Tour of the Gila

Chipotle - Titus has 4 adventurous riders contesting the 5 day Tour of the Gila road stage race in New Mexico. Follow online at: www.tourofthegila.com Keith Sanders will be racing 5 stages in the 35+ category. He has to battle all the elite younger riders as there is no other age grouping. He will cover 259 miles and over 15,000 feet of climbing. Jack Boltz is racing 4 days & 168 miles in the men's cat 4/5. There is no age break for him & many of his competitors will be 18 year olds. Sherri Boltz & Jane Finsterwald are racing the same courses as Jack in the senior women 3/4 - again, no age groups. What a perfect early season training session!

Day 1: 73 mile road race with 4500 feet climbing. The rest of the crew does not jump in until Thursday.

Jane sent us the race detail: "The Gila is known for wind…it is part of the Gila legacy and challenge. However, on the first Road Race day – Keith, our lone representative was battling 40mph steady winds with gusts to 60mph…About 30 mph into the this stage he made a tactical error and was caught in the wind during a jump….he ended up with about 10 guys to work with until you get to the last 6 miles – the Mongollon Climb. This climb varies from 10% grade to 19% and hits you after 63 miles..The pack or what is left of it goes every man for itself and the race is on. The road varies from one car width to a narrow two car width and Keith said he didn’t know of anything like it in Colorado. Of course, the impressive part is when you are coming down you have to dodge the big boys coming up in their big chain rings… Keith was 41st for the day.. A great start."

Day 2: 80 mile road race with 5800 feet of climbing. Keith is certainly consistent - finishing 41st again /40 in GC . Jack Boltz finished 59th after 3 1/2 hours in the saddle. Jane Finsterwald was 4th & Sherri Boltz 17th - showing those 18 year olds a thing or two.

A little less saddle time today with a 17 mile TT for everyone. Certainly no easier for anyone who has ridden a TT.

check in tomorrow for more news from New Mexico!

The Mountain States Cup continues this weekend in Colorado with the Chalk Creek races.