Night Jamming

By -
A full moon at 10,500 feet somehow shines even brighter. At least that consensus for the Colorado Crew gathered at the Tennessee Pass Cook House and Nordic Center for the 16th annual Tennessee Pass Night Jam. This is one of the best races in the Leadville Winter Bike Series, with a fun course and a very welcoming atmosphere at the Nordic Center following the race with food and Adult Beverages. It's a grand mix of groomed ski trails and packed in single track, with plenty of challenging climbing and twisting descents. There was evidence of carnage on all the descents, including a few very obvious face plants in the snow.


Results for the Colorado Crew:
Leader - Middle of the Front of the Pack (1:22:28. She was feeling like her computer the entire race with a "low battery" warning going off at the start. She still managed to mostly keep the phat tires rolling on the groomed Nordic trails and single track.

Pit Boss - Middle of the Front of the Pack (1:04:38). The hole shot for the downhill start was the key for his performance, however the nose-wheelie into the snow later certainty didn't help. He finished out strongly, railing the final singletrack descent.

Daniel "The Byrd" - Front of the Front of the Middle of the Pack (1:08:09).  He was flying through the course with a big smile around every corner. Leader saw him at the start and then not again until the finish where he was already enjoying an Adult Beverage.

Duane - Back of the Pack (1:47:27) . A 1:00 AM wake up call for a 6:00 PM race, with a stop at a local brew pub makes for a challenging time staying awake. He still persevered, and probably got the most out of his race entry with his ride. There was no partying with Leadville Steve following the race this year....

Old Man - Off the Pack. He got distracted with some pretty red course markings and somehow missed a turn. Despite not recording a finishing time, he still had a grand time riding around the Nordic Center trails with a few of his friends

Race Stats - for those keeping score on the algorithm.
Elevation at start 10,528. Highest point - 10,762. Lowest point - 10,117. Total elevation gain 1,211
Race distance - 11 miles (for those who followed the arrows)
Functional Clothes - as appropriate for weather conditions
Gears - only one was used at a time on all bikes
Suspension - someone was a little squishy...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The best kind of Mayhem...

By -
Image
Another Saturday night in Leadville for the Crew - this time for the Mineral Belt Mayhem. After an afternoon of watching skijoring - apparently it's a big thing! - it was time for the fatbikers to take over downtown before heading off under the near full moon and waning sunset. There was a "gentlemans" controls start on the icy roads before the herd of riders was released into the darkness. With a long, gradual climb on the groomed nordic trail that is the Mineral Belt in winter, there was plenty of time to spread out the field. It was a long climb made harder by the thin air of Leadville. Lights dancing off the snow competed with the moon to illuminated the course.  After a downhill long enough to bring out the chills, there was another short climb. And then - back to winter on Endor. This section wasn't speeder fast, but twisting and and turning enough to confuse anyone. It was impossible to tell who was coming or going as the trail wound around trees. Groomed singl...
Read more

Gritty

By -
Image
True Grit Epic - one of the races on the BPR-CO calendar where the Colorado Charter is in full effect. Why? Well, rocks are fun. Steep downhills with rocks are fun. And suspension makes it all that much more fun! So yes, plenty of mechanical advantages on the Two Wheeled Self Propelled devices AKA Bikes. True Grit really lives up to the motto "Long, Tough, Technical" - and that's just the 50 mile loop! For those hearty souls brave (nuts?) enough to step up to the 100... Yeah. Not happening for this Crew. But anyway... True Grit is a tail of four trail systems, which makes it one of the best endurance races around. There is the relentless double track and single track climbs and sharp, washy descents of Barrel Ride, with the waterfall descent as the exclamation point at the end. Next comes Zen - some of the most fun to be had in 6 miles of singletrack that requires the ability to ride both up and down. No free speed descents in Zen; it's all earned speed. After the Thr...
Read more

Meeting of the minds

By -
Image
Or an informal Chapter get-together with the AZ crew! No set plans meant a text from the Leader to Mad Rhino inquiring about riding plans. To wit, Rhino responded with a rather appealing ideas - a local race. A Short Track style race. Or as the website for the Short Track Papago states "an ad hoc MTB race purely for fun - and beer." After perusing the website, Pit Boss decided it sounded like a fabulous idea and the text was sent to Mad Rhino. The visiting members of the BPR-CO Crew were in! If only the Leader had fully read the course for that lovely St Patrick's day event. We may have understood a little more just what we were in for - besides riding our bikes.  Meeting up with AZ crew Jolly Rogers, Candy and Krazy Karl, we got a little more details. An anything goes - don't scare the natives - drag race from the meeting point to the Papago Park amplitheater. Any course, any route. Usually the race returned to the same point - but not this time. Happy St Patrick...
Read more