Wow! What a weekend. I’m just so deeply proud of the high school team not only in their results this past weekend, but in their abilities to create an atmosphere of fun, teamwork and being ambassadors of Durango. We got to the venue around 2 pm after collecting our firewood on Wolf Creek Pass. The pre-ride was stellar and it was obvious that the Seniors on the team were ready to rally! After the pre-ride, the team helped set up the race course tape and the director of the race, Kate Rau, was very impressed with out team’s willingness to lend a helping hand. Back at camp, we were fed some yummy pasta by Sierra’s mom, Christine, which I believe was a key ingredient in our race successes!
Then, of course, the team started a game of bike polo amidst the sea of tents. The ball only went inside a few other team’s tents! But, the other high schoolers were intrigued and either came over to play or came up to me to ask about how to play. Dave Wiens, pro mountain bike stud, got a “how to build a ballot 101” from Nano and I the next day. Then a wicked game of cards that went a bit too late. The team was having so much fun, that Kate and the race director came down to see what all the laughing was about.
Race morning was a clear beautiful day. A huge thank you to all our parents who volunteered! It is so great to have parents out on the course marshaling and giving me splits/updates in the feed zone. India, Robin and I painted our big toes a sparkling purple while Levi and Stephen readied their bikes. We checked air pressure and the girls teams headed out for their warm up. Thank you to all the racers who warmed themselves up together as a team without me as I was in between feed zone and start/finish area. The varsity girls went off first at 10 am (Kaylee, India and Robin). This was Kaylee and Ronin’s first Varsity race (Robin was forced to move up from JV as she was just too fast for that group). Each had a stellar race finished 1,2 and 7th! Sierra’s wave was right behind and she also had such a great race finishing 4th in the JV class as a freshmen!
The freshmen boys were next with 2 laps of the shorter course (I think their times were sub 1 hour!). Charlie worked his way in first and stayed there! Bryce was having a solid race in the top 5 and then flatted. He is going to work on using his quick fill this week:) Levi, Stephen, Sepp, and Nano were the last racers to go off and it was crazy in the feed zone feeding them all when they were coming in so close to each other. Thank you to Robin and India for helping feed their team mates! India and I had a super duper quick, Levi/Stephen water feed! Sepp was fed by good ol mom who was loving the “Who is that?” comments in the feed zone from the other teams as Sepp crushed it! Sepp won, Levi 3rd and Stephen was 4th. Nano’s results got kinda messed up (not sure how you mess up chip results). But we are all thinking top 5….stay tuned!
The league is a great start for beginner racers. I loved that all our seasoned racers not only did well, but raced with style and good sportsmanship. The course marshals told me that they each said “thank you” to them. What a crew!
The next race is Sept 23rd in Granby.
No comment yet, add your voice below!