Boulder Cup Weekend and Commensurately Long Blog Post

This weekend was as interesting as I thought it was going to be! We started out at Boulder Reservoir on Saturday for the first installment of the UCI Boulder Cup Weekend. From a spectator perspective, DBC Events’ Cyclocross races are the closest thing you’ll get to the real Belgian experience this side of the Atlantic. Of course the beer tent was a beer garden (no rain here!) and you could only leave if you hid your beer past the gendarmes. And no one was serving shots of Genever. But if you swapped out the bratwurst for frites and mayonnaise you could’ve fooled me.

As for the racing action on Saturday- Jon raced hot and fast in the top five for several laps then a bobble by Wells (eventual race winner) gapped the two of them. They chased for the next lap, Wells got back on but Jon didn’t quite make it. Later, a flat tire really set Jon back, allowing Wicks to come up to him and take 5th. I watched it all from das biergarten where I ran into some great people including Jon’s new sponsor for a’cross the pond – Blue Competition Cycles.


After the race Jon got randomly picked to pee in a cup for the anti-doping control and – pee-shy as he is – it took 2 ½ hours for him to pee in the cup. He was also suffering from some dehydration and stomach issues that surely contributed. I think it would be pretty difficult to go with shirt pulled up and pants pulled down while some stranger stared at you, waiting. Maybe after 2 ½ hours they weren’t really strangers anymore.

Sunday was fantastic, people were actually parking for the race on our street, that is how close we were! I made leisurely preparations for a post race get-together while Jon divided his time between the garage and pre rides on the course. When I finally got to the race and waited at a course crossing (Cross Walk- ha) with 50 other people I realized just how many people were in attendance. There must’ve been several thousand people there. Truly like a Belgian race except no one had to pay 12 euros to get in.

As for the racing action on Sunday- Jon was, again, engaged in a losing chase of the front 4 when disaster struck. He rolled a tubular (ie his tire came off the wheel) just past the pit. Since you cannot go backwards on the course - even a few feet - to get to the pit, the race was over for Jon. He would’ve had to run a half lap carrying his bike to get to the next legal pit entrance.

We came back to the house for Chili and Beer with several Vitamin Cottage teammies as well as other neighbors and friends. The kids we’re funny, the babies were cute and well behaved, and I think a good time was had by all. Someone left their white Quicksilver Sweatshirt (Lisa and Derek?)- we’ll keep it safe for you.