10-26 Aug Colorado

Showing off my PSIMET wheels at the North Boulder Park Classic.

For the final two weeks of my stay in the US I headed to one of my favorite places, the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. I arrived ready to tackle a weekend of racing. As it turned out, altitude kicked my butt. Not to worry. Less than 24 hours later, I was right back in the game. After that, only one race remained on my US calendar. With a string of mediocre results and bad luck since June, I was hungry for a good race. Unfortunately my streak of bad luck continued and my US season ended with a fizzle. That aside, I had a great season filled with heaps of fabulous racing, fun places and amazing people.

View from Jordan's place near Carter Lake.

No trip is truly complete without a day spent wandering aimlessly around an airport. My path to Colorado included just that: a full day of travel, complete with a pre-dawn start, multiple flight delays and lots of time wandering around O’Hare airport, moving from gate to gate in a corrupted version of musical chairs. Eventually, I made it to Denver Airport where Lami collected me and we drove northwest into the beautiful mountains above Carter Lake Reservoir near Loveland where we stayed with friend Jordan Brasch the next few nights.



Aerial view of Racing for Hope course.

Early the next morning I headed south to Golden CO for Racing for Hope, situated on a 1.7 mile semi-triangular course used for Colorado State Patrol driver training. In addition to being a cool course with fun sweeping curves, it’s also perched right on top of a hill, offering exhilarating views—and lots of wind!

In the break (last on left) at Racing for
Hope--before I blew.

Another cool thing about Racing for Hope is that it’s a fundraiser for brain injury research and rehabilitation hospitals specializing in traumatic brain injury. The race was initiated by Brian Brown, who, after surviving a traumatic brain injury in 2006, was inspired, along with his wife Alice, to aid other survivors and families of traumatic brain injuries and to encourage helmet safety by cycling enthusiasts.

Being my first time riding at high altitude, I didn’t know what to expect. For some, the effects of altitude take a day or so to kick in, in which case, I should be fine…. Wrong! Right from the gun, my arms felt like wet noodles; my legs were lead weights. This was bad. It didn’t take long before my lungs were on fire, my muscles were screaming for oxygen. Soon my diaphragm curled up into a little ball of excruciating pain and refused to unfurl. That was it. Race done for me.

Pre-race entertainment before the start of my race at
the North Boulder Park Classic.

With a performance like that, I didn’t think there was much point in racing the next day at the North Boulder Park Classic, but my cousin Cody Foster, who was living in Colorado for the summer, talked me into it. I’m glad he did. What a difference 24 hours can make! I felt great, dramas from the previous day essentially erased. Expecting meltdown, I raced super conservatively to finish 9^th in a classy field (with lots left in the tank).

Blacked-tailed prairie dogs greeted us
everywhere on one of our didymo expeditions.

 

 

I stayed in Boulder for a few days to work with a colleague who is investigating Didymo, one of the organisms I work with. We found lots of cool didymo colonies to look at in the local rivers, and lots of other interesting things as well. After that, I headed through the mountains to the West Slope to spend several days visiting my aunt and uncle June & Bob Vanourek near Edwards. Based from their home at 2500 m (8100 ft), I had a wonderful playground of rides to choose from with a mountain pass and inspirational vistas in every direction.

Start of the Alpine Challenge with slopes
Aspen Mountain in the background.

My US racing season concluded with my biggest race of the season, the Blue Ribbon Alpine Challenge in Aspen CO. Partnered with a 7-day men’s race, the Pro USA Cycling Challenge, the Alpine Challenge was attended by massive crowds of spectators awaiting the finish of the men on their way from Gunnison. With squads from several of the top US women’s pro teams on the start line, the crowd was treated to an action-packed hour of aggressive, animated racing. Bad luck struck for me when a mechanical problem forced me to the pit about 20 min into the race. The mechanic fixed the problem quickly and generously offered to hold my bike so I could re-start with both feet clipped into my pedals. Unfortunately, he held me a bit too long—until after the entire group had passed—and, with the racing super aggressive and the pace red hot, I had no hope of getting back on. Argh! Not the way I wanted to finish my season. On the plus side, I met heaps of incredible people during my stay, notable among them my amazing host family in Aspen, Lisa Yewer and Annie Wilson. 

My season, by the numbers: 15 weeks, 5 states, 40 races, 20 podiums, 12 wins 3 crashes, 2 blown tubulars and 1 destroyed carbon rim –18 races over 35 °C and only 1 race in the rain!

Racing at the Blue Ribbon Alpine Challange.

Humongous thank you’s go to my sponsors Rob Curtis at PSIMET custom wheels and Wayne Simon at ENZO’s buttonhole chamois cream, and to my many generous hosts: my grandfather John Callaghan, aunt and uncles Janet & John Callaghan and June & Bob Vanourek, amazing friends John Fleckenstein, Jordan Brasch, Debra & Francisco Griffith-Rosado, Sarah Spaulding, Ann & Tom Alderink, Lisa Yewer and Annie Wilson, and most especially my parents Peggy & Gene Kuhajek for making my season possible. Time for me to head back to NZ!

The field shoulder to shoulder at the Alpine Challenge. Orange was big this year.