Month: October 2021

I was excited to line up for race #3 even with torrential downpours. I took a pre-race lap and had to immediately head to the bike wash.

Race 4 of 5 in Folsom. I arrived with a little mud from recent rains but overall firmer conditions with less dust and better traction. From the start, I took the lead of the 45+ A race and built up a solid lead of about 30 seconds by mid-race; then disaster struck: a couple of A riders I passed decided to try to stay on my wheel and I could hear them over their limit behind me.

I arrived in Durango, Colorado and headed up to Purgatory Ski Resort about 30 minutes out of town. Purgatory resort is at 9,000 feet elevation and coming from sea level I could definitely feel the lack of oxygen just by walking up a set of stairs.

The sea otter road race starts with a descent into a park with closed roads where you complete laps and then finish with a climb back out. The race started pretty fast and broke apart at the end of the first lap into two groups. I made the selection on the main climb on the loop and continued to stay tucked in the group for the next two laps.

I was a bit tired to start after already doing 3 races in the week (1 IRL, 2 Zwift). Lined up with ~30 dudes for the 45+ A race. Course was on a church property, it began with a gravel sprint, to short pavement flat then steep uphill, snaked down a grassy off-camber to a run up, then off to the dirt field for bumpety bump bumps, more gravel, then onto a grassy field with barriers, then repeat for an hour. Power course with benefit to those comfortably slipping and sliding on the dirt.