cycling and spandex is metal!
Regrouping
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Flying Scotsman @ Boulder Theater!
VeloNews presents:
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN
Experience the inspirational and true story of an unlikely cycling champion who battled the odds to reach the pinnacle of his sport in The Flying Scotsman.
Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Melinda and Melinda) stars as Obree, an amateur cyclist and homegrown hero who became Scotland’s two-time world one-hour cycling record holder while also struggling and learning to cope with debilitating bouts of depression and anxiety. A true testament to the human spirit, the film spans the period of Obree’s life that saw him take, lose, and then retake the cycling title as he races to victory on a bicycle he built himself from scraps of metal and washing machine parts. Featuring a remarkable supporting cast including Laura Fraser (Vanilla Sky, A Knights Tale), Billy Boyd (The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Master and Commander), and Brian Cox (Zodiac, Running With Scissors), The Flying Scotsman is a triumphant tale about a defiant outsider who’s perseverance, undying commitment and ambition allowed him to ride victorious against well-financed, professionally trained competitors on the international cycling scene.
Free admission.
Date/Time: September 14, 2007, 7:30 pm
Door Time: 7:00 pm
Audience: All Ages
[borrowed from the Boulder Theater website]
THE FLYING SCOTSMAN
Experience the inspirational and true story of an unlikely cycling champion who battled the odds to reach the pinnacle of his sport in The Flying Scotsman.
Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Melinda and Melinda) stars as Obree, an amateur cyclist and homegrown hero who became Scotland’s two-time world one-hour cycling record holder while also struggling and learning to cope with debilitating bouts of depression and anxiety. A true testament to the human spirit, the film spans the period of Obree’s life that saw him take, lose, and then retake the cycling title as he races to victory on a bicycle he built himself from scraps of metal and washing machine parts. Featuring a remarkable supporting cast including Laura Fraser (Vanilla Sky, A Knights Tale), Billy Boyd (The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Master and Commander), and Brian Cox (Zodiac, Running With Scissors), The Flying Scotsman is a triumphant tale about a defiant outsider who’s perseverance, undying commitment and ambition allowed him to ride victorious against well-financed, professionally trained competitors on the international cycling scene.
Free admission.
Date/Time: September 14, 2007, 7:30 pm
Door Time: 7:00 pm
Audience: All Ages
[borrowed from the Boulder Theater website]
Monday, September 3, 2007
Santa Fe Trail Stage Race
by Robbie
Friday:
Late start, long drive, and a short scare that we would not be able to race the Santa Fe Trail Stage Race. Chris and I missed the registration for this three-day event consisting of a time trial, road race, and criterium. There was no phone number on the event website so I sent an email to “racedirector@...” asking them to call me if we should turn around and head back to Boulder. I did in fact get a call from race director-Kathy and she said it would be fine if we raced, little did she know that we were a troublesome pair.
Arrived in Lamar (Lame-ar) around 7pm. Checked in and paid our dues. Road our bikes up and down the main strip for about 20 minutes to loosen up. While putting our bikes back in (yes in, not on because Chrissy doesn't have a bike rack, but then again, I don't have a car so I can't complain) the car a friend from Boulder stopped by in her car said that she saw us on the road. How random--of all places to see someone you know, it had to be in the vastness of southeastern Colorado. We ate Thai food for dinner, not the best drunken noodle I’ve ever had. We then found an RV park to pitch our tent for the night. This RV park was pretty rad: pool, showers, laundry, frogs, and wireless internet!
It was pretty awesome to be in the middle of nowhere, laying in the grass, and still be “connected.” I tried to sleep outside but that turned out to be a bad idea. Within minutes I was covered in mosquito bites, so I jumped into the tent with Chris. Pretty hot and steamy in there. Did I forget to mention that I forgot my thermarest? Not much of a problem because the grass was thick.
Saturday:
Early awakening to the sun. Breakfast at the truck stop: all you can eat buffet of pancakes, eggs, bacon, French toast sticks, and cholesterol. Drove to the time trial course and inspected it from the car. The TT course ran from south to north and was 20 miles with the turnaround at 10 miles. My start time was 12:35 or so. Really fast on the way out, had a guy in my sights the whole way and caught him at the turnaround. So I had made fun of the straightness of the course while driving it and even suggested that it should be allowed to race without a helmet. I took back my words when I went off the road on my way out. I started moving to the right a little and then I thought I heard someone passing on my left so I swerved a little and headed straight into the ditch. Fortunately I didn’t crash, but I had to pedal pretty slowly out of the ditch and it took quite a bit of energy. Don’t tell anyone. Amazing what can happen when the lactic acid from your legs leaks into your brain... Really bad headwind on the way back. No one in sight. Could barely spin my legs. Finally saw some guy struggling and passed him. Saw another rider struggling and passed him. Finished strong, and then almost vomited before almost passing out. Chris came through after me with his Speedplay cleat ripped off and still stuck to the pedal. It came off when he accelerated to the finish. Fortunately I had a spare Speedplay platform and screws.
Old guy with oxygen tank gave us cantaloupe.
Finished 4th with a time of 49:20.
Sunday:
Woke up at 6:50am for a 9:45am start time. Day ahead of us consisted of a 75 mile road race on flat roads, hot sun, and no wind. Ate breakfast at the truck stop again (coincidentally the site of the race finish and start). Warmed up, stretched, did everything perfect. Rode to the start line and someone from the Pro,1,2 category yelled over that our group had already started. We were about 5 or 10 minutes late because of a change in the start time. I was still using the original race flyer for the start times, meanwhile an updated version was circulating. Chris and I chased. I made him sit on my wheel. We averaged 26mph or so. Thought we made a wrong turn so we stopped and turned around. Turns out we didn’t make a wrong turn. Waited at an intersection that they would soon be crossing for about 20 minutes. The plan was to disqualify ourselves, but race with the group anyway. When they came through I told the motorcycle official the plan, he said that we couldn’t ride with the group and that we had to ride out to the turnaround. So we rode back out the way we had been going, did the turnaround, and spent the whole day by ourselves. Knowing that this was Chris’ first road race and perhaps his longest ride yet this year I told him to sit on my wheel and not to take any pulls. Our average speed at the end of the 75 miles was 21.1mph. Really rough day, mentally and physically. Hot as hell. Chris’ jersey and shorts were completely white with salt. Fast roads though. Went swimming afterward.
Really bored at campsite so we drove out to Las Animas, pretty boring town. Drove back to Lamar and ate a nasty Sonic egg sandwich for dinner. Passed out pretty early, totally exhausted.
Monday:
Up early for 12:10pm crit. Felt horrible in the morning. Swollen eyes, stuffy nose, and clogged lungs. Good breakfast at Hickory restaurant. Hard time getting dressed in my riding clothes and warming up. Felt pretty wasted. Thorn in my front tire right before race, but I was able to change the tube in time. Really slow race. I think everyone was tired. The average speed of the group from the day before was only 23mph, so I figured my solo 21.1 average was comparable for exhaustiveness. A few guys tried to form breakaways in order to improve their GC standing, no successful attempts. Pace picked up on the last five laps. I stayed in position 2 or 3. I sat on front for a good lap or two and then finally a guy tried to make a move but I sat on his wheel until the second to last lap. He tired coming through with one lap to go. I jumped from the field at the line and accelerated until I knew I was clear. Was able to ease up on the gas with 20 meters to go. Finished first for the day, 44 minutes back on the GC from our fiasco the day before.
Pro race was called off after pretty much every rider was in the wheel pit. Three to eight riders were stopping for new wheels during every lap. Aparently the wind, or maybe an ambulance from a nearby field had spread thorns onto the course. I checked out Kevin Suhr’s tire after I helped him swap it out and it had 9 thorns in it… yeah. Kiel and Kevin got both of the primes, word.
Long tired drive home, thanks to Chris for driving.
Looking forward to a real bed.
Friday:
Late start, long drive, and a short scare that we would not be able to race the Santa Fe Trail Stage Race. Chris and I missed the registration for this three-day event consisting of a time trial, road race, and criterium. There was no phone number on the event website so I sent an email to “racedirector@...” asking them to call me if we should turn around and head back to Boulder. I did in fact get a call from race director-Kathy and she said it would be fine if we raced, little did she know that we were a troublesome pair.
Arrived in Lamar (Lame-ar) around 7pm. Checked in and paid our dues. Road our bikes up and down the main strip for about 20 minutes to loosen up. While putting our bikes back in (yes in, not on because Chrissy doesn't have a bike rack, but then again, I don't have a car so I can't complain) the car a friend from Boulder stopped by in her car said that she saw us on the road. How random--of all places to see someone you know, it had to be in the vastness of southeastern Colorado. We ate Thai food for dinner, not the best drunken noodle I’ve ever had. We then found an RV park to pitch our tent for the night. This RV park was pretty rad: pool, showers, laundry, frogs, and wireless internet!
It was pretty awesome to be in the middle of nowhere, laying in the grass, and still be “connected.” I tried to sleep outside but that turned out to be a bad idea. Within minutes I was covered in mosquito bites, so I jumped into the tent with Chris. Pretty hot and steamy in there. Did I forget to mention that I forgot my thermarest? Not much of a problem because the grass was thick.Saturday:
Early awakening to the sun. Breakfast at the truck stop: all you can eat buffet of pancakes, eggs, bacon, French toast sticks, and cholesterol. Drove to the time trial course and inspected it from the car. The TT course ran from south to north and was 20 miles with the turnaround at 10 miles. My start time was 12:35 or so. Really fast on the way out, had a guy in my sights the whole way and caught him at the turnaround. So I had made fun of the straightness of the course while driving it and even suggested that it should be allowed to race without a helmet. I took back my words when I went off the road on my way out. I started moving to the right a little and then I thought I heard someone passing on my left so I swerved a little and headed straight into the ditch. Fortunately I didn’t crash, but I had to pedal pretty slowly out of the ditch and it took quite a bit of energy. Don’t tell anyone. Amazing what can happen when the lactic acid from your legs leaks into your brain... Really bad headwind on the way back. No one in sight. Could barely spin my legs. Finally saw some guy struggling and passed him. Saw another rider struggling and passed him. Finished strong, and then almost vomited before almost passing out. Chris came through after me with his Speedplay cleat ripped off and still stuck to the pedal. It came off when he accelerated to the finish. Fortunately I had a spare Speedplay platform and screws.
Old guy with oxygen tank gave us cantaloupe.
Finished 4th with a time of 49:20.
Sunday:
Woke up at 6:50am for a 9:45am start time. Day ahead of us consisted of a 75 mile road race on flat roads, hot sun, and no wind. Ate breakfast at the truck stop again (coincidentally the site of the race finish and start). Warmed up, stretched, did everything perfect. Rode to the start line and someone from the Pro,1,2 category yelled over that our group had already started. We were about 5 or 10 minutes late because of a change in the start time. I was still using the original race flyer for the start times, meanwhile an updated version was circulating. Chris and I chased. I made him sit on my wheel. We averaged 26mph or so. Thought we made a wrong turn so we stopped and turned around. Turns out we didn’t make a wrong turn. Waited at an intersection that they would soon be crossing for about 20 minutes. The plan was to disqualify ourselves, but race with the group anyway. When they came through I told the motorcycle official the plan, he said that we couldn’t ride with the group and that we had to ride out to the turnaround. So we rode back out the way we had been going, did the turnaround, and spent the whole day by ourselves. Knowing that this was Chris’ first road race and perhaps his longest ride yet this year I told him to sit on my wheel and not to take any pulls. Our average speed at the end of the 75 miles was 21.1mph. Really rough day, mentally and physically. Hot as hell. Chris’ jersey and shorts were completely white with salt. Fast roads though. Went swimming afterward.
Really bored at campsite so we drove out to Las Animas, pretty boring town. Drove back to Lamar and ate a nasty Sonic egg sandwich for dinner. Passed out pretty early, totally exhausted.Monday:
Up early for 12:10pm crit. Felt horrible in the morning. Swollen eyes, stuffy nose, and clogged lungs. Good breakfast at Hickory restaurant. Hard time getting dressed in my riding clothes and warming up. Felt pretty wasted. Thorn in my front tire right before race, but I was able to change the tube in time. Really slow race. I think everyone was tired. The average speed of the group from the day before was only 23mph, so I figured my solo 21.1 average was comparable for exhaustiveness. A few guys tried to form breakaways in order to improve their GC standing, no successful attempts. Pace picked up on the last five laps. I stayed in position 2 or 3. I sat on front for a good lap or two and then finally a guy tried to make a move but I sat on his wheel until the second to last lap. He tired coming through with one lap to go. I jumped from the field at the line and accelerated until I knew I was clear. Was able to ease up on the gas with 20 meters to go. Finished first for the day, 44 minutes back on the GC from our fiasco the day before.
Pro race was called off after pretty much every rider was in the wheel pit. Three to eight riders were stopping for new wheels during every lap. Aparently the wind, or maybe an ambulance from a nearby field had spread thorns onto the course. I checked out Kevin Suhr’s tire after I helped him swap it out and it had 9 thorns in it… yeah. Kiel and Kevin got both of the primes, word.
Long tired drive home, thanks to Chris for driving.
Looking forward to a real bed.
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