Random Colorado Pics.

Before I move on lets just remember this:

Everyone good? Okay. Now moving on.

Matt Cooke rocking his hard earned king of the mountains jersey. That was also very good. It also meant he had a lot of fans around the bus.

Radio Shack usually had a few more. That Jens Voigt guy is really popular in Colorado.

We were up in the break with Matt while the pelaton chased.

Leaders got some nice encouragement on the way up to the top of the climb.

Sometimes it takes a few shirtless men and a chick to get you to the top.

This town apparently issued matching shirts to all their citizens. I think they came in the mail with samples of Tide.

Once again watching the end of the race as we wait to finish.

More fan costumes!!

Even in the rain.

Strong showing.

Almost this strong.

TT start house. I was in charge of standing here in case anyone had issues right before their start.

Ready in the wings.

After traveling around a good portion of the state, we ended up in Denver for the final stage. The capital building was not as good looking as advertised.

Pre race routines vary quite a bit. Since Matt was set to win the King of the Mountains jersey he did some interviews.

Sebastian talked final day strategy with Janier.

And Hugo got some time in the shade.

Denver came out huge for the final stage. People lined most of the 10 mile circuit to cheer on the riders who were flying by. I think the average speed for 78 miles was just over 30. We were movin.

If any of the fans happen to read this: thanks for coming out to support bike racing. I hope to make it back next year.

And finally: the Jamis HB staff from the 2013 US Pro Challenge.

 

 

 

Why we do this

Because sometimes you win a stage at the US Pro Challenge.

 

 

(Photo courtesy of Velonews)

 

The Pro Challenge

After a week of some work and some play we actually have to do some bike racing. The USA Pro Challenge brings the world's best bike riding people to Colorado to hang out and have a bike race.

It is important that your bike race not be interrupted by bear attacks, so make sure your food is put away.

More Colorado looking awesome.

Jordan, my roommate and fellow mechanic, reading the Bible before the first stage.

Logan from Velonews taking some pictures of one of our bikes.

All the cars staged and ready for Stage 1.

On the way we caught this guy getting some close up picks of the Radioshack guys riding to the start.

Ready to rock and/or roll.

It has become so common to to see iPad photography that the pictures of it may stop appearing on the blog. Maybe just one last one.

And here we go.

One of the best parts about the large scale of this race are the costumes.

These are only a few examples of the great dress we've seen from the fans.

Ready to race....

The wonderful thing about tiggers....

The deviled egg..and his friend the furry hat enthusiast.

And at the end of the day, due to his fantastic ride Matt Cooke earned himself some polka dots.

 

Colorado living

I'm not sure if spending a week in Aspen between the Tour of Utah and US Pro Challenge counts as work. Maybe I'll take an informal poll. Here's the last few days:

 

Since we don't have a kitchen in our hotel we've been eating dinner at the RV.

Marcello was in charge of cooking pasta the first night.

There was also wine. However since we were short some wine glasses we made a set out of our Tour of Utah promotional water bottles.

There was also an unexpected dinner guest.

Last night we went to the Rodeo for dinner and a show. Apparently Snowmass has the longest running rodeo in America.

Cows ready to get roped.

Small children with small animals.

Large American flags. You know. The rodeo.

But really the highlights were the child involved activities. First was mutton busting.

If you haven't seen this, a small child tries to hold onto a sheep. Always resulting in that child almost getting run over by the sheep after they fall off.

I'm not sure what they called this next part, but it was wild enough only video evidence seemed sufficient. I apologize for the shaky home video quality.

Finally there was the Burro race. Since donkeys are stubborn it takes a three person team to compete in such a race. This was the one team that made it to the end. The other donkeys were not quite as cooperative.

Today was hiking above Snowmass.

You know. Working.

 

 

 

We made it

A couple days ago we drove. For quite some time.

We saw Utah and some big red rocks.

Maybe these ones are a bit more red.

I discovered that truck stops sell some weird stuff. There was a whole case of these figurines. No idea why. Kind of in the back by the bathrooms/showers in case you wanted to make you're truck cab weirder.

I think this is Colorado. This part is similar to Utah.

After a long drive sometimes all you need is a burger, some beer, and a bit of fuseball.

Now we're here. Here being up the hill from Aspen.

It's beautiful and high (almost 8000 feet).

There is some work to be done. But since we don't race until Monday, there is also a lot of time to relax and recharge.

To wit: one of the things you can buy at strange gas stations/truck stops is a slingshot. Hugo bought this one for this son, but he thought we should test it out first. Turns out Hugo has skills with this device.

And was willing to give some helpful instruction to the rest of the staff.

Which had some great results.

Mainly everyone taking turns shooting rocks across the parking lot. Good times.

We got it all in before the rain rolled in.

And since my room currently looks like this....

I will be enjoying this view and playing on the internet.