Racing Begins at Boulder Velodrome

Just a heads up that racing started last night at the Boulder Velodrome. For those who have never been to the velodrome, and for those that have, this is a great time.................to watch. I was on hand last night for three races and it was a blast. There was a good crowd turnout and the racing was fast and furious. I highly recommend heading over and catching some races. There is some good coverage and pics at http://www.303cycling.com/ and http://www.mudandcowbells.blogspot.com/ .

Blue Sky Velo at the Colorado Springs Velodrome

We had 3 BSVers at the Colorado Springs Velodrome today for the Creamed Corn Cup which is a series of practices races to kick off the track season.

Captain Kevin and Patrick Larabee made the trip down to play on 333.3m track with 33 degree banking. Kevin and I were in the B division (cat3ish) while Patrick was in the inflield waiting for his Intro to Velodrome Racing Class.

The first race of the day was a 5 lap race (1 mile). The group rolled out slowly for a neutral first lap and then the bell went off and the pace remained slow. With a couple of laps to go Kevin wanted to string things out so he dropped down into the sprinters lane and threw in a little acceleration. Things heated up after that, as one guy followed Kevin's move and just kept going. I chased and was able to grab his wheel and was hoping to out sprint him at the line. I pumped my legs as fast as I could to turn over the 49x14 gear. As I came around on to the straight away I just did not have enough power and leg speed to win the sprint. Besides look at the Easton Wheels the guy was running...

The 2nd race of the day was a 25 lap (5miles) race. The race was really friendly. From the start it settled into a paceline. No attacks just nice and steady with everyone taking half lap pulls. With 5 laps left I was sitting behind Kevin in the rotation. We were in excellent position. Then with 2 laps to go chaos broke loose. One guy decided he didn't want to pull so he pulled off unexpectedly. Then everyone was left to fight on their own. There was a mad chaotic sprint at the end. Kevin took 2nd or 3rd and I came in just behind him.

I had to leave the racing early to celebrate Mother's day with my mother-in-law so I don't know how the rest of the racing turned out.

It was nice to have Kevin down here racing. Even after not being on the track for 16 years he's still got it. I'm hoping he can come down some more and share his knowledge as I could use some coaching on the race tactics.

After the racing there was an Intro to Racing at the Velodrome Class that Patrick has been taking. Today was week 2 out 3. Today they did some practice races which I heard that Patrick did really well in. Nice Job Patrick!

Today was a nice spring day on the track. Blue Sky Velo colors were represented!

Mike Dancel