then I had some additional misfortune…), chain came off in a crazed moment with about 20 other women trying to get up a super steep, short hill. It took me some time to get it back on and I lost all contact with my age group’s race leaders and I let a whole lot of traffic go by that I needed to get through, again. For the next lap and a half, I was just in awe of all the women around me. I have never raced in such a big group (110 on the course). It was cool in a way, but frustrating also because I knew I had some business to attend to and maneuvering around a lot of other riders is a challenge, especially in tricky conditions. I chased and chased and eventually caught #6 through #1 (Mike was yelling at me every time I went by so I knew where I was in the group and how much time I had to make up). Made contact with #1 on a big hill toward the end of the last lap. Some fairly aggressive riding on her part (another story) and we rounded onto the last bit of pavement with my front wheel side by side with her back wheel. I was over-geared, I remember. Mike said I got pinched off by #1 into a lapped rider – that I don’t remember. All I know is she got her front wheel over the line 1/100^th of a second before mine. Photo finish. She’s a National Champ. I’m not. Ah well, that’s racing and competing. I am just glad that I am still able to do this stuff, truly.

Mike raced next. His group contained about 100+ guys. The men are fast and oh so competitive, no matter the age group. Mike started to put together a nice race and was in 5^th going into the 3^rd lap. Then crazy things started to happen… His race started at 3:30 in the afternoon. The benefits of that little bit of mud that I had began to wane as the sun went down. Mid way through his race the course started to ice up. Guys were going down everywhere. Mike was no exception. He crashed, actually a few times, but one in particular really hurt him. His knee, hip and elbow took the brunt and his bike was almost unridable. He got himself to the pit for a bike change and was able to get on a new bike for a lap while we were madly fixing his good bike. He was able to gain his composure and grab his first bike back again a lap later. By then he had slipped to about 25^th. In the end, he ended up 16^th, which for him was disappointing. However, we are grateful to have no broken bones.

And there you have it – probably in more detail than you needed or wanted!

Post race Fries!!!!!

2009-12-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

USA Cyclocross Nationals

2009-12-11T11:46:00.003-07:00

Defending national champion Gary Thacker put in a last lap surge to try & hold onto his title, but was beat to the line by Paul Curley, a multi-event champion from Massachusetts. Chipotle/Titus rider Jamie Kilkoyn was warming up with the Men's B race & put in a top 10 finish with a 7th place. Thacker apparently had not had enough & jumped in the B race to finish 30th, followed closely by John Bliss in 35th.

Racing continues today with the juniors, masters women & some of the masters men classes.

Full coverage of the 1st day of racing is available on Velonews.
velonews.competitor.com
Full results are available at USA Cycling
http://www.usacycling.org

Titus rider Jamie Kilkoyn warmed up with the men's B race. More action continues today.

Mike Hogan has a collection of video clips you can find at:
flipshare

Gouged by the Gouge

2009-11-30T20:56:00.002-07:00

Yes, the cross season is still on! Mark Gouge, doubling up for Velonews & Titus, takes on John Bliss last weekend. State Championships are coming up & then the big one - US Nationals in Bend. That will be warm & dry!

A great post best describing a cyclocross racer can be found at:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5700021/

The Belgian Flu

2009-10-19T20:24:00.002-06:00

Be careful out there folks. If it happened to Thomas Dooley, it could happen to you. As you may know Thomas did his first cross race at the Bowl of Death in Louisville 3 short weeks ago. While he was there he destroyed Drew's bike. Just this past weekend at the Valmont Bike Park Groundbreaking Cross Thomas did his second race. He then proceeded to destroy Mike's bike. See a pattern here? He has the flu, he has the Belgian flu and is very sick. Rumor has it that he has purchased a cross bike of his very own just today. This is good news for both Drew and Mike. He also has a set appointment to get said bicycle serviced each week throughout the end of the season. U Bikes knows what they are doing. Give the kid a bike....and he will come back every week to get it fixed. That is where the money is made.

Hats off to all of you Chipotle Titus riders out there on sub standard bicycles tearing it up on the cross courses every weekend. We had great representation out at Valmont on Saturday and out in Golden on Sunday. Check results here. ACA Cross Results Also, if you are interested in a cool tail gunner video from Rod Yoder from the men's 45+ race at Valmont, click video. Video

24 Hours of Moab - USA National 24 Hour Championships

2009-10-14T19:55:00.007-06:00

The "Fab4"

The Chipotle Titus masters team gave it their best shot & finished 2nd step on the podium last weekend at the 24 hour national championships in Moab. The winning team out of Vail was just a bit too strong for us to reel in but we made it a good race. The 4 man team of Mike Hogan, Keith Sanders, Drew Geer & Thomas Dooley - racing under the team name "Fab4 - Flomax, Viagra, Rogaine & Vasectomy" ending up posting 19 laps & placed 9th overall among all Moab teams.

Mike Hogan lead the team off on the black & yellow 2010 Titus X

The Moab course was fantastic. It is a good mix of technical climbs, drops, sand & fast open smooth riding. It is a true challenge during a day lap & shifts to a bit scary riding at speed during the night. Hogan & Dooley climbed on new 2010 X Carbons & Keith & Drew stayed on the 2009 rigs. It was a special treat at night to rip over the rough course & know that our bikes would take whatever snuck up on us. Throughout the race we had full technical support from Mike Worth the Titus mechanic. He kept out bikes dialed all day, night & day!

Keith Sanders riding consistent fast laps through the desert sand

Hogan led off for us with a strong La Mans run & moved into 5th slot 5 minutes into the race. The opening lap was scorching fast. He brought us home around 15th overall place & tied with our competition. Keith then took over, followed by Drew with Thomas anchoring.

Thomas Dooley approaching the first technical sections

By Lap 7 Drew had put on lights & headed out into the dark with the lap times slowing a bit. The night was cool but remained above freezing. Drew also scored the coveted sunrise lap. After a long cold night is welcome to shut off the lights & soak up some sun. One more round for everyone to finish up a total of 19 laps, 285 miles & 26,000 feet of climbing.

Drew dropping into the "sandy S turns" on an early lap

Moab is THE classic 24 hour race. It is an absolute "must do" for every mountain bike racer. See you in 2010!

The string of light heading into the finish

A great movie that gives a good flavor of the race can be found on superhumanmag.com
http://www.superhumanmag.com/content/view/1632/48

Chipotle Titus does CROSS

2009-09-30T12:58:00.009-06:00

The Chipotle Titus team has quietly started the cross season. To date, there has been 5 races in the region and we have had great representation and some outstanding finishes. One of the first tests was at the Boulder Indoor Cycling facility. It was a great urban course in a warehouse district that featured and indoor/outdoor combination that was a lot of fun. I was going to stick in some video here, but Blogger is not allowing me at the moment.

There was some good racing up in Breckenridge a couple of weeks ago and most recently, the cyclocross world came to Louisville, CO for the Boulder Racing Series http://www.boulderracing.com/ series. This is the first in the series and the Bowl of Death was the backdrop. It was a great day of racing. Here is a list of some of the folks that have been racing...

Karen Hogan

Mike Hogan

Jamie Kilcoyne

Thomas Dooley

Justin Green

John Bliss

Michelle Bliss

Dennis Haberkorn

The highlight out at the Bowl of Death had to be Thomas Dooley in the Men 35+ Cat 4 race. It was his first cross race of his life and it was pure excitement. From a mid pack start of 94 riders, Thomas clawed his way into the top 5 only to be hampered by a couple of mechanicals. The mechanicals shot him back to top 30 where he clawed his way back into the top 5 again. This happened several times with him finally finishing on the podium at 3rd. Thomas will be forced to move up categories shortly.

There have been many other heroic efforts out there and we will start to be better about reporting these to you. Happy Cross Season!

2009 Leadville 100 MTB Results

2009-08-16T03:32:00.003-06:00

The full Leadville Trail 100 MTB results are now available online at:
http://www.milliseconds.com/

Leadville 100

2009-08-15T19:09:00.007-06:00

Lance Armstrong tops out above 12,000 feet at Columbine Mine
photo: Dan Busse

Lance Armstrong - 1st; Mike Hogan 9th!

This year's edition of the Leadville 100 was more epic than normal with several rain storms, sleet & very cold weather. Coming past Twin Lakes on the way out Hogan was about 5 min down with Thomas Dooley close behind. The lead group shattered climbing Columbine under the pressure of Armstong's pace. Mike rolled across the top in 12 place. Thomas held on but blew up around 75 miles on the return climb up powerline (anyone who has ridden Leadville knows what the powerline can do to you). Mike sprinted into Leadville in a 3 way sprint for 8-10th; finishing 9th with a time of 7:35

Full Leadville 100 results including segment splits are now posted at: http://www.milliseconds.com/

1. Lance Armstrong, 6:28:51
2. Dave Wiens, 6:57:02
3. Matt Shriver, 7:09:48
4. Alex Grant, 8:10:54
5. Len Zanni, 7:11:21
6. Max Taam, 7:16:56
7. Travis Brown, 7:22:05
8. Manuel Prado, 7:35:27
9. Mike Hogan (Chipotle/Titus) 7:35:35
10. Jason Tullous, 7:35:47

51. Thomas Dooley 8:31

60. Mark Gouge 8:36

212. Jamie Kilkoyn 9:32

Chipotle Women

11. Jacqui Wood 10:10

59. Maria Perez 11:40

Singletrack.com

2009-08-11T16:45:00.002-06:00

Check out the new MTB specific site from our friends at Competitorgroup (Velonews) - singletrack.com. The link is on the right.

MSC #5: Blast the Mass

2009-08-10T13:05:00.003-06:00

Jacqui Wood on the podium in Snowmass

The Mountain States cup continued at Snowmass this weekend with the classic "Blast the Mass" course. Jacqui Wood on her home course led the Chipotle-Titus crew with a 3rd place finish.

Laramie Enduro

2009-08-10T12:57:00.002-06:00

Saddle Up in Cowboy Country!

The first day of August found a number of Chipotle-Titus riders in cowboy country, racing the Laramie Enduro 111K in southern Wyoming. Why 111K? I don't know the answer to that but it translates to 70-ish miles of rolling hills, rocky climbs, wooded roller coasters, and some (nearly always windy) dirt roads. The smell of sage and cedar are in the air around that part of the country, situated at over 7,500 feet. Chipotle-Titus fielded 6 riders who all finished strong, most in the top 10 in their respective category: John Bliss, Michele Bliss, Drew Geer, Toni Geer, Kay Levesque (single speed), and Gary Thacker (3rd in his category!). The course is tough, with the second half tougher than the first half. This year's heavy rains made for tacky banked turns, loamy soil, muddy bogs, a few wet roots, and a nearly crotch-deep stream crossing. Due to the open range in that area, the mud was more than just mud....but the sage and cedar do a lot to temper the aroma of cow pies.

Don't let a few cow pies put you off! If you've never done this race, put it on your list of goals for next year. It is capped at 400 riders so once past the first 4 or 5 miles, you will have plenty of space to ride your own pace. The terrain is varied and interesting, with nothing repeated for 70 miles. Although you will climb over 8,000 feet total, the route rolls so nicely that you'll never notice. Really. Would I lie to you? Maybe the spectacular scenery will help distract you from your burning legs and lungs. If not, the post-race festivities will help you forget the pain. I'm not talking about a few bananas. We're talking BEER! Music! Raffle! BBQ! Brownies!

Forget chaps. Bring your chamois to Cowboy Country next year. You won't regret it. This is the ultra endurance race to do! The terrain & varied trail beats the heck out of Leadville. This is actually a race you will want to do year after year. See you there in 2010!

Crankworx Colorado

2009-08-03T11:30:00.006-06:00

Crankworx came to Colorado this past weekend from Friday to Sunday. It was a fabulous celebration of Extreme Cycling on all levels. Below is a video from the Slope Style competition, which was a bit of a bore.

Seriously, these downhillers and slopestyle riders have some amazing skills that are really fun and entertaining to watch. The real highlight of the weekend, of course, was the Cross Country race. The course was an unbelievably difficult and wet challenge for all. Karen Hogan Highlighted the Women's Pro field by taking 3rd and a big check home for her efforts.

Keith Sanders continues his quest for total global domination by winning the 50+ experts and Carol Newsome also dominated her field. Mike Hogan and and Mark Gouge did not fare so well. Mike flatted halfway into the men's Pro race, while Mark suffered a spectacular crash to finish 5th in his Expert field. Jack Boltz, Justin Green and Jamie Kilcoyne all competed and finished with top 10s.

Venus de Miles

2009-07-30T08:58:00.002-06:00

Chipotle-Titus ladies. Kay & Heidi are trying to drum up a large contingent for the Venus de Miles road ride on August 30th. Join them for an all women 35 mile, 50 mile or 65 miles road ride. Details at: http://www.venusdemiles.com/index.html

Breck 100

2009-07-22T10:19:00.006-06:00

While all the Thoroughbreds and their high rev engines were over in Sol Vista for the Nationals, the donkeys Lance Loehding and Mark Gouge were on the line for the 6am start in Breckenridge for the 100. First climb, straight up the resort mountain to wheeler pass and down to Copper mt. Had to stop at the car to change my front brake pads. 2nd loop was more of the FC50 course, but Thane Wright decided to add a nasty little granny gear climb. 3rd loop was supposed to be the road climb up Boreas Pass road. Instead Thane decided to add a single track from hell with a 30 min hike a bike (at least it seemed like it) Next was over to Como on some rough technical single track. After that I don't remember a thing. Black out Bob pedaling. If LV100 is a 9 on the hardness meter then B100 must be an 11-12.

Mark

(Mark Gouge finished 5th in the 40+ division of the Breck 100 after 11 hours in the saddle. Josh Tostado won the pro division in 8:33. Nearly 3/4 of the field failed to finish this very epic adventure)

USA Cycling National Championships - Short Track

2009-07-21T13:24:00.003-06:00

Karen Hogan - USA National Champion - short track

Karen Hogan won the US National short track title the day after her ride to 2nd in the XC nationals! This is her 5th national championship title & the 2nd this season after her marathon win 2 weeks ago. Michelle Bliss was our only other Chipotle Titus racer in the open women's race finishing 13th.

The course was questionably designed for a short track. It ran straight up from the ski area base with a 2 minute 15% grade climb, off a jump & then "S" turn back down the mountain. There were no women's divisions except open & pro. All the category 1 women raced together. Karen took the lead right out of the start & held it the whole way for the 6 lap, 25 min race. Her main challenge came late in the race from the 16 year old national XC champion, Alicia Pastore.

Karen Hogan

Michelle Bliss climbing the "short track" course at Sol Vista

USA Cycling National Championships

2009-07-21T12:11:00.008-06:00

Heidi Godsil powers to her 2nd national championship title

Chipotle Titus riders, Keith Sanders, Heidi Godsil & Karen Hogan were all crowned USA national champions this weekend in Sol Vista Colorado. Under perfect crystal blue Colorado skies, with thin air at over 9,000 feet & on a challenging beautiful course they all bested elite fields to bring home the stars & stripes jerseys. Keith & Heidi won the XC titles while Karen won the short track title the following day.

Heidi Godsil

Keith Sanders

These are repeat titles for all these riders. Keith has a national 24 hour title from 2002, Heidi won the 24 hour duo in 2008 & Karen has multiple marathon titles, including the 2009 title, though this is her first short track title. This brings Chipotle Titus to 6 national championships this year & 19 titles over our 4 year team history.

Jamie Kilkoyn descends the technical drop flawlessly

Geer on his Titus X Carbon cleaned the drop all 3 laps

The course was truly designed to separate the best riders. Keith Sanders helped design the Category 1 course. It was help on a 9 mile loop & 2 - 3 loops were run depending on racing class. The start was up a brutally hard 20% dirt road climb followed by some switchback single track. Even on the single track , there was opportunity to pass making for a open & fair race. The "Keith"' loop was a 2 mile twisty, narrow, rocky piece in dense trees. At a pre-ride pace it was a trick to roll over all the rocks but at race pace this was an absolute treat to ride. After a fast descent there was a second climb on smooth path to the top of the ski area where we dropped into a huge descent back to the base. The first 30o meters of descent challenged a riders skills with loose dirt, roots & a very steep drop. The remainder of the descent was very rough & required you to stay alert.

Karen Hogan piloting her X carbon to 2nd place

Keith Sanders across the top of the Sol Vista Course on his final lap

Thomas Dooley across the "top of the world" at 9200 feet racing to a podium place

Mike Hogan

Chipotle Titus started 14 riders coming home with 3 wins & 6 podium places. In addition to our champions, Thomas Dooley climbed onto the podium in 4th, Michelle Bliss was 4th & Kay Levesque also rode to 4th on a single speed. Jamie Kilkoyn finished 23 (35-39), Drew Geer 12th (45-49) & Jack Boltz 13th (50+) & Davis Haberkorn raced a strong race in the junior field. Sherri Boltz was 7th (40-45) Mike Hogan was riding a strong 2nd but missed a turn & honorably DQ'd himself.

The drop was not all fun & games. Heidi shows an alternative line here & still manages the win.

Sherri Boltz picked another "less optimum" line but came through

Not one single mechanical or flat tire on this demanding course! This remarkable feat repeats our record from the marathon national championships. This course again ripped up equipment & tires. The X Carbon was certainly the optimum machine for this race - supple, smooth & light up the rocky climbs & screaming fast down the brutal descent. Most of our riders were on Schwalbe Racing Ralphs at 24 - 28 psi & Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels.

Drew elected to use his Powertap & collected some interesting numbers. In the first 5 minutes of the race he set his personal 1 minute power record of 549 watts - despite being nearly in last place at this point. This shows the speed of the field. His average watts (including descents & zero watts) was 186 for the 2 1/2 hour race. Overall climbing power was 265 watts for lap 1 but had dropped to 220 by lap 3.

Power Curve data for this bottom of the pack 49 year old rider are:
30 sec: 594 watts
1 min: 549 watts
5 min: 381 watts
10 min: 302 watts
30 min: 269 watts

double click for larger version

Winter Park Valley Point to Point

2009-07-13T12:50:00.001-06:00

A vortex formed in Winter Park the weekend of 11/12 July. The vortex was blue and red, it rode really fast, and it read "Chipotle-Titus." The Chipotle-Titus team dominated the Winter Park Valley Point to Point race on Saturday, pulling in more points (356) than any other team. Not enough for you? Chipotle-Titus riders pulled in another 100 points at Sunday's Super D race. Carol Newsom, Keith Sanders, Kay Levesque and Maria Perez all stood on the top podium spot over the weekend. Jack Boltz, Sheri Boltz, Mark Gouge, and Jamie Kilcoyne worked hard to bring in additional team points. Yet other Chipotle-Titus riders showed up, not to compete for series points but just to enjoy excellent Colorado mountain bike racing. Beginning at the base of Winter Park and ending down valley at St. Louis Creek, the Valley Point to Point race offers riders all the best in Winter Park single track with no epic climbing, just short steep bursts of ups followed by sweeping, buffed out single track....OK maybe a few mud ruts from the recent rains but all very rideable and most enjoyable. The course included an extra 4.5 mile add-on for pro, expert, and sport riders, dumping into Upper Zoom, Zoom and then down into Chainsaw. It's hard not to smile while riding past columbine, sweet woodruff, asters... and catching glimpses through the trees of Devils Thumb pass and the high peaks surrounding Winter Park. The addition of two Super D races to the Winter Park points accumulation enticed some cross country riders to give that discipline a try. Why not ride a lift and then spend the next 25 minutes banking turns, jumping water bars, throwing in a few tail whips, and wearing down your brake pads?? Super D=Super Fun.

Next up:
USA Nationals this week
Crankworx cross country and super D on August 1/2.

Kay

Breck Epic -- overall results

2009-07-10T17:08:00.003-06:00

here's the link again: http://www.cjtiming.com/BreckEpic/2009%20Breckenridge%20Epic%20-%20General%205.html

Congrats to Dubba, Travis, Yuki and Jeff K. Amazing work.

Stage 6 -- Gold Dust Trail

2009-07-10T16:45:00.003-06:00

The last stage of the Breck Epic!!! 33 mi. 5500k of climbing up to 11,500, twice. The first climb was up Boreas Pass to part of the Firecracker route. I was in the top 50 or so going into the single track -- a position I hadn't found myself in at all this week. I saw my competitor for 3rd pull off the course and play w/his cycle computer. I figured I had only one strategy -- hit him hard right now, on the first climb, and hope he blew spectacularly trying to follow. How else, other than him crashing, was I to claw back the 15mins?? So I played my card. There was a spectacular blow up for sure, but it was me that blew, not him! I tried to recover and keep him in my sights as he started to pull away on some flat dirt sections, but to no avail. Never saw him again. Rode tempo on the long road climb back up to 11,500 and had a super fun descent back to the hockey rink. Finished in 4th, again, and 4th overall.

The Breck Epic was epic. My hats off to Mike Mac and his crew. It was obvious that a lot of work and care went into the event, particularly the race routes. I found there is a mtb racing subculture in endurance events. Many people I met I have never seen before in XC races, and they were fast, talented and fun to hang out with. Everyone was very supportive of each other and offered encouragement and congrats all along the way. Not what I'm used to seeing in XC races. I actually had several people offer wheels to me on some of the long road sections, hoping to help me get to 3rd. It was cool they offered; it was amazing they even knew about my little race w/in the race. I tried, but I simply had no legs on the long second climb. The brain said, "Push!". The legs said, "F you!!"... To all of you, Sonya, Jeff, Stewart, Steve and others, thanks! Sorry I couldn't pull it off... Next time. And to Bruce, who took 3rd overall, congrats, you were clearly the stronger...

j

Stage 5 -- Wheeler Pass

2009-07-10T16:35:00.002-06:00

Going into this stage, I was 4th on GC and needed to take back 35mins from the current 3rd place rider. I felt I had the best legs of the week so far. I caught and attacked the 3rd place rider on some single track leading to a long dirt climb. I got a gap and kept pushing on. He reeled me in on the hike-a-bike up to the summit of 12k Wheeler Pass. He literally walked by me and I couldn't keep pace w/him! I was so gassed, that I was reduced to counting 40 steps, then stopping to breath, and repeating the process for 45 mins or so. The view at the top was spectacular -- on the ridge of the Breck Universe. Awesome descending. I finished and heard the announcer say, "And John Bliss riding in the 50+ solo division for Chipotle Titus has moved into 3rd." What? What happened to the dude? He came in 20 mins later, looking very frustrated and tired. He told me he took a wrong turn somewhere and headed down a long road. So, now, that puts me still 15mins in the hole to get the 3rd place GC position. I'm heading for a massage now to work out the screaming QL muscles frm the long hike a bike effort... All for now.

p.s. to today's stage

2009-07-08T20:39:00.002-06:00

Devon Balet, photographer for Mountain Flyer, has been doing some writing and shooting of the race on Mountain Flyer's site. Devon told me he got a nice shot of the only Chipotle/Titus rider out there ...

http://www.mountainflyer.com/news.cfm?itemid=237

Stage 4 -- The Queen Stage

2009-07-08T18:55:00.003-06:00

I don't think I want to do anything harder than that for a long, long time. The first major climb over 12k was psychologically horrendous. For as far as you could see, mtn bikers, mostly off their bikes because they simply lacked the air to ride, pushed their bike up a goat trail to a windy, barren summit. Only one rider ALL day cleaned it, and he was a Honey Stinger-kitted non-pro. I saw three things that stick in my mind today: screaming down a beautiful singletrack descent, I was met by a fox carrying his recent mouse kill casually coming up the trail. He didn't budge when I flew by. Second, I've been riding most of the race w/the third-placed coed duo from Sho-Air. On the climb to the heavens, the female was so gassed, she couldn't even push her bike. Her partner pushed both bikes up this monster, and at a pretty fast clip. He also pushed her through many tough sections of climbs with a hand on her back. Strong dude. But the kicker for me was Tommy, a dude from Gettysburg that has raced the whole Epic ON A FIXIE SINGLE!!! Holy crap. I sat next to him at the awards tonite and he actually looked quite rested. Incredible.

I had a nap today that was so deep, so refreshing, I woke up w/a huge smile on my face. Who needs drugs when you can nap?

Oh, on the descent off of the 12k summit, we had to surf a snow field. Now that was fun. I made it half way down this 300 m slope and yard saled it. I didn't know at the time but left behind was Drew's Vaude jacket, which dislodged from my camelback!!! I was very nervous abt finding it, but a guy racing for Ouch found it (after his yard sale!) and will bring it tomorrow. It was hilarious. This guy approached me and said, "I crashed bad on the snow field and when I got up, there was this red jacket! I heard you were missing one." Whew!

Tomorrow: The Wheeler Trail. 36 mi, 7,600 ft of climbing, w/some supposedly rough descending. I'm still solidly in fourth, w/a decent 5:04 today. Someone said they thought today's stage felt like doing the Firecracker 50. Off to eat!! Take care all.

Breck Epic -- Stage 3

2009-07-07T20:17:00.002-06:00

Well, when Mike, Drew and Tom said today would be the worst, I hope they were right. Wheels fell off. No power. Only 28 miles, but some very steep climbs at pretty good altitude (11k) that came painfully after long descents, w/sharp switchback starts. Talk about lactic acid flush. I just tried to limit the damage. Came in 4th w/a 2:58. Think I'm now 14 mins down on 3rd. So my strategy about picking up the 2 mins I was down at the start of the stage didn't quite pan out!! But I got a 2 hr nap, been hydrating like crazy, and Michele arrives in a few minutes so I have a great massage in my future...VMOs and IT bands are screaming.

Tomorrow is the BIATCH. As Thane said today, it's a world class stage. 2 12,000 ft. pass climbs, 7 climbs even before hitting the first Aid Station. It's got everything, hike-a-bike, a snow field crossing, 8 creek crossings, some very technical, long descents and some ridiculous climbs -- 2o min+ climbs at 11 - 12k. And it looks like it'll be hot.

The results are now linked on Breck Epic's blog site. http://www.CJTiming.com/BreckEpic/index.html.

That's all for now.

Breck Epic -- Stage 2

2009-07-06T18:41:00.003-06:00

Whew. The race has begun. I knew I was in for some suffering when I had trouble staying w/the neutral start! I saw my competitors sitting in 1st and 2nd ride off and just decided to race my race. The first major climb, Heinous Hill (of Breck Fall Classic fame), was truly heinous because of all the rain. Soft, loose and muddy all the way up. I reeled in the guy who was sitting in first on Heinous and just marked him. He was breathing badly and all over his bike, so I knew I had a chance. Yesterday's 2nd and 3rd place finishers were still up the road. I actually started feeling better in the second half of the race, and just after the second aid station attacked the guy in first on a long, dirt road. He told me afterwards he cramped when he tried to respond. I put two minutes into him, but never did see the race leaders.

I finished 3rd on the stage w/a 3:45, 2 mins back from 3rd on the GC. The guy currently sitting in third on GC was the guy I put time on today, so I think there's still a chance to move up. I think I'm 12 minutes off of 1st on GC and 9 mins back of 2nd. But I'm told the guy in first is an experienced stage racer (has done Cape Epic a few times, etc.).

Still battling some stomach issues. About to have a Pepto cocktail! That's it for now.

Breck Epic Prologue

2009-07-05T20:54:00.002-06:00

Day 1 of my first-ever stage race started up the switchbacks from Carter Park (the final descent of the Firecracker 50). We got Boulder's storm. Rained hard throughout the day. I had a 3:32 start and it had just started to subside at the base, so I threw Drew's Vaude jacket into the jersey pocket (but it came in really handy, Drew, on the chilly, low 40's road descent). Everything was going pretty well until that long, straight, uphill slog. I started getting that "feeling". Oh crap, am I really going to hurl? Got off my bike, walked a bit, then saw Mike Mac, who said, "Hey, we cut the course short due to really bad weather above us. You've got 1/8 of a mile of flat and you're done." Couldn't have come at a better time! Hopefully, I've blown out the carburetor, and my altitude sickness is behind me... I finished 4th, and I think about a minute back from 3rd.

Tomorrow is supposed to be about 44 miles and 5k of climbing. It starts out w/a police escort neutral start on road, then some more road section to thin everbody out.

It's 9pm and we just got back from dinner. We were required to listen through a pretty long-winded discussion of Breck Epic philosophy, history of the trails, an almost turn by turn description of tomorrow's course, etc. There was a fairly spirited discussion about whether people should be allowed to accept hand-ups at any point of the course. The crowd voted that down. Also voted down was a requirement to carry first aid kit and survival blanket, opting instead for placing it at the aid station of your choice. Let's hope the serious crashes occur close to the aid stations! Not sure about the wisdom of that choice.... Well, have to go prepare for tomorrow. Good night all.

2009 USA Cycling National Champions

2009-07-05T10:44:00.005-06:00

Karen Hogan - 2009 USA National Marathon Champion & 4 consecutive titles

Mike Hogan - 2009 USA National Marathon Champion, his 3rd national title

Keith Sanders - 2nd place 50+ marathon championships

Karen Hogan & Mike Hogan pulled off a repeat of last year, both winning the USA Cycling National Marathon Championships. Karen pulled on her 4th consecutive stars & stripes jersey. Her streak started in 2006 in Sonoma California followed by 3 wins in Breckenridge at the Firecracker 50. This was Mike's 3rd national title. He won the inaugural championship in Mammoth Lakes California in 2005, slipped to 2nd in 2006 & 2007, & has not come back to win in 2008 & 2009. Both Mike & Karen rode their fastest ever races with Mike putting in a 4:00:30. (The official times are 2 min slower in the upper groups due to a start time error).

The media was all buzzing over the husband/wife wins of Jeremy Horgan Kobelski & Heather Irminger who won the pro divisions both in unreal record times of 3:28 & 4:06. Hogan/Hogan make the 2nd Boulder area couple to score national championships in record times.

Keith Sanders, who has just entered the 50+ age group, fought hard & finished 2nd in 4:33; his personal best time.

Chipotle/Titus started 14 riders in the 2009 Firecracker. Mark Gouge & Drew Geer finished 15th & 22nd in the 40+ men's open field, which Hogan won. This was the largest category. 80 riders started in this field & less than 40 finished. Jamie Kilkoyn placed 19th in the 35+open field. Dan Melish was 4th in the cat 2 men's 35 class. Lance Loehding was 24th in "maverick" class, an unusual open field for high level riders who do not happen to have a license.

Four Chipotle/Titus ladies started in the 40+ open field which Karen Hogan won. Jacqui Wood placed 6th, Toni Geer 7th & Michelle Bliss 9th.

Jack & Sherri Boltz rode on duo teams. Sherris team finished 4th & Jack's 14th.

Titus X Carbon - Champion bikes!

14 riders starting & not a single flat or mechanical for Chipotle/Titus! This is particularly amazing given how hard the Firecracker is on equipment. Nearly 1/3 of the field typically drops out of this race either due to mechanical failure or "leg/lung" failure. Mike & Karen had a brief scare the morning of the race. Karen had a non shifting bike due to a cassette/chain mismatch & Mike has broken his remote for lockout while tinkering. Mike the Titus wrench/guru jumped in, repaired all damage & brought home 2 national titles - both on the new 2009 X Carbons.

The Chipotle/ Titus bike stable

The tire of the day was the Schwalbe Racing Ralph with Stans. These were mounted on our Crank Brothers Cobalts. This set up held up amazingly well & post race inspection shows not a nick or scuff on the sidewalls & not a wobble in the wheels. They are ready to race again. The Hogans are running a full UST setup while Gouge elected to go light & run non UST Ralphs with Stans. Geer ran a Rocket Ron on the rear - slightly lighter & a faster tread but comperable turning ability. Pressures were in the 26 - 28 range. The course is a mix of everything - fireroad, smooth single track, tire shredding scree fields & steep loose rocky climbs. The tires grapped well on the loose rock & flew down the scree.

The Titus X Carbon & X's are a treat to race. They literally float down the rough course, smoothing out all the little drops. Smooth is fast & the Titus was rolling up on other bikes, particularly the hard tails that were getting bounced everywhere.

The Crank Brother's Cobalt wheelsets were nothing short of amazing. Not a ding or wobble in any of them after the race. The wheels are fast & the 6 pawl freehub coasts noticably faster than most wheels. The wheels are very quick in the turns, a feature especially important on this course. It was a treat to run over the 29ers that were having trouble negotiating the 180 turns. They also have a very stable feel at high speeds.

2 National Champions
3 podium places
14 starts
no flats; no mechanicals

All dressed up for the Firecracker 50; the 4th of July & the USA National Championships
red accents, white carbon & blue wheelset

Day 6 & 7 - Final Stage of the BC Bike Race

2009-07-05T09:41:00.002-06:00

Gary Thacker of Chipotle/Titus finished the 7 day BC bike race in 4th place or the 40+ men. His total effort took 24:10, with each stage running 2 hrs to 4 1/2 hrs. Gary wrapped up day 6 in 5th place & slipped a bit to 7th on the final day but had plenty of tome to maintain his 4th place in the GC.

We will add a race report when Gary returns.

The Breck Epic Starts today!

Day 4 & 5; BC Bike Raace

2009-07-03T09:35:00.002-06:00

After 4th place finishes on days 3, 4 & 5, Gary Thacker has moved into a solid 4th on the GC. Today's stage will start & finish in Squamish so the riders have the luxury of not packing up. It is a 65km very technical single track test with 5,000 feet of climbing.

Day 3; BC Bike Race

2009-07-01T10:07:00.002-06:00

The top 3 riders in the 40+ solo are battling it out with very close times after day 3 of the 7 day BC Bike race. Our Chipotle/Titus rider, Gary Thacker, moved up a position to 5th place, but the times for 4th-10th are also very close & certainly nothing has yet been decided.

The 3rd stage was described as very technical. The finish times are amazing for 70km of techincal trail: 2:50 for the top pro men, 3:20 for the top masters men & top pro women. After 3 days; Gary has been racing for 10 1/2 hours with 4 more technical days to go.