 |
| Guanella Pass Road will make its debut in the Colorado Triple Crown during the inaugural Cycle to Saturn Epic Century and Double Century |
What's new for 2014?? Well…quite a bit! We're busy making preparations for 2014 and there are a few exciting changes in the works…
- First, to mix things up a bit for 2014, we're adding a fifth Colorado Triple Crown event: the Cycle to Saturn Double Century, which will be contested on Saturday, August 16, 2014. We're very excited about the new event, which is a reincarnation of the course used during the Saturn Cycling Classic pro bike race (plus a little extra!) from 2000 to 2002. It's an extremely challenging route, including 200+ miles, 20,000 feet of climbing, nine categorized climbs (including three climbs over 11,000 feet), and 10 miles of gnarly gravel roads (mostly in the downhill direction)! We will also be simultaneously contesting a shorter version of the event, from Golden to Breckenridge (140 miles, 14,000 feet), giving riders who aren't interested in completing a double century the opportunity to complete the major climbs of the original Saturn Cycling Classic. However, only riders who complete the double century will be eligible for Colorado Triple Crown credit.
- For 2014, participants must complete three of the five Triple Crown events to officially complete the Colorado Triple Crown series.
- Because we are offering a fifth Triple Crown event in 2014, there will not be a make-up date on the calendar for 2014. If one of the events gets cancelled because of terrible weather, forest fires, or other factors that are out of our control, then riders who are planning to complete the Colorado Triple Crown will need to complete one of the other events. Please be forewarned and plan ahead!
- The Colorado Death Ride will once again start (and end) in Durango. The Death Ride will move back to the Independence Day weekend (Saturday, July 5, 2014), which will allow participants to travel back and forth from the Denver area without having to use vacation time. Please include Sunday, July 6, 2014 on your calendar as a possible make-up date for this ride if we would be unable to ride on July 5 due to factors that are out of our control. If we could not contest the event of July 5 or 6, then the Death Ride would be cancelled for 2014.
- The original three events of the Colorado Triple Crown (Joe Lookingbill Denver-to-Aspen Classic, Colorado Death Ride, and Tim Kalisch Memorial Grand Loop) will remain part of the Colorado Triple Crown Stage Race. As in previous years, the fastest cumulative time of these events will be crowned Colorado Triple Crown Champion for 2014. Update, 06/14. Because of the cancellation of the Grand Loop (due to road construction along US-36 from Lyons to Estes Park), the Cripple Creek Crippler will replace the Grand Loop in the stage race.
- In an attempt to encourage great volunteer support, we will give riders who are planning to volunteer for a Triple Crown event the opportunity to pre-ride that event up to 2 weeks in advance and receive Colorado Triple Crown credit. Only riders who volunteer are eligible to pre-ride an event and receive credit for completing the event. These riders are not eligible for the stage race.
- Again, to recognize participants for completing the Triple Crown series, riders will be eligible for our Colorado Triple Crown cycling kits created by Alchemist Threadworks in Boulder. For 2014, we are planning a revision of the kit which might include some slightly "cooler" (i.e., more reflective) colors. More on this to come in 2014.
 |
| Eben G. Fine Park, the starting location of the Boulder Fearsome Five, under water during September's epic flooding. |
Regarding the Short Course events of the RMCC Challenge Series,
- We regretfully must postpone the Boulder Fearsome Five until 2015. Unfortunately, this past September's epic flooding in the Boulder area left many of the canyon roads that we use for the BF5 course, including Fourmile Canyon and James Canyon, with major damage that will not be repaired by May 2014…..But no need to fret! We are in the process of creating a new and extremely challenging century ride out of the Golden area to take the place of the BF5 for 2014. We've dubbed this new event the "Golden Anti-Gravity Epic Century." This new route, which will cover many of the lesser traveled roads in the foothills to the west of Golden, will certainly rival the Fearsome Five in terms of sheer vertical gain. It will also have more that its share (lots more!!) of dirt and gravel roads to satisfy the needs of any cyclist who wants to get their road bike a little dirty! More to come on this in 2014!
- The Copper Triangle has been taken off the Challenge Series Calendar for 2014. We've decided that by the end of the season, more riders are interested in riding this classic Colorado route for fun than as a timed club event. The Copper Triangle will remain on the RMCC ride schedule as a club ride for 2014. This club ride is great way to spend a day with your RMCC friends, checking out some of the early autumn foliage and kicking off the fall riding season.
Volunteers…I'm always looking (and begging) for volunteer help to help make our Challenge Series and Triple Crown events run smoothly! Obviously, some of the events, especially those of the Triple Crown, are BIG time commitments. But we do our best to generously compensate our volunteers for their mileage. If anyone is interested in helping out, please let me know! We can't run these events in their current form without your help!!
Thanks,
Mark
mvlowe5@comcast.net
 |
| Mark, Seth, and Galen at the conclusion of the 2013 Copper Triangle (80 miles, 7,000 feet of climbing). After a "bomber" descent down the eastern slopes of Vail Pass, Galen posted a finishing time of 3:59, with Seth and Mark less than 30 seconds behind. It was the first sub-four-hour finishing time for the Copper Triangle in RMCC history! Unfortunately, official results were washed away in this fall's flooding before we got a chance to post them… |
