The 2010 "Epic Singletrack" mountain bike race series concluded on Saturday August 28th with the Tipperary Creek/King of the Rockies cross country race. The 25 mile long course, which travels from Fraser to Winter Park, is a racer favorite because it is run on some of the area's best trails. It brings the racers through lots of twisty singletrack, bomber descents, challenging climbs, and the standard assortment of streams, bridges,rocks, roots and trees.
Along with one of the best courses in the country, there was excellent weather on Saturday morning, drawing a crowd of more than 500 mountain bikers. The fields, top to bottom, were the largest and most competitive of all of the Winter Park races.
The Green Mountain Sports racing team was out in full force, with twelve racers competing in the Winter Park racing season's final race. Team photographer extraordinaire Annette Hayden was stationed at the Vasquez creek crossing, about 3/4 of the way through the course, and got some great shots of each racer's own unique way of navigating the creek crossing.
One way to get across was to portage the bike, displayed expertly by Chris Shamis:
Another way was to push the bike through, and let the others do their own thing off to the side, as shown by Marjie:
Another way to cross was to ride through the deep part of the creek (like Chris) while your competitor falls by the wayside:
Some, like Blaine, were able to ride smoothly across (without the distractions) on their big wheeled machine:
And others made it through employing their own unique "ride the top tube and paddle with your feet" hybrid style. Careful there Rob:
After everyone crossed the creek and the race was over, we celebrated the end of the race and the season. For the Tipperary Creek race, our team came away with 1 win, 4 top ten finishes and 11 finishers. Craig Hofer continued his winning ways, taking first place in the Expert Mens 45-49 race. Other top ten finishes included Marjie Tokarski in 4th, Ed Tokarski in 4th and Pat D'Innocenzo in 6th.
As the 2010 Winter Park race series concluded on Saturday afternoon, the overall season series results were tabulated. The season standings were calculated based upon each rider's best five finishes out of the seven races. Three Green Mountain Sports racing team members came out victorious in their category!!!
Ed Tokarski finished first in the Expert Men's 40-44 Category for the 2010 season.
Craig Hofer finished first in the Expert Men's 45-49 Category.
And, Mike Schaub finished first in the Sport Men's 50+ Category for the 2010 season.
Special thanks go out to Mike Schaub for serving as Team Captain at Winter Park. Mike helped make it a great season for all of us with his dedication and hard work!!A number of other Green Mountain Sports racing team members finished the season at Winter Park in the top ten overall:
* Bill Marcoux finished 3rd for the season in the Sport Men's 40-44 Category.
* Chris Phenicie finished 4th in the Pro Category.
* Marjie Tokarski finished 5th in the Expert Women's 40-49 Category.
* Rob Tokarski finished 5th in the Sport Men's 40-44 Category.
* Chris Shamis finished 10th in the Expert Men's 45-49 Category.
In addition, GMS Racing team A finished 6th (out of 38) in the team competition, and team B finished 26th. Many thanks to all racers who participated this year.
With only a few more weeks left in the road and mountain bike racing seasons, cyclocross will be upon us in no time. Time to get those cross bikes out! More info about this year's cyclocross season will be coming soon on the blog.
Road Racing News:
The ACA Colorado State Road championships for Masters and Juniors were held on Saturday August 28th in Deer Trail, CO. Separate races were held for 35+/4, 35+/ 3 and 35+/Open masters riders with the Cat 4's racing a total of 41 miles and the Cat 3's and up racing a total of 56 miles. Jim Hebert led the way for the Green Mountain sports racing team with an 8th place finish in the 35+/Cat 3 race. Ben Frost took 17th in the 35+/Cat 4 race and Brent Web finished 20th in the 35+/Cat 1-2/Open race.
The Green Mountain Sports racing team was out on Saturday August 21st for the Raisin Hope Classic, a fundraiser for the Raisin Hope Foundation and Craig Hospital. The races were held on the 1.7 mile long CSP loop in Golden under sunny skies and warm temperatures.
GMS racing team members raced in the Masters 45+ and 35+ races, and came away with two 4th place finishes. Craig Hofer continued his string of strong racing with a 4th place finish in the 45+ race.
Later in the day, Mitch Westall crossed the line with a hard fought 4th place finish in the highly competitive 35+ race. He was followed by Scott Hartley in 9th, Brent Webb in 30th, Chris Phenicie in 32nd and Craig Hofer in 34th.
Sunday August 15th was the day for the ACA Colorado State Senior Road Championships. The road races were held at the Air Force Academy on a hilly and scenic course. GMS racing team member finishes included Ben Frost in an impressive 4th place in the 35+ Cat 4 race, Jim Hebert placing 11th in the Cat 3 race and Dan Maduff finishing in 37th place in the Cat 4 race.
On Saturday, three GMS racing team members took part in the BRC Real Estate Criterium in Highlands Ranch. Scott Hartley finished 12th in the 35+ Open/Cat 1-2 race, Brent Webb finished 27th in the 35+ Cat 3 race and Ben Frost placed 12th in the 35+ Cat 4 race.
The Mike Nields Memorial Bannock Street Criterium race went off on Sunday August 8th. The course was a figure eight style 1-mile loop through the streets of Denver. With the great weather, there were large crowds of spectators as well as lots of racers in all of the various fields.
We had five racers from the Green Mountain Sports racing team out there for the Sunday Crit action. To kick things off for GMS racing, Craig Hofer won the Open 45+ race! Craig has been on a tear at both road and mountain bike racing of late. Way to go Craig.
Immediately following the 45+ race, Craig jumped back in the action and competed in the Open 35+ race. He was joined by three other teammates, racing in the 52 man field. GMS racing team finishes in the Open 35+ race included Scott Hartley in 12th, Craig Hofer in 18th, Chris Phenicie in 19th and Peter Lopez in 36th. Jim Hebert competed in the Cat 3 race and finished in 43rd place.
Winter Park - Mary Jane XC Race:
Race number 6 of the 2010 Winter Park mountain bike race series was held on Saturday August 14th. The weather was sunny, the skies were blue, the course was in tip top shape, and the Green Mountain Sports racing team was there for some rugged mountain bike racing.
This race was unique in that it started at the top of the mountain rather than at the base of the resort. The race course consisted of multiple laps of a 4 mile long circuit that included a steep fire road climb along with rocky, rooty and twisty singletrack at the high mountaintop elevation. After completing their circuits, racers headed downhill for 8 miles of (sometimes) hair raising descents. The course was tough on both racers and their equipment, as a fair number experienced either crashes or tire cuts, wheel failures and other mechanicals.
Our team had 10 racers finish the race. Racing in the Pro category was Chris Phenicie:
Racing in "Expert" were Craig Hofer, Peter Lopez, Ed Tokarski and Marjie Tokarski:
And, racing in the "Sport" category were Emma Atkins, Blaine Haskell, Bill Marcoux, Mike Schaub and Rob Tokarski:
It was an outstanding race for the team with 4 podium placings and 7 top ten finishes! Ed Tokarski, Craig Hofer and Mike Schaub came away with wins and Emma Atkins finished 3rd; while Marjie Tokarski, Bill Marcoux and Rob Tokarski also placed in the top ten. Winter Park served up yet another day of fun racing and great weather. The next (and final) race of the series will be on Saturday August 28th, the Tipperary Creek "King of the Rockies" XC race.
Colorado State Championships for XC:
On Saturday August 7th, the Keystone Ski resort hosted the USA Cycling Colorado State Mountain Bike Championships. The Championship races were a part of the Mountain States Cup "Keystone Revival" race weekend. The weekend's festivities included a whole host of XC, Super-D, Short Track and Downhill races.
The Pro and Cat 1 XC State Championship races consisted of two laps of a 10 mile loop which climbed to the summit of the mountain, and then descending back down over some of the same trails used for the Super-D. The course included 1,900 feet of climbing per lap (much of it on singletrack) and long, bumpy, twisty and challenging descents.
Pat D'Innocenzo was the sole member of the Green Mountain Sports racing team competing at Keystone and finished 2nd in the State Championship XC race (Category 1, 50+). For additional coverage of the State Championship races, click below:
Mountain Flyer Magazine coverage of Colorado MTB Championships
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