Lee McCormack at Valmont Bike Park

I caught Lee McCormack, the man behind LeeLikesBikes.com, teaching a mountain bike skills clinic today at Valmont Bike Park. They were working the drop in on the Large slopestyle line and Lee stepped it up to hit the XL line for, what he claims, his first time.

I won a series of private lessons with Lee several years ago at the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance Annual Gala and I continue to see ways to add new elements of what he was teaching.

E and I got out on Sunday afternoon for a short ride down Coal Creek to Mayhoffer and Cowdrey Draw. The view isn't bad either.

30 Days of Biking

In the spirit of the #30daysofbiking movement, I am going to give it a go in April with all the other folks. Yes, I know I was supposed to register to be a part of the 30 Days of Biking, but I was late in the game to catch on to this year's plan so I'll launch my own bid to complete 30 days of biking here on Rolling In The Dirt. The concept is simple: for the 30 days of April, ride around the block or ride a century each day and then share the story on the web.

All I had in me for today was four laps of the parking lot on the singlespeed at 8:45pm. Anything counts and as I figured out last week, the singlespeed didn't really need a new bottom bracket-- the crank arms just needed some tightening and then some air in the tires to get it rolling again.

Decisions...

(see full image)

(iP)

I'm all in!

From August 14-19, 2011, I'll be racing the Breck Epic mountain bike stage race. Today was one of the last days to register at an early discounted rate and since I have been interested in this race since it started two years ago, I figured I might as well give myself 10 months to prepare myself. The race covers approximately 240 miles over six stages and climbs over 40,000 vertical feet throughout the race.

Wednesday Worlds

The Hogans dropped into the Bowl of Death to set up the barriers as I was setting up to shoot this picture.

Zolder Photos

U23 Zolder CX World Cup

Women's Zolder CX World Cup

Men's Zolder CX World Cup

Scene at Zolder CX World Cup

Elite Women's CX World Cup Race

The Elite Women's race strung out quickly in the first lap. The first clip in this video is at the end of lap one. American Katie Compton is the fourth rider across the line and would end up in second place by the end of the day, 22 seconds behind reigning World Champion Marianne Vos of the Netherlands.

U23 CX World Cup Race

Mud and muck...

I think this pretty well sums up yesterday's Boulder Racing race at Xilinx. More later...

Welcome home kg271

A few weeks ago I got a DM on Twitter from @madsencycles... And then I wrote about Urban Utility afterwards. Well, kg271 arrived yesterday, just in time for the snow to start falling.

Fight Cancer, Win an Ibis, Ride with Chuck and Fatty

Fight Cancer, Win Just About Any Ibis You Want, then Ride It with Chuck and Fatty Wherever You Want

2009 Philadelphia LiveStrong Challenge: Fatty's Speech from Fat Cyclist on Vimeo.

I'm posting this video to give some background on Fat Cyclist. '...That is how we will fight. We will show focus, we will show creativity, we will show endurance and not stop. And we will be kind.' (approx 13:15)

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Dejan Smaic's (Sportif Images) photo from Interlocken is a great shot but is only a glimpse at the pain and pace of Sunday's race. It's one thing when you speak of yourself as pedaling backwards in a race, but it's another thing to have a teammate say that to you afterwards. I think that in and of itself is a pretty accurate statement of the race.

Looking down the road...

Watching the final lap of the 2008 World Cup race at Koksijde gets me thinking down the road towards the Boulder Racing cyclocross race at the Boulder Reservoir on October 25. Although I haven't raced a Boulder Racing race at the reservoir, I remember the Boulder Cup Day 1 in 2008 at the Res. One thing I notice in this video is how tactically smart Erwin Vervecken and Sven Nys ride this last lap-- never letting the other one get too far out ahead, knowing when to ride and when to dismount, when to attack and when to sit in just just a little longer. In the end, Vervecken punches it just right to come out from behind.

The sand at the Res just sucks the energy out of your legs and the best option is to run and pin it. It hurts so much but feels so good at the same time. Weird how so many 'cross races end up that way.

2004 TdF

In 2004, I had the opportunity to go and see the final stage of the Tour de France. This was the year that if Lance Armstrong won the race, he would step out of the group of cycling legends who had won the overall classification Tour five times each in their careers to become the first to win six. In 2005, Armstrong would claim his seventh overall win in Paris.

The thing that amazed me on that day was the speed at which the riders passed by. With this being my first professional cycling race, I was in awe of the speed, fury and beauty of the passing peleton. Although I didn't get to see it with my eyes, I can only imagine what Tom Boonen's final sprint was like just meters down the road from where I stood.

The peleton, led by United States Postal Service Professional Cycling team and Lance Armstron in the yellow jersey, on the first of eight laps of the Champs-Elysees.

This picture pretty well sums up Armstrong's accomplishments in 2004, besting those like Eddy Merckx for the record of Tour de France wins.

Tyler Hamilton stopped by to greet American fans along the Champs-Elysees after crashing in stage 6 and subsequently dropping out of the tour during stage 16. Hamilton would go on to win the gold medal in the Olympic Time Trial in Athens and stage 8 at the Vuelta a Espana. In the coming months however, Hamilton's two positive doping results would more or less bring an end to his professional cycling career.

California's golden boy, Levi Leipheimer, palced 9th overall riding for Rabobank. He stopped by to give some love to the American fans in Paris.

Urban Utility...

After getting a halfway suspicious direct message from MADSEN Cycles on Twitter last week needing to confirm my eligibility for the free bike give-a-way, I quickly called the number I was given. I told the MADSEN employee that yes, I was indeed over 18 years old and I did indeed live in the USA, and confirmed that I lived in the great state of Colorado, he laughed. 'People are going to think this bike-giveaway is rigged because you're the third person to win from Colorado." 

"Well, hot dog. I'll take a bike with a bucket please!" Once the MADSEN crew has settled from Interbike, they'll be shipping off a new townie to me. I should expect to see it on my doorstep and in my garage in about three weeks.

On the open road...

Kenosha Pass.

Driving through the rain somewhere between Saquache and Del Norte. Off to the east, I could see the Great Sand Dunes butted up against the Sangre De Cristos.

 These two shots do no justice to the views on Wolf Creek Pass. The golden aspen stand in stark contrast to the darkness of the moss covered granite walls on the east side of the pass and the
sharp descent off the west side in the dark red cliffs stand out from the green forests. Clouds and fog floated through the valley below in true definition of how big the mountains are here in Colorado.

Get your hup on...

You won't see me in this video because it's the fast guys but Brandon Dwight from Boulder Cycle Sport and Dopers Suck along with Matt Pacocha in the Velonews kit get it done in this video. I'm hoping that the Colorado State Championships this year have a bit more mud and dirt than heat and sand. It's not supposed to be 65 degrees and sunny in December (those darn chinook winds). We can only hope.

More photos here...

Racing fuel x2

I only know of one Dunkin' Donuts in Colorado so everytime I'm in
Colorado Springs I stop. It is a good thing I don't find myself there
too often though. That's not good for racing.

beauty...

This is a thing of beauty...Moots Comooter