08 August 2010

Copper Triangle and Bannock Street Crit

A weekend of bike events in Colorado
Now that was a full weekend of looking at really hot bikes! Yesterday I rode the Copper Triangle event ride, today I spectated at the Bannock Street Crit in Denver. These two events mean the cycling season in Colorado is winding down. We saved the best for last.
The Copper Triangle was lots of fun. My friend Christy and I drove up to Summit County the night before to have dinner and relax and acclimate (a bit). Christy forgot her registration packet in Boulder so we headed over to the Village at Copper Mountain to pick up a new number for her. It took all of 2 minutes because they were really well organized. We enjoyed a drink, dinner, and scenery at an outside patio. We ran into some old, new and good friends and shared laughs and a beer.
I admit I rode maybe too hard in the beginning of the ride the next morning. I was certainly feeling the altitude after being in France for 5 weeks. But since Christy was doing "efforts" on the climbs, I figured I should at least give more. The weather was beautiful, the aid stations just right, the volunteers super nice. It took us about 5 hours. I was tuckered, and walked unbelievably slow over to a neighborhood barbecue party later that night. I'll do the Copper Triangle again next year, it was fantastic.

Another rider's full blog account with good pictures of the ride at: http://jeff-road.blogspot.com/2009/08/copper-triangle.html
Today's fun started around 7:30am when I showed up to watch a friend race at the Mike Nield's Memorial Bannock Street Criterium. We had planned to go for breakfast after the race to celebrate Sue's birthday, instead we spent the morning and afternoon in the emergency room after Sue had a bad fall. She is fine, and I realized the joy of good friends is that no matter where we are together, what matters is that we are together. I wouldn't say it was fantastic, although it is fantastic Sue is okay, it certainly was memorable. 
Christienne and Sue this morning.
Sue bounced back and felt well enough to go down and watch her sons race in the late afternoon and be greeted warmly by all of her friends. It is really cool to be a part of the cycling community in Denver, it is a great place to race and ride a bike.