BikeSteamboat

I am cranking to get results up on the race website asap, this is certainly an area for improvement for next year along with some other little things(Yes we are doing the race again). The BAR/BAT results are done by ACA and they need to sort out some license issues, so I can't help you there.

Thanks to everyone who came up, I really cannot get over how awesome the racers were. There was almost no trash at any of the stages, lots of riders came out for the daily awards, the Moots party and podium presentations, we had nearly no issues with motorists. And I have been overwhelmed with thank you emails today. The city of Steamboat Springs, Routt County and the cycling community were thrilled to have you in our town, I have yet to get a complaint. Planning for next year will start soon and you can plan on stage racing in Colorado for 2010!

We had a stellar team of ACA officals and I think they deserve a great deal of credit as well: Dean Crandall(Chief Referee), Sheri Barr(Chief Judge), Kim Viner (Assistant Judge), Andy Rosen(Moto 1), Bob Maddocks(Moto 2), Glen Light(Moto 3). Doug Ashbaugh of D&L Sound did our timing/results.

Lastly, stay tuned about proceeds from the race. Between sponsorship, donations and entries we brought in around $40,000 and expenses were near $25,000. There was no paid staff and everyone you saw helping was volunteering, so the proceeds will be divided between Routt County Riders Cycling Club, Winter Sports Club Cycling Team, Yampa Valley Community Foundation and a small fund for next years race.

Thanks again for the great experience, drop me an email if you are ever in the boat skiing or riding.
Corey Piscopo

That was an incredible weekend of racing! Sorry the online results broke down, we will get some more updates online today along with each day's results.Otherwise I am thrilled to have seen it all come together and it is pretty clear that riders were blown away by the smoothness and organization. Ultimately we had some of the best officials from the ACA, great volunteers, outstanding sponsors from the community and an awesome group of racers who made the trip. All of this came together and resulted in an event that was quality. Thanks again for your support and stay tuned for next year! 

You can view some video and a news article on the Steamboat Pilot: www.steamboatpilot.com

Denver Post Article:
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_13288359?source=commented-

Pictures from the event courtesy of local photographer Tim Murphy can be viewed onlin:
http://web.me.com/boatman11/Steamboat_Stage_Race/Welcome.html

Today's prologue kicked off the weekend with a bang thanks to a good windy thunderstorm blowing through around 2pm. By the time the first rider went off at 3:30, the storms parted and we had a true test of performance. The course featured a solid climb followed by a 40+ mph descent with lots of technical turns thrown in throughout the course. And all rider were without TT equipment. The fastest time of the day,  was posted by Ben Day of Fly V Australia at 9minutes, 46 seconds followed by Jonathan Baker of Natural Grocers at 10 minutes even and Taylor Shelden of Felt Holowesko at 10minutes 3 seconds.
Susannah Gordon of ColoBikelaw won the Women's race with a time of 11 minutes and 52 seconds followed by Beth Fisk of Natural Grocers and Julie Emmerman in third place.

Moots is a big part of this race and will be having some special events/tours over the weekend. A large number of the volunteers you see each day will be from the Moots staff along with their friends and family. If you have some down time, swing by the factory and take a scheduled tour. The Barbeque Sunday evening should be a blast, plus you need to be there to win a fully custom Moots frame!

You can read about the Moots schedule by clicking here.

 

Good evening,

The TT start times have been posted on the race website, www.bikesteamboat.com, You may need to refresh the main page for the links to show up. We cannot reschedule TT start times. We cannot allow you to start Saturday if you do not complete Friday's TT.

Also, The location for the TT and Circuit race is Marabou Ranch. Please be aware that this is a private ranch. They have requested that riders do not ride the course prior to race day. A lot of riders have been going out without permission and pre riding the course. I apologize, but this is part of our agreement with the ranch. You may pre-ride only on Friday from noon until 3:15pm.

And lastly, there are a few riders with no racing license or a USCF license. Be prepared to pay for temporary day licenses on Friday when you pick up your packet. $10 day for four days equals $40. USCF licenses are not acceptable, sorry.

That's all for now.

The weather for this weekend looks like it could be pleasant. Most of the major weather website are listing about 30% chance of precip/scattered showers each day for the weekend as a pacific storm passes us. Typically these storms come and go fairly quickly so I do not anticipate any major disruptions due to weather this weekend. It might be a nice break for some of you from the front range heat. And thankfully there is no chance of snow.

 TT times are being processed and may be up as early as this evening(Wed), I will send an email out to all registered riders when these times are finished. Please give yourself plenty of time to get to Steamboat. The TT and packet pick up are all located the Marabou Ranch/TT course. So drive straight there if needed and consider that it is an additional ~15 minutes from downtown Steamboat. Also, be aware that State police have been doing targeted speed zones on US40 north of Kremmling and coming down Rabbit Ears Pass. 

Lastly, thank you to the numerous offers to get the ACA race kit up to us, we have coordinated the transportation.

Safe Travels, 

Corey

 

I know dead last, I have beed faced with the decision to take dead last or fight it out to get a few spots ahead of dead last. Our race officials have generously put together the Lanterne Rouge award for the overall GC Men's and Women's 1-2 last place finishers. While you will not get a bottle of cheap champagne to spray on the crowd, you will get this custom red lantern. If you are unfamiliar with the history of the lanterne rouge, do a search and learn the history.

 

 

 

 

This note was sent to registered riders this evening.

 Hello riders,

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A few notes as we approach the race weekend to get you amped up:

- $6700 in cash for general classification
- Equal Payout for Men Pro-1-2 and Women 1-2, 3, 35+
- $750 in cash plus additional merchandise for Criterium Primes spread across every category, $500 being contributed by local club Routt County Riders
- 7 corporate follow/support vehicles for the road race, wheels in/wheels out, including a vehicle from Honey Stinger, Moots, Steve Green Co, SmartWool, Ski Haus, Spindle 1 Bike Tours, and BlackTie Ski Rentals.
- Daily Merchandise Prizes for top 3 including 4 Alpha Q forks, Gear from Mountain Hardwear, SmartWool, HoneyStinger, BOA, Vino Marketplace, and more prizes from the four bike shops in town.
- Complimentary Barbeque/Awards at Moots Cycles after Sunday's RR with a keg of PBR.
- 60+ volunteers
-Neutral Bike support and supplies for sale at every start area
- 6 ACA officials, three moto-officials

I hope you can make the trip, we look forward to having you!

-Corey

We have a few new sponsors:

Spindle 1 Bike Tours: JR is a local pro mechanic and runs a full service touring company in town. Road or Mountain and across Colorado, talk to him for your next group ride. I took part in a catered ride earlier in the year and it was outstanding with catered feeds, on road support and premium knowledge of riding. He will be onsite the entire race weekend with his van providing neutral support and transportation for abandoned riders. 

BackCountry Provisions: Pete and Dave at BackCountry are big supporters of cycling and ride a lot themselves. They have three sandwich shops, one in Steamboat, Fort Collins, and  Jackson Hole serving up quality sandwiches. Their Fort Collins shop is very well done and they also sponsor the Ciclismo cycling team out of Fort Collins. Check them out and thank them for sponsoring our race. (My personal favorite is the Trailhead sandwich on rye)

SmartWool: Based in Steamboat Spring, SmartWool is known for their socks and base layers, but did you know they also make cycling clothing? Check out their full line of cycling jerseys, shorts, and accessories. In addition to providing daily prizes they are letting us use one of their vans as a follow vehicle.

 BOA: Here is another company with offices in Steamboat. Their innovative lacing system can be seen on high end shoes cycling shoes from Lake, Specialized, and Scott. We have some great daily prizes from them.  

Updated race flyer is online with circuit start times/revised circuit distances:

 Click here to download

 

 

First, let me say thanks for supporting this race. Either by racing it, volunteering, or sponsoring. It has come together nicely and our focus on quality is going to result in a fun and safe race.

• I am getting a lot of emails about the technical guide. It is coming and I understand completely that you want and need it now. As a first year race there are a lot small details and last minute changes that are being resolved and need to be included in this document. We are shooting for Wednesday 26th to have this finalized by the chief referee and online. If you have critical questions you need answered in the next 48 hours, send me an email:

corey @ bikesteamboat.com

 • Volunteers: We have a decent number so far, but can certainly use more for the Road Race and Criterium. If you have friends or family that can help out for a morning or afternoon shift please direct them to me.

 • Additionally I have had a number of emails asking about the following: 

- There will be neutral feed zones for the road race and circuit race stocked with water and product from HoneyStinger
-There will be plenty of support vehicles for each category for the road race
-We are reducing the number of laps for the circuit to make it more reasonable.
-The TT starts at 4pm on Friday. Equipment allowed is only that which you can use in a mass start event, ie road race. No TT bikes, clip on bars, TT helmets, disc wheels. Skinsuits are ok. Deep dish wheels are also ok.
-Awards at Monday's crit will follow each category of racing, not at the end of the day. The awards for each of the other days will come at the end of the day.

 Thanks again for your support and consideration as we approach race day. 

Corey Piscopo

 

Estimated course times and power data:

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Below are a few pictures from the training tt we had tonight at Marabou Ranch. Thanks to Ben Clark with Winter Sports Club. Barkley Robinson, former Rio Grande team member, put in the fastest time just over 10 minutes, with no TT equipment. The times ranged from 10 to 15 minutes. The consensus seemed to be that the course has a lot of varying terrain to keep you on your toes. There are a few climbs, very fast downhills and lots of sweeping turns creating an excellent test of speed and bike handling skills. The backdrop was pretty outstanding too, I so hope the weather on the race weekend is similar to tonight. There will be a training circuit race Wednesday as well. Big thanks to Glen Light, former front ranger and ACA moto official for coming out on his bike!

 

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Follow up to yesterday's course info:

 1) What gearing and grades: A 12-25 cassette should be sufficient for the climbing in the road race and circuit. If you are concerned about being off of the back and possibly suffering up some of the climbs I could see possibly throwing on a 27 tooth. According to mapmyride.com, the circuit race has small section with a 7% grade, the 70 mile road race has nothing over 5% grade and the 55mile road race goes up to 4%. I would consider these to be rolling courses with lots of variable terrain and it is exposed to wind. I can't say first hand, but it sounds like Dead Dog and Salida have much longer and sustained climbs. 

To view larger maps/profile, use these links until I can place them on the website: 

 

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