Dead Dog Stage Race - 4 stages wins, 1 overall win, 1 2nd place overall

The Mix1 45+ squad had some good results at the Dead Dog Stage Race, headquartered in Laramie, Wyoming.  At the road race, which went up high into the Snowy Range Mountains, the Mix1 riders, Matt Vawter, Bill Stalhuth, and Peter Ismert, had some good top 10 finishes, but were beat by some strong riders from Utah and Nevada.   Ismert was able to grab 3^rd place on the final climb to the finish, with plenty of help from his teammates during the race and at the finish.  At the criterium, they had more success thanks to Matt Vawter controlling the breakaway attempts during the race and getting in good position to ensure a fast finish.  This enabled Ismert to start his sprint from a long distance from the finish and he was able to hold it for the win (photo above is Peter winning the crit).  The Time Trial was all Bill Stalhuth.  Bill beat the entire field on a windy afternoon at 8000 feet to take the win for Mix1, beating out several other strong time trialists, and placing him in 4^th overall GC after all the racing was done.  Although Mix1 didn’t get on the podium for the overall GC, they came away with a couple wins and lots of good racing with great competition.  The race promoter and all the volunteers once again pulled out all the stops for the racers and put on an excellent event.  Plenty of local citizens from both Laramie and Centennial, WY were also out to cheer on the racers.  

Most of the 35 Plus guys took the weekend off, but Matt Gates represented the team solo and was out to avenge bad luck from last year.   He got the race off to a good start by making the winning 4 man move in the RR, dropping 2 of the guys, and then out sprinting the last remaining member of the break for the win, which also gave him the GC lead.  The crit was hard with a small field and Matt riding solo.  But he rode a smart race and let a non threatening Horizon Organic rider get away to take the win, with Matt winning the field sprint for 3rd and another time bonus.  So Matt entered the finally TT sill in the lead and delivered with a strong 2nd place that locked up the win overall.  Great ride Mr. Gates.


The 55 plus team duplicated Matt Gate's results with a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd in the 3 stages, all by Bill Kelligher, who ended up 2nd overall (he won the crit)  Steve was also racing and constantly placed top 10 in all stages and took a fine 9th on the final GC.

Coal Miners Classic Race Report

The Coal Miner's Classic has become a main stay on the Colorado racing calendar.  The race got it's start in downtown Louisville and was put on by the Louisville Velo Club (it still is).  In the late 1990's it was time for a new course and it was moved to the Storage Tek corporate campus in Louisville, just off of highway 36 (it is no longer there as the company was sold to Sun and the campus was sold to a large energy company).  That was a great course our own CJ Gauss was the race director of.  As the property was sold the course was moved again, this time just down the road to the Louisville Technology Center.  The current course is a great one, with a nice L Shape, some really fast corners, two uphills, and it makes for a good race.  This years 35 plus race averaged 27.9 miles per hour for an hour.  That is fast on a course with corners and hills.

The 55 plus guys raced first and although we did not get a race report from them, we watched the race and saw Bill and Steve all over the front of the field.  The race came down to a sprint with Bill taking 3rd and Steve in the top 10 as well.

The 35 plus guys felt the race was going to end in a field sprint too, as the course was just too fast for a break, and it is an easy course to chase on (it is wide open).  None the less we did not want to race negatively and as such we put our strong men on the front like Matt Gates, Matt Segur, Jimmy Thies, Marcel, 45 plus stud Peter Ismert and LT.  They covered all the moves and there were definitely some from the strong men like Espoiti (Map My Ride), Nix (Rio), and Gibson/Carlos (Westside).  But the race played out as expected and with 3 laps to go it was a field sprint time.

Dan found the front no problem and CJ & Josh were there too.  In the last few laps the Matts and Marcel worked hard to keep the pace up, Jimmy Thies attacked to make the others chase, but with the course being so wide open it was a rough ride behind the top 5 to 10.  CJ & Josh got stuck in the swarming and had to battled back up.  As we approached the last corner Dan was right where he needed to be and sitting pretty, CJ was on Dan's wheel keeping it free of other teams.  And that was all she wrote, Dan took the sprint for another nice win and CJ came in the top 10.

One funny note is that every year on this course the mix1 team and Bob Dahl (Rio) have gone 1st and 2nd, without exception.  Bob is the constant as he has never finished worse than 2nd and over the 3 years and we have used 3 different riders to win twice and get second once (Kevin, Josh, and now Dan).  So we told Bob it was only fair we would let him win next year and we would find a 4th different guy to get 2nd.  He smiled and liked our plan.

Dan about 50 meters before the line.  As you can see Dan and Bob really got the jump on the field, with 4th to 15th being packed in there pretty tight.

City Park - Another Team Win

All photos for this report are from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com, check them out if you get a chance.

The 35 plus guys got off to a bit of a slow start this year, but things have turned around of late with wins at the Sonic Boom Crit and the Superior Crit.   The team was frustrated with a poor showing the day before at the EROCK race and showed up ready to go for City Park.  City Park is a classic Colorado race, that is the oldest race in the state, held in Denver in City Park, and somewhat unique as the course has three traffic circles per lap.  In our prerace meeting we decided to be aggressive and not wait for a field sprint, even thought a field sprint would favor Dan.  The field was about 50, not large, but had a lot of good rides like Jeff Hartman from Westside who has won a lot this year, Eddy Gragus from Helen's (past US Professional Champion), and Michael Carter from Map My Ride (another ex pro who has raced the Giro).

As the race settled in there was a small move off the front with 2 strong riders, Byron from Rio and Frank from Vic's.  Jim was riding tempo at the front to keep in in check (3 days after his wife gave birth to his second daughter.  THANK YOU Joanna for letting Jim race).  CJ used this as a chance to attack and get up to the break.  As it settled down CJ had made it to the break and it was now a 6 man move.  The key thing was the 5 largest teams each had a man in the break (mix1, Vic's, Westside, Rio, & Map My Ride).  The result was good cooperation in the break and there were not a lot of teams left to chase (Rally Sport and Grove Subaru maily).

The break got out to a 30 second lead and staid there with Carlos from Westside, Frank Zoldak from Vic's, Byron Nix from Rio, Dan from Rockymounts, and Larry from Map My Ride.  CJ rode a smart race as he knew a 1 in 6 chance was not great and he had the best sprinter back in the field.  Back in the pack Dan, Josh, Jim and Matt covered all the moves and gave anyone who wanted to chase a reason not too.  Michael Carter finally got away after some hard laps of chasing, even thought he had a team mate in the break.  Josh saw his move and sat on his wheel, as they tried to get to the break.  The result was a perfect situation for mix1, as CJ sat on the break, Josh sat on Michael Cater, and Josh and Michael made it up with less than 5 laps to go.  

The final lap played out well for the mix1 guys as CJ went back to work with some pulls to make sure the break staid away and Josh rested a bit.  Josh came close to winning this race last year, but did not get into the final traffic circle first, so he learned his lesson.  This year he attacked into the last traffic circle, got their first, and no one was able to come by him.  Josh has had a difficult year with bad races, flats and a broken frame in a crash.  So it was great to see him get the win.  CJ took 5th overall from the break, and both Matt and Dan were in the top 15 from the pack behind.  It was a complete team race, where we won by racing as a group, and racing smart.  Good things are happening and the guys are excited.

Josh taking the win.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

CJ rolling in right behind for 5th.  Nothing is better then when a team mate wins and the other guys are right behind with their hands in the air too.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

CJ driving the 6 man break.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

CJ & Josh in the break with 3 laps to go.

 Dan, Josh and Jim totally controlling the front of the field as Michale Carter chases.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

 Matt Segur riding at the front coming out of the 1st traffic circle.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

CJ bridging up to the winning break away early in the race.  Photo from http://www.mountainmoonphotography.com/

Subaru EROCK Twlight Crit

All the wonderful photos in this entry were provided by  www.mountainmoonphotography.com.  If you get a chance please check out their wonderful work.

The Subaru EROCK Crit is a new race on the calendar this year.  The name is short for the Elephant Rock event, with is a large recreational ride that has been going on for years.  This year they added a crit and it got very good reviews.  It was a fun course, in downtown Castle Rock, with a nice prize list.

It was a BAR/BAT race for the 45 plus guys, so it was extra important for them.  They are the two time defending best overall team in Colorado, but this year they have found themselves in second place for most of the season behind Great Divide.  It has been a hard year as the team's best rider Jimi Gibson has been out all of year with an injury, the team's TT World Champ Gene Palumbo was been out with an injury, and the team tactical leader on the road, Jeff Oksanko, has been out sick for too long.

EROCK was a great race for the guys and despite the aggressive nature, it came down to a sprint.  There is a photo of the finish and first to third was separated by about a foot on the line.  Rod Yoder from Vittiam Cottage got the photo finish, with our own Peter Ismert taking 3rd by a few inches.  Chris came in 6th and Henrik in 7th, giving the guys 3 in the top 7th.  With strong overall results the prior weekend the guys also took back over 1st place in the Best All Around Team Competition.

The 35 plus race was smaller, but Dan, Josh, LT, and Matt lined up.  It too was an aggressive race, but nothing got away.  As the laps wound down the guys set about getting ready to lead Dan out, who had won two crits in a row.  Then disaster struck as Dan flatted inside the last 5 laps and could not get a free lap.  So the guys went to plan B to lead out Josh, but thing just did not work out, with Josh and Matt making the top 10, but too far back.  The poor result motivated Josh and within 24 hours he had the fire back in belly (see City Park race report).

Who said sprinter just sit in?  Dan trying to break up the 35 plus race.  Photo from www.mountainmoonphotography.com

Same thing with climbers?  Who said they do not do crits?  Matt Segur driving the front of the 35 plus race and he finished in the top 10.  Photo from www.mountainmoonphotography.com

Finish of the 45 plus race, you can see just how close it was.  Photo from www.mountainmoonphotography.com

Peter keeping the pack strung out in the 45 plus race on his way to 3rd place.  Photo from www.mountainmoonphotography.com