Sand Creek International

Mark Gouge

The US Pro XC Tour brought the best US national competition to Colorado Springs this weekend a with the Sand Creek International. Not only all the top US pros showed up - the amateur fields were loaded as well. The course was a perfect mountain bike race. While the cycling media report a "fast course" the winning pro speeds were around 12 mph with the top category 1 riders clocking 10mph - hardly scorching speeds - due to the difficulty of the course. The 8km loop with 750 feet of climbing per lap was extremely varied & difficult to maintain a high speed. Almost every course condition was encountered with fast smooth sections, multiple back to back 180 degee hairpins, steep but very short climbs, rock gardens & forced cyclocross dismount sections. Almost all the course was single track & passing was extremely difficult. There was rarely 5 seconds of riding without a turn.

John Bliss

Thomas Dooley on the uber sexy White X

The entire cat 1 field started together - 100+ riders on the line vying for the hole shot which was a narrow bridge 100 meters in. The huge field was very difficult to navigate but added immensly to the race. Lap one was spent between high bursts of power jockying for positions & conserving energy when there was no possiblity to pass.

Mike Hogan led Chipotle/Titus out followed by Thomas Dooley. Hogan had moved into the overall 2nd slot by lap 2 but then pulled out for a mechanical. Dooley motored on to a 5th place finish - a nice national qualifier spot just as he is heading to Japan to race. Mark Gouge was dead on form with an 8th place finish & Drew Geer wrapped up our 40+ filed with 17th.

Michelle Bliss out of the start venue & up the climb

Michelle Bliss was 2nd in the women's 40+ field mixing it up with all the men. Davis Haberkorn was 5th in the junior cat 2 men.

The Chipotle Titus 50+ men had an outstanding day. Gary Thacker was 2nd & John Bliss 4th. Dennis Haborkon also started for us.

Gary Thacker

Most of the team is now on the Schwalbe Racing Ralph or Rocket Rons mounted on Crank Brothers Cobalt wheelsets. The tires were very fast & most importantly turned quickly & hooked up well on the literally hundreds of turns. The wheelset is light, very quick feeling and gives you a confident feeling it will hold in the corners. The Titus X & X Carbon's were a pure delight on this mixed terrain - fast, quick & smooth.

9 team starts - 2 on the podium