It had been several years since I pinned up a race number on a bike jersey. I couldn’t have picked a better race than the Colorado Centurion for a return to the road peloton. This was a new event this year (read preview below), and I only can hope more epic mountain stages like this one make their way to the U.S. racing calendar.

I of course had to start the day with some pick-up from one of my fav BoCo coffee stops :)

The race started out with a neutral roll out out of the town of Lyons. This is a great little town just North of Boulder in the heart of some of the best road and mountain biking to be found. Everything was as predicted the first 25 miles of the race; no attacks and everyone content to sit in until the climbing would start in Left Hand Canyon. At the base of the climb I had to make a quick pit-stop and then had to chase back on to the group, which I had no problem doing. I couldn’t believe the carnage already starting as people were falling off the back early on. The grade of the climb at this point is 3-4% and all the contenders were comfortably riding tempo before the grade turned much sharper towards the top.

I was for sure glad to be riding my Orbea Orca, knowing I’d have the best climbing bike in the peloton. I was also tracking my data with my Timex Global Trainer mounted on the handlebars. This gave me easy access to vital data including distance, time, HR, and altitude: allowing me to gauge my effort appropriately.

As the climb to up to Ward and the Peak to Peak highway continued; the pace would continue to rise with only the top climbers staying in contact. Near the top is where some attacks were thrown to get the KOM jersey (won by Chris Legh), and I found myself just trailing the front riders by 100meters or so. Here is where I made a tactical mistake. I thought there would be a regrouping of the front pack after the summit. But the front 7 decided to keep going over the top! So I missed the front group but was in a solid group of 11 riders and I thought we would bring them back on the descent. But no one was interested in working so the race went up the road. Myself and 3 other riders would set tempo at the front for a while. I would stop pulling in the last 5 miles before the base of the second climb (“super james”) of the day.

The second climb (super james) is for sure a HC climb. This climb utilizes the same entry in the left hand canyon but takes the road to the town of Jamestown. Our group would stay together on the gradual 3-4% climb up to Jamestown. We actually picked up 2 riders at this point who had been dropped from the front group. Once to Jamestown the incline ramps up intensely!! Here no attacks really took place but the sheer grade (approaching 13%) was enough to create separation. I was able to stay at the front trailing 2 other riders who were climbing really well. I was just happy to maintain contact at this point. Over the summit of the climb you hit Overland road; a 2 mile stretch of gravel road with several rollers. I was actually very surprised about the condition of the road. It was super loose with a lot of washboard and potholes. I was struggling to maintain contact while not willing to risk a lot on the turns. At one point I really nailed a pot hole and heard a snap (post-race inspection showed my handlebars slipped by more than an inch!). Other than my bars slipping I managed to regain the 2 guys infront of me to the top of the peak to peak. We were all interested in maintaining our positions so we were working well together. We would actually pick up another 2 casualties from the initial breakaway on the few rollers at the top of peak to peak. This meant there was only 3 left up the road! From this point on it is a long descent back to the finish in Lyons. It would be very tough to attack at this point.

Here is the view on Peak to Peak

The new group of 5 came back towards Lyons together with a few “fake” attacks but nothing serious. I was able to get into the last corner in second position and take the sprint for 4th overall**!

**Now I do have to caveat my finish position. I was listed as fourth place on the standings all day. The final results now have me down to sixth place. The reason for this is the event was ‘chip’ timed, and I guess I crossed the start line several seconds before the other riders in our group. I do not agree with this type of scoring for a bike race (see Tour de France). None the less, not a big deal as I know I can still climb and sprint with some of the top road riders in Colorado!

All in all a great day of racing with some serious climbing! I would highly recommend a Centurion event if you have a chance to do one. (The next one is in Wisconsin!)

Also want to give props to Jess for sticking in there and finishing the race! That is a super tough introduction to Colorado road racing for sure!