Written by Paul Kumm
The road season started late after the DU crit was cancelled. Despite many of the CSU cycling team taking a vacation during spring break, CSU started their season off in Golden where Colorado School of Mines hosted the Lookout Mountain Hillclimb, Collegiate Street Sprints, and one of the toughest and technical criteriums on the calendar.
CSU’s own Spencer Leslie set a blistering pace up the hillclimb winning the men’s C and beating out many of the B’s and A’s times. Greg Seymour followed suit finishing 2nd in the men’s B category. Later in the day the Rams headed down to the Mines campus where they were surprised to find the street sprints (a 400 meter drag race between 3-4 riders plays out tournament style with the top 2 advancing till a championship round) were going to race up a 10%+ grade right from the starting line. Luckily for CSU, George Simpsons has the best sprint in conference and won the Men’s A going undefeated in each round.
Sunday’s criterium had the same finish but now the course was given even more elevation and technical descent. The Oredigger course demanded both strength and skill, making a clear separation between the men from the boys. Greg Seymour worked hard and challenged his competition eventually winning the B’s race. The Men’s A race proved to be shock to the system for the whole field. Yet George Simpson hung in with the strongest and came away with well deserved 4th.
The following weekend CU held the bitter cold Candela’s Circuit Race and fast Stazio Criterium. While most of the field froze Saturday, Matt Kotarbinski won the men’s C sprint against his CU nemesis. Greg Seymour continued his success after chasing down a gap of a couple minutes earning 2nd in the B category. CSU finished off their spring break in Boulder Sunday where the Stazio Course made for fast criterium finishing sprints. Maddie Tuggle and Mel Beale mixed it up the Women’s A finish. And once again Matt duked out in a sprint coming away with 2nd in the C’s.
The Rams Men’s A team later ended their road race win-less streak. Taylor Warren, Michael Nichols, and Paul Kumm had set up a plan to ensure George Simpson’s victory, and executed flawlessly. Paul and Michael covered earlier moves letting Taylor leadout powerful George into the sprint finish.
Now the Rams look forward toward their home race, prepping for the Cobb Lake Road Race and the Oval Criterium next weekend. As a reminder please come out to race and cheer for your favorite local collegiate cyclists.
