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Chalk Creek Stampede |
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Written by Harry Precourt
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Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
Chalk Creek Stampede
Mountain States Cup #2
Nathrop, CO
May 3rd, 2008
Racing in the afternoon feels like a picnic: wake up late, eat two breakfasts, lounge around, and you still get to look forward to an afternoon lunch of riding dirty and bumping elbows. Rolled out of C Springs for Buena Vista mid-morning and arrived at the Chalk Creek Mountain States Cup XC race with ample time for a solid warmup. As it turned out, they pushed back the start of the Semi-Pro/Pro race until 3pm so we kept cruising around, working on the farmers tan and getting the legs primed.
I decided to get on the front row and start hard. Oops. I blew hard and spent awhile recovering. These semi-pro guys race hard out here. I spent the whole race riding as hard as could without giving myself a hernia and only managed to catch a few stragglers. The course was your typical desert affair: beautiful mountain backdrop on a miserable flat, roadie-loving track. The first mile or two was a 30mph flat fire road followed by a sharp, short climb and then a flat bit of singletrack. About 3/4 of the way through the lap you were treated to the real gem of the race: a false flat into a roaring headwind. It would've been great to cop a glance at the Collegiate Range in the distance, but I was too busy drooling over my top tube with my head down. The last bit was admittedly some fun singletrack along a creek that I ripped for good measure.
Finishing 29th in a field that was not much larger than said position was somewhat discouraging, but its motivating to get it handed to you once in awhile. Looking forward to some real mountain bike courses back home in a couple weeks at Coyote Hill. Ride on.
Harry
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