2013 Amy Dombroski Memorial Dolores Cross

2013 Amy Dombroski Memorial Dolores Cross

Ride/Race Schedule - to add event - Email: ciclistasdelrio@gmail.com

Monday, September 23, 2013

Dolores 'Cross 2013

Hola Ciclistas,

Dolores ‘Cross 2013 is set for Saturday, Nov 9.  It is the kick-off event in the Four Corners Cyclocross series, 7 ‘cross races through early January, building toward Nationals.  Once again, I am hoping the event will be a fundraiser for Greater Dolores Action – last year we raised over $1200!

I am working on permitting with the Town of Dolores and USA Cycling right now.  But to pull off a first-class event, I am going to need some help this year, as it is becoming too large a process for one person to handle.  Are there one or two people out there willing to help me out and take on a couple of responsibilities in the next six weeks to ensure that we do the best job in hosting the region’s biggest cyclocross race?

The larger call for volunteers will go out in a couple weeks but in the meantime there is plenty of prep-work to do.  The various tasks are pretty well established after four years of putting this on.  Let me know if you are interested (email ciclistasdelrio@gmail.com), we can meet over a beer at the Pub, or whatever, to get things started.


Thanks, here’s to another awesome ‘cross race!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dolores 'Cross - Call for Volunteers


Hola Ciclistas,

Fall cyclocross season is upon us once again, and that means the Four Corners Cyclocross Series and Dolores ‘Cross.  This year Dolores ‘Cross is Saturday, Nov 10th.
 
We need about 10 volunteers on Saturday to help with registration, course marshaling, scoring/timing, medical, etc;  and as many as we can get Saturday morning to help with course set-up.  And a handful one evening the week before to clear weeds and agree on the final course layout.

Let me know if you’re interested, we really appreciate it!
Michael

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Summer-time Rides

No club rides this weekend around the Iron Horse and Memorial Day.

Starting Saturday, June 2, 9AM rides leave from Kokopelli Bike and Board, Cortez.
Starting Monday, June 4, 6:15PM rides leave from Flanders Park, Dolores.
See the blog calendar above.

Good luck all Iron Horse riders!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Upcoming Rides: May 12, 14

First, many thanks to Vince MacMillan for blogging at the Tour of the Gila.  Scroll down to the entry on May 3 and read up from there.  It’s entertaining reading, it was not an uneventful race to say the least, and great riding by Vince, animating the race and doing Ciclistas proud.

Saturday Ride
This Saturday’s ride will be modified due to the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race.  For those who are not participating in the race, and can’t get a mountain bike ride in because Phil’s World is overrun, come on out for a road ride instead!  Meet at FLANDERS PARK in Dolores, opposite the Dolores River Brewery.  We’ll depart at 9AM, probably heading up the valley to the West Fork.

Monday Ride
Monday’s ride will probably end up as a recovery ride for the MV racers, but we’ll see who shows, and we can split into groups according to what everyone wants to do.  6:15PM at FLANDERS PARK, in Dolores.

It’s getting close to the Iron Horse, get your miles in now!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Gila Monsterino

Hooboy, last day of the Gila. Things started out pretty slow, as predicted. Hanging out in the hotel room before the early start out of Silver City, I hatched a plan to attack. Stupid, I know, but it is more exciting to lose trying than not trying. So, I gave a little feint at mile 15 to see if I could lure anyone out. No luck. Everyone just sat there.

My real attack came at mile 19 before the last steep part of Acklin hill before descending down into San Lorenzo where I hoped the three successive turns would hide me from the pack and put me out of mind. Didn't really work. I gained a bunch of ground right away but the pack descended much faster than I could with my old man's compact gearing. I was still in sight of the pack by San Lorenzo and eased up, recovering and letting them reel me back in. As soon as they reeled me in, they neutralized for a pee break. Big bummer. Oh well: six or seven quixotic miles but I was glad I tried.

Things were pretty uneventful until the Gila Monsterino climb which starts about 18 miles from the finish. The pack was together until Sapillo Creek when everything goes to nuts. I felt super good on the climb and hit the top with the select group of maybe 15 riders. Then I crashed. Overcooked one of the fast corners at the beginning of the 8 mile descent, locked up my rear wheel, did a 180, and got nailed by the poor guy on the Gilmore bike behind me. I got up and pulled his bike up from around his neck and held it for him while he got back on. Sorry Gilmore bike guy, my bad. My bike was definately worse for wear: front brake caliper completely detached and rear tire sidewall shreded. The Stan's sealant somehow plugged up the sidewall with about 20 psi in the tire and I wrapped the brake around my handlebars, setting off for the long descent down to Pinos Altos.

All told, I lost about 10 minutes to the group I was with as I horrified to even be riding my bike without brakes and a bad tire on that descent. Ugg. At least I wasn't hurt, eh?

Overall, an interesting experience at the Gila this year. I hoped to do better than I did, but thems the breaks I suppose. Currently, I am little sketched about road racing. I feel kind of old. A bit unnerved, I guess. I am still psyched to just get on my bike and cruise the roads around Dolores and Cortez and still excited about Iron Horse, too. We will see. Thanks for reading!
-Vince


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Gila Criterium

So, morning criterium racing around downtown Silver City. A fun, fast course. And I am feeling good. Amazing what nine hours of sleep (and a selective memory) will do, recovery-wise.

We averaged 25 mph for the first 11 (of 15) laps before all hell broke loose. Coming into the last corner (#4) on Lap 11, I got to the outside just where I wanted to be, so as to take the corner as fast as possible and get to the front shortly thereafter. A guy a couple of riders in front of me hit the tire barrier and launched, his bike missing my head by about a foot. It may be super space-agey light material, but I am pretty glad I didn't get a face full of ultralight carbon fiber wheel. The guys behind me were not so lucky: I heard that five or six got taken out.

After avoiding the crash I must have inadvertently stopped pedaling (self-preservation, I guess) as I had to gun it for half a lap to catch back up to the leaders. On Lap 12, coming back down the hill into Turn 4 again. Trying to get to the front. Just after the corner, everything comes to a screeching halt. Somehow a motorcycle and a mountain bike with fender racks, etc. are spread across the road like they just fell out of space right at Turn 4. I still have no idea if any of the riders crashed into them or how they got there or what. Just vaguely remembered chaos at this point.

The peloton decided to neutralize for lap 13 for everyone to get there shit back together and for the debris to be cleared away by the time we got back to Turn 4. Then it was go time again, though I am sure everyone was wondering what to expect at Turn 4 this time around. I suggested that eveyone look out for Wiley Coyote on a Steam Roller but only one guy heard me. Ah well, I am destined to perform my comedy routines to the least receptive audiences at the most inopportune moments. So it goes. . . .

Anyhow, racing: I assumed we were doing 15 + 1 laps, as is the normal deal for Crit racing, or at least I think it is (second actual crit race here folks). Anyway when I rolled across the line with the group at the end of 15 laps I was expecting another lap and planned to give it hell. But it was over. Just, over. Weird. Unlike yesterday, I felt like I still had a bit left in the tank which is kind of a bummer, but bodes well for the big Gila Monster stage tomorrow. Or what I like to refer to as The "Thankgawd I am Not Good Enough at this Bike Racing Thing to Have to Race the ACTUAL Gila Monster Stage Like the Pros Do" Stage. AKA, Gila Monsterino.

Adios,
Vince

Gila TT

Funny how the mind just kind of erases intense pain within a matter of minutes. By the time I hit the finish line for the TT I had just about blacked out. Don't even remember crossing the finish line, but was smiling within about 30 seconds as I felt I had left everything out on the road, just as planned.

Looking at my time, I was pretty happy: 45 minutes and change which would have netted me top ten with the group I raced with last year. Not so, this year: 42nd best was all it netted. Ouch. Guess my suspicions that these guys are pretty good have been confirmed. Cat 3 guys apparently know how to race. As far as GC goes, I moved up two spots to 31st out of the 70 remaining guys, about 6 minutes down. Next closest guys are 30 seconds in front of me and 2 minutes behind me. Ahh, middle of the pack: how cozy you are. . . .

Thursday, May 3, 2012


Howdy,
I am down in Silver City, NM for the Tour of the Gila. Today was the first of four stages for my category (40+, Cat 3, 4, and 5). A doozy, for sure.

Things started out well enough with me forcing myself to sit in the pack for the initial seven mile climb up to Meadow Creek. I have a compulsive desire to take off on any hill set before me regardless of the tactical sense, but managed to keep control of myself this time. Toward the top I got to the front so as not to get yo-yoed off the back on the subsequent fast section. This plan worked out well and I continued to conserve a few heartbeats here and there compared to last year on the same course.

Next up was the descent down to Sapillo Creek, a hair-raising affair with switchback after switchback.  Last year this was done in the company of quite a few 20 year-olds and I just hung at the back. Being with older and wiser gents this year gave me a bit more courage and smarter wheels to follow through the curves, so not quite as horrifying. However, one of our group over-cooked one of the corners and endo-ed into the shrubbery. He was alright and got back on pretty quickly.

At the bottom of the descent things heated up mightily and I had a heck of a time catching back up with the peloton. Really did’nt want to expend that effort, but I think they must have been reeling in an escapee.
Fairly tranquilo through the valley rollers for about ten miles. Unfortunately I missed bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint by about half a wheel length. Oh well, thought I would give it a shot.  

Just before hitting the Continental Divide things went a bit pear-shaped as I got side-swiped and took a tumble. I jumped back on my bike and rode like hell to catch back on, before even checking to see if I or my bike were damaged. Muy stupido, but it turned out alright. Not too much damage. Noticed that my cadence sensor was dangling close to my spokes on the left chain stay, thought about stopping to fix it but didn’t want to get dropped. It came off by itself soon after. Couple of cuts on my right knee and a couple of gnarly bruises on my tricep and forearm. Anyhow, I got pretty lucky, in spite of my bad luck. The best part was that the guy who took me out actually came over to me at the end of the race and apologized profusely. I don’t think that I would have had the guts to do that.

Back to the race: After the Divide, we hit a head wind and the group stayed together allowing one escapee to go it alone off the front. That was a mistake. His lead grew to three minutes no one went after him. I went to the front repeatedly between Mimbres and Acklin Hill to try to coordinate a chase, but no one wanted to leave the shelter of the pack before the big climb. Pretty surprising to me that none of the teams were interested in winning. Oh well.

Next up was Acklin Hill, a big climb followed by a series of four more hills that goes on for 10 miles or so. Again, I quelled my compulsions and stayed in the pack conserving as much energy as possible. Finally at about mile 55 (of 64 total), I tried attacking before the last hill. This didn’t work out so good. About a quarter mile from the top I popped, got caught by the peloton and went out the back door in a matter of a minute. Spent the last seven miles of the race trying to catch back on, lactate swelling every cell in my body. No luck, they dangled in front of me within 300 to 500 meters for the entire time. Part of this chase was with Tony, they guy who endo-ed going down into Sapillo Creek.  The worst part of this little hell was that I was close enough to see that, while I was completely redlined, the guys at the back of the peloton were spending a lot of time coasting. Ugg.

Anyhow, no regrets. My main goal this year is to try to do more than just hang with the peloton. I think this group of riders is probably stronger than last year’s, quite a few Category 3 riders in the bunch whereas last year’s group was all Category 4 and 5’s. They are definitely wiser. BUT, they seem a little vulnerable to attacks if one were to try something audacious. Hmmmm. . . .

Tomorrow is the time trial stage. Hopefully no mechanical bugs like last year and I can improve my time. As of right now, I have no idea where I am at in the standings. The soloist succeded I think, by maybe four minutes. Insert headshaking now at the well-represented teams in our category as they lost the Tour of the Gila today by not chasing that dude down. I am somewhere in the middle of the standings maybe, as I think a largish group came in a few minutes behind me. I could be last though, for all I know. Anyhow, I felt strong and gave it a go a few times throughout the day, which feels good. My arm and knee, not so good but nothing I can’t ignore for the next three days. Until next time. . . .

Friday, April 27, 2012

Saturday Ride, Apr 28

Come on out and ride the Pueblo-to-Pueblo ride!  No regular Saturday ride because of this event.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Squawker Road Race

Well, it wasn't really a road race as it was so short, only 20 miles.  But 4 times up E 8th Ave is enough!  Peloton was shedding people out the back from the gun, but I managed to stay in there until the first ascent of 8th.  Very quickly split into a lead few, a chase group, and the rest of us strung out.  Worked with a couple others for the next lap, but couldn't catch the chase group, was a hundred meters behind at the top of 8th, then never saw them again.  Beau took off, and he did manage to catch them, Matt and I worked together for lap 3, then he dropped off on the 3rd ascent of 8th.  So it was a solo last lap.  Again, haven't seen the results so I don't know how far back I was - but was proud that I pushed threshhold on each ascent, and kept the power up on all the other sections of the course except the long descent down College - needed some recovery!  All in all, a great block of intensity training!

2012 Dolores CX Results

2012 Dolores CX Results
Any questions concerning the results, please email CiclistasdelRio@gmail.com