Round two of the Epic Singletrack mountain bike series took place on Saturday June 26th, with the running of the XC Super Loop race at Winter Park. More than 525 racers were out there in beautiful weather, racing over an 18 mile long (Pro/Expert/Sport) cross country course.
The race course included a whole host of challenges . . . and rewards. Some of the challenges included moderately long fire road climbs, creek crossings, rocks, roots and lots of turns. The rewards were the great scenery, the diverse terrain and the fun downhills. By the end, some looked like they had enough of that great scenery.
But, back to the race report. For the day, the Green Mountain Sports racing team was out in full force with an awesome 16 racers finishing the race. We had a strong presence in many of the categories. Racing wise, it was unquestionably a very successful race for our team. GMS racing team "A" finished in third place in the team standings with 332 points, and sits in 5th place out of 36 teams after two races.
When it was all said and done, we ended the day with 9 top ten finishes, 5 podium placings and 2 wins. Wow!!! And, just as important, we finished with lots of racers with smiles on their faces after enjoying a great day of racing. Some of the highlights included:
Mike Schaub winning the Sport Men's 50+ race.
Emma Atkins won the Beginner Women's 30-39 race. Go Emma!
Craig Hofer, on his brand spanking new 29er, took 2nd place in the Expert Men's 45-49 race.
Ed Tokarski, on his relatively new 29er, finished 2nd in the Expert Men's 40-44 field.
And, Pam Zients finished in second place in the Women's Beginner 40-49 race.
What a great day of fun racing. The series resumes on July 10th with the Valley Point to Point Cross Country race which runs from Winter Park to Fraser.
Winter Park Hill Climb:
The opening race of the 2010 Winter Park mountain bike series was held on Saturday June 19th under sunny skies and warm temperatures.
This was a sharp contrast to the rainy, muddy and cold weather conditions one week earlier, when the series opener was originally scheduled to take place. The Green Mountain Sports racing team had a contingent of 8 racers taking part in the 5.2 mile race up the service roads for the mountain. The course gains more than 2,000 feet of elevation over the 5.2 miles, topping out at an altitude of 11,142 feet.The team had a great showing with 5 top ten finishes and 2 racers finishing on the podium. Brian Krombein smoked the course with a time of 38:24 and finished in 3rd place in the Expert 35-39 field.
Along with that, Marjie Tokarski finished in 2nd place in the Expert 40-49 field of 13 racers.
Chris Shamis, in his first race in the Expert class, finished 7th!
Bruce Chesy, on the GMS Racing "A" team for Winter Park, powers up the hill in 41:27.
All in all, it was a great day of racing and a strong start to the series for Green Mountain Sports racing. More to come next week at the Cross Country Superloop.
Other Racing News:
On Sunday June 20th Mitch Westall garnered a podium place at the Downtown Niwot Criterium, which is one of the select ACA BAR/BAT races of the season. Mitch finished in second place in the Open 35+ race (Cat. 1/2/3). Way to go Mitch!
Congratulations to Aaron Small for his podium finish at the Chile Challenge mountain bike race, which was held in Angel Fire, NM on Saturday June 5th. Aaron finished in 3rd place in the Category 1 30-39 cross country race of this prestigious Mountain States Cup event.
June 12th saw cold temperatures, heavy rain and muddy conditions for both the Winter Park Hill Climb and the Yeti Beti Bike Bash races, causing both races to be rescheduled. The Winter Park Hill Climb was held on Saturday June 19th and the Beti Bike Bash will take place on Sunday August 1st.
Also on the Mountain Bike racing front, the Front Range MTB short track series has been cut short. The two races that were to be held on June 19th and July 3rd are canceled. The series awards and prizes will still be given out, and will be based on results from the 4 races that did take place.
Denver's City Park hosted the annual running of the City Park Criterium, held under sunny skies and warm temperatures on Sunday June 6th. Scott Hartley finished 9th and Craig Hofer finished 11th in the Open 35+race, while Peter Lopez finished in 19th place in the 35+ Cat 3 race. Here are some great shots of the racing action.
Teva Games:
The Teva Mountain games are a huge happening in Vail with Food, Art, Music and of course Sporting events. As a part of the games, there were a number of cycling races including both road and mountain bike. Two of our racers ventured out to Vail to compete in the Cross Country mountain bike races, Emma Atkins and Mitch Westall. Emma competed in her first mountain bike race, taking 2nd place in a field of 25 racers. What a debut! Here is a brief race report from Emma:
"So I finally made it to my first mountain bike race ever at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, ONLY because Corky and the boys at Green Mountain Sports squeezed my bike into their already busy schedule to tweak some loose bits and bobs on my bike. Just want to thank them all for being so great over at the shop."
"I ended up racing in the womens beginner class with 24 other fantastic women over some amazing trails and hills climbs !!!! Considering I lived in Vail for 10 years, it is surprising that I have never once mountain biked on the trails. I had a great time racing. I finished the race in 2nd place, with a huge smile on my face and ready to go out and have some more fun racing this summer. Thank you all for the support and friendships that I have made. You rock!" :)
Mitch Westall also raced, competing in the Expert cross country race and finished in 19th place in a stacked field of 70 racers! On the road side, Brent Web competed in the Vail Pass uphill time trial, finishing 4th in the 17 racer field. Congratulations to all three racers for representing our team in such a stellar fashion.
Teva Games:
The Teva Mountain games are a huge happening in Vail with Food, Art, Music and of course Sporting events. As a part of the games, there were a number of cycling races including both road and mountain bike. Two of our racers ventured out to Vail to compete in the Cross Country mountain bike races, Emma Atkins and Mitch Westall. Emma competed in her first mountain bike race, taking 2nd place in a field of 25 racers. What a debut! Here is a brief race report from Emma:
"So I finally made it to my first mountain bike race ever at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, ONLY because Corky and the boys at Green Mountain Sports squeezed my bike into their already busy schedule to tweak some loose bits and bobs on my bike. Just want to thank them all for being so great over at the shop."
"I ended up racing in the womens beginner class with 24 other fantastic women over some amazing trails and hills climbs !!!! Considering I lived in Vail for 10 years, it is surprising that I have never once mountain biked on the trails. I had a great time racing. I finished the race in 2nd place, with a huge smile on my face and ready to go out and have some more fun racing this summer. Thank you all for the support and friendships that I have made. You rock!" :)
Mitch Westall also raced, competing in the Expert cross country race and finished in 19th place in a stacked field of 70 racers! On the road side, Brent Web competed in the Vail Pass uphill time trial, finishing 4th in the 17 racer field. Congratulations to all three racers for representing our team in such a stellar fashion.
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