The team took a good break after cross season to spend some time at home with friends and family as well as do some other hobbies that don’t include bikes. Personally I spent time hiking, skiing and moving back to my hometown in North Carolina from Colorado. Like the rest of the team I have gotten back to real training over the last month or so. Putting in some long days on the bikes to start building a base for the seasons upcoming. This past weekend I was on a trip back to Colorado to visit which lined up with the Boulder Roubaix. Along with Kaya and Scott this would be our first race since Cyclocross Worlds back in February.
The Boulder Roubaix is a popular race that is 50/50 gravel and pavement. Kaya would kick us off in the early morning when the wind was strong but not too wild yet. With a crosswind section coming in the first half mile the race was full gas from the start, Kaya didn’t have much of a warmup and couldn’t follow the opening attack. She then settled in and rode the remainder of the 18 mile lap by herself before being caught by a chasing group. They worked together for the rest of the race before Kaya put in an attack on the final climb to secure 6th place for her. A good learning experience for the first road race of the year. Kaya would cap off the night going to senior prom!
Scott and I would start right as Kaya’s race was coming to a finish. The day before our race they had already decided to shorten our race from 5 laps to 4 because of severe wind rolling in. By the time we started winds were steady in the high 20mph creeping into the 30s. Our race would also start full gas. Scott and I weren’t positioned great during the start so Scott just missed the front split but made it into the chase group. I got slowed by the first couple of crashes and chased onto the back of the group before finding the ground in a big pileup. I was able to get up quickly but couldn’t catch back on any of the splits from the main group. The race would be shortened to two laps during the second lap of the race because the winds were steady at 35 mph with gusts up to 70 mph. Scott was able to stay upright and win the second group for 9th place. A good showing of form after the last month of training. I would end up in a small group and we made our way to the finish as we struggled to not get blown off the road. A wild day to race some bikes for sure!
Sidney is in Colorado too, staying with Kaya for some training together. She sat this race out but still braved the wind to cheer on the team and do social media. The first real gravel races are the next things coming up for the team. Kaya and Sidney will be taking on Desert Gravel in Colorado while I’ll be doing the Bootlegger in North Carolina and Scott will complete BWR Cali. We will all be racing on our new Cervelo Asperos!
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