Koppenberg 2009?

Logan emailed these pictures out of the Koppenberg climb that we're supposed to be racing up about 24 hours from right now!

Looks like it'll be an interesting race, but it should be fun. I'm thinking MTB shoes and pedals for sure, possibly full on cross bike. I guess I'll have to make a call when we get there tomorrow.

Should be a good one to watch, so if you aren't doing anything tomorrow afternoon, happen to find yourself in the Boulder area, and have a sick desire to see people suffering miserably, you should swing by.

Thanks for checking in.

Finally caught up to my 2009 racing age.

Quick run-down on the weekend.

- Turned 25 on Friday.

- Rode like crap in Grand Junction.

That's all.

This weekend is Koppenberg, usually it's a good time.

Thanks for checking in.

CU Research Park Criterium.

Not sure how many races I've done at research park now, maybe 7 or so... The look on my face pretty much sums up todays effort. As always it's a fast course, but for the first time it was run as a Pro, 1 race which definitely made it safer, but I think also made it harder. At one point it was so strung out and there were so many splits that I found myself in the 4th group on the road. Managed to claw our way back to the main field, but I couldn't get into position to help anyone out in the field sprint, so with 1/2 a lap to go I let myself drift and stay out of everyone's way.

Good training, fast racing, tomorrow is another day here in Greeley. Last time I did this race I was 3rd. We'll see how tomorrow goes. As for tonight... Karma and I had a big day and we're off to sleep.

Thanks for checking in.

The gossip column. It's back, but this time... it's the TRUTH.

#1 Phil Zajicek recently won the Metro State Roadrunner TT in Morrison CO with a broken wrist. Little known fact... his cast was put on in the wind tunnel to ensure it's aerodynamic qualities. The thing is actually faster in the crosswinds like a Sub 9. Aerodynamic guru Steve Hed was called in to make sure the setting was done correctly in the wind tunnel, and after Sunday's TT effort he was quoted as saying, "This thing is so fast, probably cut 1.16 second off Phil's time." Phil's time without the cast - 19:51, approximately one second slower than Corey Carlson.

#2 A certain local professional cyclist has recently gotten SRM to program an alarm into his power meter so a "beeping noise" goes off when a certain wattage is achieved. This was done to ensure he doesn't break any more bones by throwing down too hard.

#3 Another aerodynamic tidbit. Dan Porter spent a few hours in the wind tunnel this winter and found that although his larger than normal calves (cows) can produce a ton of power, and the mere sight of them can scare people off his wheel, they are in fact quite an aerodynamic obstruction. To smoothen things up, Steve Hed was once again called in, and recommended Dan mount a small instrument to his handlebars that acts like the dimples on a golf ball, creating a stream of ultra-turbulent air that allows Dan's cow to slip through the surrounding air without increasing his aerodynamic drag. The instrument is pointed out by the arrow below, the turbulent air-stream is also visible. Dan claims it's for some crazy new web-developing-business venture he's into. Likely story.



#4 Floyd Landis was innocent. I just read his book, trust me.

#5 Tyler probably was too.

#6 Now that the elderly population of women in Boulder have stopped paying attention to him, a certain Mr. Ryan Hamity has decided to start racing bikes again to see if he can catch the eyes of the over 35 population again.

That's all for now, there is sure to be more juicy TRUE gossip as the year goes on.
Thanks for checking in.

Another weekend of racing in the books.

DU hosted their home race at City Park on Saturday. The collegiate races went well with some break-out performances by our Men's C riders, as well as some great performances by our women, as well as our Men's A riders.

The Open races went smoothly as well, and I got to race in the Pro, 1,2 field. We got two riders into the early break of 5, one of them came out of it, but the break looked like it was going to make it.



We rode pretty defensively in the group, which got really boring. With 15 minutes to go things got fiesty and I had the chance to sneak off with one other guy. Allen Krughblog and another guy came up to us and Krugher-blogger when right through us, so I had a lap to sit on.



We caught him with a few laps to go, worked together to stay away from the group, and sprinted out for 5th. Allen took the hot line through the last roundabout and easily took the sprint, so he was 5th, I ended up 7th, and our teammate Caley Fretz was 2nd in the actual sprint. Good day for team Rio.



Yesterday was the Metro State TT. Once again DU had some good performances, highlighted by a 3rd place in our Men's A Team Time Trial, only 15 seconds off the win.

I raced later in the afternoon, took almost a minute off my time from 2 years ago, but still managed to get beaten by over a 1.15 by Phil Z. Turns out he's fast even with a broken wrist. In the end I was happy to feel good and powerful on my TT bike, so I guess I'll have to keep riding it. Tito tells me I have to win the State TT this year to defend his win from last year. We'll see.

Racing again.

This weekend marked the first races of 2009 for me and a lot of people along the front range of Colorado. Saturday was the 341st annual CSU Oval Criterium. "The Oval" is one of Colorado's classic crit courses with a half mile oval linked with 6, 90 degree, back to back to back to back to back to back corners. It's an absolutely great course by my standards, and usually a good turnout, this year being no exception. A lot of the local heavy hitters were there, including almost the entire Rio Grande team.

I thought we rode really well as a team, had a guy in the break, and a guy in a group going across when with 5 laps to go, I flatted right in the apex of a right hand corner. My bike got a little sideways, but I kept it upright after a little brush with the curb.

My teammate Dan Porter was riding with a handlebar mounted camera and happened to be right on my wheel when it happened. You can check the video on the YouTube. The drift isn't real dramatic in the video, but if you look closely you can see it get a little hairy right around 8.00 into the video.

Sunday was the Colorado College crit here in Colorado Springs. I can't tell you how nice it is to hop on your bike and ride to a course within a mile or two. The course is a stark difference from The Oval, but a great course nonetheless. A much smaller turnout, added to a course with less recovery, and a little too aggressive attitude on my part, led to an all around tough day for me. On the bright side, I felt decent, got some great efforts in, and had a little fun at different points during the race.

I guess that's all for now, thanks for checking in. Maybe I'll update this a little more often now that we're racing.

Also, I'm on twitter now, so lame. twitter.com/coreycrlsn

One more thing, a couple years ago I did a mean thing to Logan Garey and really made him hurt. Read all about it.