Race Reports
Salida Road Race 2011
Salida Road Race
I looked at the clock on my bike computer, and it said 5:58. There were 11 minutes to my start, so I rolled over to the start/finish line, and there were all the juniors, standing in a large group, waiting for the officials to line us up. We were directed to the start, and after what seemed like forever, we started. The officials had told us 1 lap, instead of the 2 the flyer had said. We formed a pace line with an Amicas’ kid at the front. He was there all the way to the feed station, where another kid attacked, and I thought that we could catch back up if we could have a high tempo. We turned the right hand corner that would take us up the hill. We rode hard to the left hand corner that meant we were heading into the neighborhood. I looked back and saw that there was an Alpha kid, Birgit Morris of Two Rivers, the Amicas’ kid, and myself. I was happy but amazed at the reduction of the field. We were still chasing when we got to the first stair step. He had a 7 or 8 second gap when we were past the steep section. It flattened out for a while, but there was still a small grade. The Amicas’ kid was still on the front, powering away. There were two small downhills, but they were short and were meaningless except for catching your breath. Then there was a left turn that led you even farther up the mountain. There was a 30-45 second uphill, and I attacked on it. I had a 5 second gap going into the gravel, so I was good. The Amicas’ kid bridged up to me on the descent, but that was fine. It was a breakneck descent, and I was using my 53-11. (DISCLAIMER-I have 650 wheels). We had a small gap on the Alpha kid, but he probably could close it. When we got to the bottom, the Amicas’ kid had caught us. We worked together on the flat, twisty part before the finish. On the last 90 degree corner, the Amicas’ kid went into it with way too much speed, and he skidded and went all the way across the road. Then the two of us finished in a sprint, and the Alpha kid won it, but I didn’t care, I got third.
Salida2011
Salida Classic Race Report
The Salida Classic, which turned out not to be an omnium this year, consisted of a time trial Friday, a criterium Saturday, and a road race Sunday. All the courses were great, with a slightly hilly TT, a figure-eight crit, and a challenging circuit road race.
We arrived in Salida Friday afternoon. After picking up our numbers, we drove to the parking lot and warmed up. Straight out of the start there was a steep downhill that I flew down. The road twisted and eventually turned onto a straight false-flat in view of the turnaround. It was a lot longer than it looked. After the turnaround, I recovered briefly and ramped it back up. At that point, I unexpectedly threw up (partially on myself). According to Maxx Chance, one of our ‘cross riders, that’s the best way to cool yourself off. I powered up the final hill and came in second, ten seconds behind my teammate Jacques. Everyone was really proud of me for puking. Great start to the weekend for BJC!
Early Saturday, we previewed the road course. Later, we rode the crit course with Coach Jon. At the crit start, I got the hole shot and pulled off the front after the first corner. Max Sommers of Two Rivers jumped, but he was on the other side of someone in between us, so I didn’t see the move until he had a gap. I tried to get on his wheel, but Max is huge and had a definite advantage there. I waited for the next group, A.J. Sigman of Blacksheep and Jacques. We traded pulls, but Jacques and I were the only ones really working to catch Max. Because A.J. would slow when came to the front, we never caught him. On the last lap, Jacques flatted, leaving me to sprint it out with A.J. I attacked on the last hill, but A.J. beat me in the sprint. “I’ll get my redemption tomorrow,” I thought.
Jacques and I had an awesome warm-up. I was confident. At first, the peloton rolled fairly slowly up the false-flat on the first of two laps. Jacques and I went to the front to do some pacemaking and facilitate attacks. About two miles into the five and a half mile course the road kicked up into a steep grade. I surged there, just as we had discussed. I got a gap from Jacques and A.J. and A.J. chased. They caught me before the descent, but I wasn’t worried, this was just a warm-up. This time I attacked on the kicker. I had about twenty seconds on Jacques and A.J. at the course’s high point. Jacques attacked on a gravel section and caught me at the bottom of the downhill. A.J. was closing in. We went full gas and Jacques did a great job of getting me to the finish safely, in first place.
All in all, it was a great weekend of fun and successful racing in beautiful Salida, Colorado. Thanks to Coach Jon, teammate Jacques de Curnou, the de Curnou family for a place to stay, and all the great sponsors. If you haven’t been to this race, be sure to check it out next year!
-Eric Brunner
Road Nationals 2011
Last month I participated at the USA Cycling Road National Championships in Augusta, Georgia in the Junior Men 13-14 along with teammate Jacques de Curnou and my brother Torin who raced in the Junior Men 10-12.
We drove out there so we could bring our camper trailer and a lot of bikes. Jacques and his family drove out separately. We left at 9:00 pm on June 19 on our 30 hour drive. We took some breaks along the way including a stop in St. Louis where we got to see the Arch both at night and in the morning and got to go in it. It was pretty cool, and at night it had lights shining like spotlights in a way that made a cool shadow in the air (yeah, that is how humid it was). Finally after 28 hours of driving and being on the road for 2 and a half days we arrived in Marietta, Georgia at a friends house where we stayed the night then left at about noon the next day where we made the final 1 and a half hours of driving to get to Augusta.
Salida Classic 2011
Last weekend was the Salida Classic. The Classic consists of a time trial, a crit, and a road race. This year I was excited for the challenge because more racers from my age group would be there. The competition was tough with good racers from Black Sheep, Two Rivers, and a local team from Salida.
The time trial is a short, intense route that follows the Arkansas River. I had a very good start and, because it was only 8 miles, I went “all out” for the entire race. I had almost no trouble other than I dropped my chain for a few seconds on the final hill. I got it back on without dismounting and sprinted for the finish. It was a tough race but I came in first and my teammate Eric came in second. A great start to the Classic by BJC!
The next day was the Crit. At the start, I had trouble clipping-in but managed to catch onto Eric, and A.J. (a Black Sheep rider) getting 3rd wheel. No matter how hard we worked, we couldn’t catch the leader Max Summers of Two Rivers after he attacked. Midway through the Crit, we had trouble getting A.J. to take pulls, and when he did he would slow down. On the last lap, Eric, A.J. and I were on the second to last straightaway and I flatted making me miss the sprint for 2nd or 3rd. I finally crossed the finish in 5th.
The Road Race was an 11 mile race made up of two loops with three killer climbs and some rollers, and a long descent. Coach Jon came up with a plan for Eric and me to attack the field on the hardest climb. At the start, I got a good position on the peloton. Halfway into the lap, Eric attacked and A.J. followed and so did I. Then I attacked on the downhill but it didn’t really work. The next lap Eric attacked at the same place and A.J. and I couldn’t catch Eric. Then I attacked at the same spot and put time on A.J. I soon caught up to Eric and then led Eric out to the finish. Eric got 1st and I got 2nd 
I had a lot of fun racing this weekend and it was great to apply team tactics during the races. Thanks Coach Jon. I thought that this was a great challenge.
Jacques de Curnou
