Tuesday, May 5, 2015

2015 Golden Anti-Gravity Epic Century Recap

Views from the top of (the very steep) Crawford Gulch Road (on a slightly sunnier afternoon) 
Event Summary:

3 Courses with LOTS of climbing (and descending) in the foothills to the west of Golden, Colorado. Each course also featured many miles of dirt and gravel roads, including the climb over Virginia Canyon (Oh My God Rd), connecting Idaho Springs to Black Hawk:
  • Long Course: 119 miles, 16,000+ feet of climbing(!)
  • Medium Course: 95 miles, 12,000+ feet of climbing. (Really anything that was longer than the short course and had more climbing than the short course counted toward completion of the medium course)
  • Short Course: 82 miles, 10,000+ feet of climbing
Time limit: All riders had 12 hours to complete their course of choice.

Special thanks to Scott and Jolene Grow, who supported participants with water and cookies in Golden Gate Canyon!!

Participants:
  • 15 starters (All men. Alas...no women), including many new faces to the club. Welcome to all of you! 
    • Long-course finishers: 4
      • Trevor Connor*
      • Mark Lowe
      • Tom Miller
      • Steve Rudolph
    • Medium-course finishers: 5
      • Chris Baker
      • Graham Barnes**
      • Chris Case
      • Jason Kaminski
      • Todd LeBlanc
    • Short-course finishers: 4
      • Zach Johnson
      • Dan McDonald
      • Mark Pfeil
      • Andy Stockman
*Completed the challenging long course in 9 hours, 31 minutes
**Completed the long course, but finished after the 12 hour time limit

Trevor Connor, Chris Case, Steve Rudolph, and Tom Miller at the top of Lininger Drive,
the first climb during a long day of climbing!
Mark Pfeil on Lininger Drive
Andy Stockman, Zach Johnson, and Tom Miller approach the steep, windy descent
down Little Bear Creek Rd at Squaw Pass
Chris Baker demonstrates good form at Squaw Pass

Jason Kaminski approaches Squaw Pass
Todd LeBlanc takes a breather in Idaho Springs
Jason Turner gets ready to climb the challenging Virginia Canyon Rd (Oh My God Road)
Scenic views from Oh My God Road

Mt. Evans, Colorado's Queen Climb, as viewed from Virginia Canyon

Featuring grades as steep as 25% on dirt roads, Robinson Hill Rd has its cruel moments!

Next up: Foothills Climbfest, Saturday, May 23, 2015