You might be aware of a group that's working pretty hard to bring bike racing back to Fort Collins. Called the NCCE - or Northern Colorado Cycling Events - the group is dedicated to developing a thriving cycling race culture in northern Colorado. Through a lot of hard work and dedication from quite a few of your local cycling guys, 2010 is already shaping up to be a monumental year for having fun on the bicycles up here. Recently we've added another exciting event - an ACA sanctioned cyclocross race. I won't go into details on the process, but of 26 available race dates, the ACA had over 100 race date requests. With that kind of response, the ACA was initially set to allocate the dates to promoters that had already proven themselves. Had the ACA had stuck to their original intention, we would have been long off the list. But they didn't. And we have a date.
Now that we have the date, our goal is to put on the best darned cross race on the ACA calendar. And this is the reason for the post. We need to secure an awesome venue. So I'm reaching out to the community to see if anyone has an idea or connection to a location that's in Fort Collins, able to handle 300-500 people on race day, and is excited to have a cyclocross event on their property. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
And if you're reading this and are interested in being involved with this event at a sponsorship level, please feel free to contact us as well.
This event will be a joint effort by Peloton-Specialzed and the Fort Collins Cycling Team. Below is a contact for each squad. Feel free to drop either of us a line with your thoughts.
Thanks all.
- Sam Acheson / Peloton-Specialized
Sam @ Peloton-Specialized
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
FORT COLLINS, CO - February 5, 2010 - Fort Collins native, Skyler Trujillo, recently competed in the Cyclo Cross World Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. A Junior at Fort Collins High Shool, Trujillo was selected by USA Cycling to compete on behalf of the United States after his 3rd place finish at the U.S. National Cyclo Cross Championship and his impressive showing during a two-week, seven-race tour of Belgium following the National meet.
Unfortunately, an inauspicious start in the Junior World Championship caused Trujillo to lose his momentum at the gun when the rider in front of him slipped out of his pedal.
In cyclo cross racing, because the course is so narrow and in places it can be very difficult (or dangerous) to pass a competitor, the start of the race has profound consequences for every rider. If a rider wants to be in contention for the win, he must be in the top 15 to 20 riders shortly after the start of the race or he risks falling too far behind the leaders to make up the lost ground before the end of the race.
It only took a couple of seconds for Trujillo to regain his momentum, but it was enough time for the entire field of 63 riders to pass him. He would have to race from the back of the pack and battle through each man, one-by-one.
It takes a special competitor to persevere in the face of such insurmountable odds. Nonetheless, Trujillo battled all the way to the finishing line. After taking 53rd place on the day, he proclaimed with the confidence of mature young man that he learned a lot from his first World Championship race and now he was setting his sights clearly on the Mountain Bike World Championships in August.
Skyler's father/mechanic/travel agent/right-hand-man, Jason, made the trip to Tabor to see his son compete on the world stage. He summed up the experience by saying, "Ultimately Skyler got the best opportunity of his racing career traveling with Team USA coaches, riders and crew and exposure to living the sport of cycling at the highest level in the world."
In the Women's Elite race, Fort Collins' own Meredith Miller was the top American as she rode her way into a 12th place finish. Miller started the race in the middle of the pack and steadily moved her way up through the other competitors despite the frozen and slick conditions. Look for Miller to take to the roads this summer and defend her Elite Women's National crown with the Tibco Women's Pro Cycling Team.
Fort Collins' Meredith Miller takes 12th in her first Cyclocross World Championships. An impressive ride considering the cross roockie has been racing nonstop for nearly year.
Meredith Miller (USA) rode brilliantly to a 12th place finish
Fort Collins' Skyler Trujillo finished 53rd in Tabor and wrapps up his 5 month cyclocross assult. Meredith Miller will be taking on the worlds best next, she goes off at 3am MDT.
Universal Sports will be broadcasting the Cyclo-Cross World Championships from Tabor, Czech Republic on-line January 31. The broadcast will be showing the elite men’s and women’s races at 10am MTN time.
Subscribe to RSS Feed
