Lesson #1 from race four in the Ascent Cycling Series - ignore the crazy guy hollering at you to do wheelies and other crazy stunts during your pre-ride... Oh yeah, can't! Enthusiastic spectator turned course tear down volunteer was my husband and I wouldn't want to disappoint him - so I did the wheelie at the top of the hill and promptly fell off my bike. Oh well - that's what I get for trying to show off! And at least it was during the pre-ride.... A great start to the evening! Anyways...…

Quick! Name the one thing that really makes a race stand out. Okay, a swag bag filled with goodies is nice. It's always fun to dig through a bag, drooling over the race fkyers and nibbling on the samples. I'll freely admit to having a warerbottle covered in race stickers and I really love all the waterbottles. But I have a cupboard full of waterbottles now and can only use so many at a time. Fancy t-shirts or socks? Always good to replace shirts that have gotten all stained up and socks get…

I wasn't sure how the legs were going to feel when I pedaled over to Bear Creek Terrace on Wednesday for the third race in the Ascent Cycling Series. A long weekend with some hard miles (Breck 100) had left me feeling more than a little beat up. Even though I was tired, I still wanted to race - something about throwing down hot laps on the fun trails! I got on the course and did two laps easy after the 5:00 race started. It was definitely an easier course with fewer rock gardens and…

Wow - a month since the last Ascent Cycling race. It's been a crazy, busy month too, with lots of things going on. I know plenty of people have said this already, but we should all be very thankful for the hard work of the Forest Service crews, the CSFP and everyone else involved in the Waldo Canyon Fire. We may have lost some of the best trails in the area, but it's a small loss comparatively. We still have…