Wheels Of Thunder Race Report

This morning was a scorcher on South Table Mountain in Golden, and BlueSky racers were out in full force in SW3/35+, SM 35+, and SM3. Jenna and I escaped the heat at the first opportunity so I'm not sure if we represented in other races.

Wheels Of Thunder was a very well organized race put on by the ICCC team. Each race had many premes and a wealth of prizes to the top finishers. The course was the usual S. Table Mtn racetrack run counter-clockwise.

Jenna was battling sickness leading up to this morning, but she soldiered on to the start line for the SW3/35+ race. After talking up the prospects of Jenna attacking and taking some premes, it was clear from the gun that her cold was taking some zap out of the legs. After many a lap of seeing the disappointed-husband-shaking-the-head look -- and after thinking about the prospect of having to blog on a crappy race -- Jenna cowgirl'ed up in the final lap. After muscling herself up into a sprint position, Jenna launched herself to the line and nabbed her first podium in SW3!


3 hours later Kevin and Isaac lined up for the SM3 race. Kevin was doubling up after already racing the SM35+ race that had literally just finished. He sucked down some Enervit and readied for more! The SM3 race could best be described as chaotic. With $20 premes every other lap, guys were launching themselves at every opportunity. At the 26.5 mph pace, however, nothing was going to stick for long. Isaac mixed it up at the front for a while before he saw the writing on the wall and decided it might be best to sit in for a bit. Kevin cruised along noting how much smoother the SM35+ were in the corners. On the final lap mayhem ensued when a score of riders went down in the chicane corners. Kevin was one of the first to hit the downed riders and he somersaulted through the air -- luckily he landed on another ride and saved his skin! Isaac maneuvered around the crash but was gapped from a lead group of about 30 riders. On the recovery lap Kevin and Isaac scoped out the damage from the crash: one rider's Zipp wheel was broken clean in half ... it looked like the thing was cut with one of the knives you see on late-night infomercials. Other riders were walking back to the finish through the rattlesnake infested field.

Yep, just another day up on South Table Mountain!