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Battle of the Bear
Sunday morning I woke up to a soar throat and a stuffy nose for the third day in a row. I wasn’t very excited to start my MTB season at less than 100%, but I was willing to push through the pain and get out there. After five months without racing I was pretty nervous and anxious to see if my training had paid off. After a slow start to the morning I packed up the car made my way to the race venue. We got a great parking spot next to five teammates and the team tent. We all went together to get out numbers, then had about 30 minutes to kill. We all made sure our bikes were working well, got a small snack, and got in our kits.
By the time we had done all that it was time to start our warmup. We found a road to warm up on next to the course. It was close enough to cheer for the racers while we were between intervals. It was very impressive to see nearly 20 Tokyo Joe’s riders warming up in unison. But in no time it was time to head back to the start, and go to staging. I grabbed my race bottles and took off a layer of warm clothes in preparation of the hard start that went immediately into a short but steep climb.
Once the 17-18 category started we rolled up to the line. We started, and immediately I had dropped everyone except one kid. After a few minutes went by I let him pass so I could draft him. Soon after we caught the back of the 17-18 year old race. I was feeling pretty strong even though I was under the weather, but I didn’t know if I could drop him so I just sat on his wheel. For the rest of the lap the name of the game was passing. The course was almost completely single track, which makes it fun but also hard to get around the other racers.
We mostly struggled to pass on all the climbs. The trail was thin, and it was either impossible to ride around, or extremely rough and bumpy. When we did pass on the climbs, I had a harder time than the guy I was drafting. This was because of how small the opportunities to pass were. At best we had around a bike length of trail where it was wide enough to pass, so I had to stay super close and let who were were passing know there were two of us. We were lucky that we didn’t get flats by passing on grass. There were goat heads everywhere, and rocks covered in grass that could have easily made us crash if we hit one.
We made it to the start finish without incident, and to my surprise I still wasn’t working too hard. It helped that I drafted the whole lap, but I expected to be barely holding onto his wheel because I was sick. We stayed at the same pace for a couple more minutes until he looked back to see me a couple bike lengths back. He accelerated thinking I was blowing up, but I was really just grabbing a sip of water. I responded immediately and got onto his wheel as soon as possible. I still was well within my limits and with less people to pass we were able to keep our speed nicely.
Then for a while we slowly speeded up until we got to the final climb. As we hit the gentle start of the climb I noticed my competitor look back twice. When we got to the first switch back he looked back one more time. I knew he would attack, so I prepared for a hard acceleration. As predicted he accelerated after the switch back. I didn’t let any gap form, to show that I wasn’t going to give up easily. As we came over the climb I was still glued to his wheel. I knew I was stronger, so I planed where I would attack. After evaluating where he was weakest I decided on the same spot I used to launch a winning attack the year before. From that point my only task was to stay within striking distance.
Everything went to plan except for a few people that I had a hard time passing, but I was able to stay on his wheel and soon it was time to attack. The attack started with a hard acceleration. I was able to make it past him in the perfect spot, but as I got onto the bridge I came across a problem. There was a line of four juniors in the 10-12 category on the single file bridge. My attack was ruined. I passed as soon as possible, and went ahead with the attack even though there was no surprise left to benefit me. I stomped on the pedals as hard as possible, and burried myself to get away. After a couple hundred yards I looked back and say him falling of the pace. I kept up the pace, and didn’t let up until I came into the finish area. I crossed the line and was greeted by my family and teammates. I had made a 12 second gap in less than a mile, and felt as though I could have kept it up for another lap. Later I compared my times from the year before to this years and was astonished to find that I went six minutes faster.
It was reassuring to know that my extremely hard work is paying off. I really stepped up the training and it showed in the race. I wasn’t sure the changes and more strict following of my schedule would make that much of a difference, but it did and now I’m thinking this could be my year.

Battle the Bear by: Denzel Stephenson
May 6, 2013

This Sunday, May 5th, was our second team race at Battle the Bear. When we pulled up into the parking lot, I felt very welcomed by the Boulder Junior Cycling tent that was wet up there. Tokyo Joes did very well in all the categories we raced in. I raced in the junior men 17-18 group. I was doing very well from the start until the third downhill when I hit my pedal on a rock and crashed. I lost three places but quickly made up two. On the second lap I bonked about a mile from the finish and my legs got very tight and cramped. Other than those two mistakes I did very well and ended up fourth. Thanks a lot to Boulder Junior Cycling/Tokyo Joes for supporting me during my race.

Battle the Bear, by Rachel Harris

I think I had a little too much fun racing Battle of the Bear. That morning I woke up early, and could not get back to sleep. My dad slept past his race, so I ended up hoping in my Subaru and drive down to Golden. I arrive at the park ready to race. The stream was beautiful, and I liked the venue of the race. Music was playing, and everyone was hanging out under team tents.

While warming up with the team I had tons energy. Johanne and I kept singing “Come and Get It”. It felt like the perfect day to race, but everything caught up to me. I didn’t sleep well the last week because of school, and I had a glass of milk for breakfast. I made some poor decisions, and was not feeling my strongest.

We got on the starting line. The only girls in the category was Johanne and I. This always messes with my mind because it’s hard to compete with a great friend. I was a bit nervous for the start because it was my first race this season. Also I was not in the right mind set to race. I was thinking of typical teenage girl things. Guys were running though my head, and school has been stressing me out lately.

The first lap was all out. I had Johanne in sight, and there were people my age around me. The second lap I think I took a bit to easy. I plan to fix that next time I race. By the end I had used up all the energy from the glass of milk, and struggled through the flat section. I finish freezing cold, and my legs were super tight.

Over all it was a great race to start my season with. The course was awesome, and the single tracks down hills were a blast. I loved hanging out with the team, and others. Hope to see everyone out there racing in Durango. Just got my number in the mail. I’m excited all ready.

Hi All,
We are hosting a Party and Fundraiser at the Boulder Tokyo Joe’s on Wednesday, May8th starting at 7:00 pm

Special Guests -
Trek Factory Riders – Heather Irmiger & Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski,
Crank Brothers Rider – Judy Freeman,
Kenda- Felt Riders – Mitch Hoke & Colin Cares
Tokyo Joe’s Rider – Our very own Erin Huck

Donations at the Door. Suggested donation:
$25 Adults; $5 Youth in BJC jersey; $10 Youth not wearing a BJC jersey
Included in your donation: Appetizers, Dinner, Beverages (Beer and Wine included)
Door Prizes and Silent Auction

See Our face book page for more details

https://www.facebook.com/events/134849716699704/