Highlands Ranch (Denver) Race Report

Rolled the Vanilla SS Saturday in the 35 4's. Going in I had two goals I wanted to accomplish in this race. First, commit to the start. Secondly, I wanted to attack all dismount areas. Mission accomplished. In the end, I felt good about my effort. I dug deep and kept closing. In this race, one gentlemen in particular had my attention. He happened to be the other singlespeed, rolling a classic Surly. He took it to me a couple of weeks ago, so when I passed him I felt good. He was not going to have that and stomped on by. I had him marked, but he had about 15 seconds on me. I hung in there til' the last lap and I made a move. He was pushing a larger gear than me and I sensed his legs were getting tired. I attacked hard on a small climb with a 180 turn at the top. As I passed he was kind enough to throw me a shoulder. I went down and lost several spots. That's racing, lesson learned. I try hard to be a nice guy out there, I will just have to make sure when I make a move I am more prepared. We chatted quick after the race and he apologized. Good race. Thanks to those who put on the race. ICCC held a great event.

Great Saturday Ride

Saturday was beautiful. After a stressful week of vet bills and dog concerns I needed to log some time on the bike. Not a race. Not a training ride. Just the kind of ride where I am able to connect to my bike, my friends and the environment. Mission accomplished with my good friend Lars (pictured) at Indian Creek just outside of Sedalia. Lars hooked me up as a newbie to this trail with a damn fine ride of 2+ hours, perfect fall weather and a total connection. Thank you.

Speaking of great friends, my dog Simon got hit by car this last Monday. He got pretty dinged, including a collapsed lung and the current use of only three legs. This may change, but it may not. We sure are happy to have the little Jack Russel Terrier because it was touch and go for a while. Needless to say, we are looking hard at dog insurance, cause this stuff does get expensive. Not to mention the latest member of the family Oliver (pictured), the Old English Sheep dog. Yes, we do like a certain amount of chaos in our lives. This upcoming weekend is the third annual Chili Cook-off. I will race Saturday, enjoy friends Saturday night and try and keep it simple.

SC