Tad Elliott Wins the Birkie!

Durango's Tad Elliott

Wins the Big One

The 2012 Birkebeiner

 

U.S. Ski Teamer Tad Elliott makes juggling look easy, balancing a flourishing nordic career with a mountain biking career. Competing on the national teams for each discipline, Elliott has competition in his blood. His dad Mike Elliott was a cross country skier for the U.S. Ski Team in the 60s and 70s skiing in three Olympic Games. The Colorado native is hot on his dad's heels, skiing out of relative obscurity and into first at the 2010 U.S. Championships 50k and second in the 15k freestyle to announce his arrival on the cross country scene. He bested that performance in 2011, earning his second U.S. title in the 30k freestyle and winning several SuperTour events, including the SuperTour Finals 6k hill climb in Sun Valley. Elliott's addition to the squad bolsters a U.S. distance cross country crew led by veteran Kris Freeman.

 

Tommy D Dinged but O.K.

Photo via twitter from Maylasia

Tour of Langkawi

Stage 3 - Crash - Multiple Injuries

Tom's tweet says he's "intact"

Dropped Out stage 7

Heal Quick Bishop

Goshspeed

 

The Bishop - Tour of Langkawi

Photos via Twitter 2/17/12 - Boulder, Colorado
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Tommy D - 2012 Start
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Nine years after he won the race as part of the Saturn squad, US pro Tom Danielson will line out in the Tour de Langkawi next Friday motivated to ride well.

“As I’m talking now, I feel very good and I think I’ve had a good off season,” the Garmin Barracuda rider said, speaking to VeloNation in the lead-up to the race. “Personally, I’m in good shape, but I don’t know what kind of shape everyone else is in. I don’t think I’ll be creeping there, but it’s the first race and there are so many unknown factors.

“But, yeah, I’d like to perform well and contend for the race. That’s for sure. It’s a beautiful race. Let’s just put it this way…I’m not going to fly all the way to Malaysia to sit around in the peloton. If I can place well, then I will, for sure.”
LAlthough the majority of stages are expected to conclude with bunch sprints, the two likely deciders should suit Danielson’s characteristics. The first of those is the opening stage, a 20.3 kilometre time trial in Putrajaya. The second comes five days later when the race tackles the summit finish of Genting Highlands, where Danielson finished second nine years ago and took the race leader’s jersey that he would hold until the end of the event.

As a rider who is both strong against the clock and on the climbs, that course plus a very strong Garmin-Barracuda team means that he could be one of the big contenders. Still, given that it’s the first race of the year and he doesn’t know how the other riders are going, he’s not presuming anything as regards the final result.

“I’m really excited that our team is able to do it and I think it will be a lot of fun for sure. It looks like we have a good field too, which is different to the years past,” he said. “I think they only had one or two guys that are really good climbers, but right now it’s pretty solid.

“There’s Vinokourov, Rujano, and that guy who won last year [Yonnatha Monsalve]…I’m sure he is flying. Any of those guys on that Italian team full of Venezuelans and Colombians [Androni], Serpa and all those guys just haul ass. Rujano is one of the best guys in the world when he is on.”

If Rujano is indeed on, he’ll make his move on the race’s big summit finish. It’s a climb that Danielson knows too, and he’s got fond memories of it.

“You can’t really find a climb better than Genting Highlands, can you?” he asked, with a laugh. “Too bad they don’t have that in the Tour de France..!”

From Velonation - Click to see the article

Time to Ride the Snow

 

Let's Go Mountain Biking

Barb and Betsy on the Road

Barb & Betsy 

Are going on an Epic Bicycle Tour

Silver City , NM to St. Augustine , Florida

"We are starting Saturday, February 18.  We have a blog!"

BucketListBikeTours.com

The Bishop on the Mount With Carl!

 Greetings from Sunny Tucson
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The Bishop - Tom Danielson

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I got a chance to train a few days with the Bishop on the Mount last week. It was an eye opener. Very impressive! This day I was able to handle him easily going up Mnt. Lemmon. I had to carry all the drinks and clothes too. But I just put my head down, dug down deep, pressed on my peddles and kept my Garmin on 25 mph and was able to beat him on all 5 laps up the Mount. 

Couldn't have done it without the Hybrid.  :-)

I'll keep my day job for sure!

Carl 

Steamin' Bean Roller Races

 2012 Snowdown Roller Races

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Local phenom Howard Grotts won the Mens and Caitlyn McCullough won the Womens. Thank you to Ivan and Rhonda and the staff at the Steaming Bean for hosting the party! Thank you to Bill Pile from Durango Cyclery for being our time keeper and Joey Ernst with Velorution Cycles for being our tech-wrench! Thank you to Mountain Bike Specialists for donating the bike computers, and thank you to Carvers Brewing for the beer! This was a truly local event!

2012 Snowdown Roller Races, 2/1/2012
Sponsored by the Steaming Bean, Durango Cyclery, Velorution Cycles, Mountain Bike Specialists, Carvers and the Durango Wheel Club

Results for 18 riders:
Men
1. Howard Grotts, 10.49 mi, avg speed 42 MPH, max speed 49.8 MPH
2. Ben Kneller, 10.14 mi, avg 40.6, max 51.0
3. Ian Burnett, 10.11 mi, avg 40.4, max 44.4
4. Tino Sonora, 9.48 mi, avg 37.9, max 56.9 (sprint champ!)
5. Richard Bagienski, 9.29, avg 37.2, max 45.5
6. John Winkley, 9.24, avg 37.0, max 46.6
7. Ben Stalker, 9.07, avg 36.3, max 47.5
8. Alistar Radcliff, 8.41*, avg 45.2*, max 47.8
9. Garett Alexander, 8.08, avg 32.3, max 43.9
10. Troy Hachman, 7.75, avg 31.2, max 48.1
11. Greg Darham, 7.49, avg 30, max 50.8
12. Josh McNaughton, 7.38, avg 29.5, max 43.8
13. Kris Ellington, 5.31, avg 21.2, max 37.2
*Alistar flatted at 11m 8s and was on track to post an all-time record distance. His split distances of 3.78 miles at 5 min and of 7.62 mi at 10 min were best of the evening.

Women
1. Caitlyn McCullough, 8.86 mi, avg 35.5, max 40.7
2. Martha Iverson, 8.22, avg 32.9, max 36.2
3. Sarah Strum, 7.04, avg 28.1, max 37.5
4. Ivie Crawford, 6.80, avg 27.2, max 36.5
5. Ashleigh Weibel, 4.63, avg 18.5, max 29.0 (best dressed!)

Thank you Spencer, and the Durango Wheel Club, for the Scoop

Click HERE for the Wheel Club

Fort Lewis College Increases Overall Lead

 Your Division I Collegiate Leaders

After narrowly missing the top step of the podium at the 2012 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships, Fort Lewis College further solidified its first place ranking, with a healthy lead over second place Lees McRae College, 59 points behind in the yearlong competition with a maximum of 400 points available. Jumping to third place from fifth on the heels of their victory at Cyclo-cross isMarian University, who will hope to gain another spot or two when the fourth national championship that counts toward the rankings, USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, takes place in Ogden, UT, in May.

Dropping one spot despite a strong fourth place finish at Cyclo-cross, is Lindsey Wilson College, which now sits in fourth place overall, a healthy 67 points ahead of University of Colorado-Boulder, which did not contest Cyclo-cross Nationals. Only 7 points separate second through fourth place, however, so the final rankings are truly up in the air.

Places sixth through ninth are made up of a tight race between stalwarts of the Division I field,Lindenwood, Colorado State, Midwestern State, and University of Vermont. Lindenwood, CSU, and UVM have put in solid performances at each of the three collegiate national championships held so far this academic year, and will most likely all do well at Road Nationals in May, as well. Midwestern State is still riding strong atop their commanding third place performance at USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships last fall, and could also be a major threat to the podium in Ogden. Rounding out the top ten is Appalachian State University, which is expected to put in a strong performance this May.

A lot is riding on these teams’ results at the 2012 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships as they compete to be the number one all around collegiate cycling team in Division I.