Multi-Surfacing Through the Rockies.
Image by Daghan Perker
Image by Daghan Perker
Image by Dominique Powers
Back in August our Spring/Summer campaign landed Curtis and Raylyn in the heart of the Rocky Mountains as Raylyn took on the infamous Leadville 100, and Curtis to race SBT GRVL.
Leadville 100: Raylyn knew this would be one of the tougher races on the calendar, but was excited for the challenge. Curtis made the trip out with Raylyn to be a steady race support in the feed zones alongside some Pas Normal Studios ambassadors.
“To be honest, I know this is unlike any event I’ve ever done, but that’s what was exciting to me about the event. It’s daunting for sure - starting a race over 10,000 ft and only racing to higher altitudes. My game plan was to start the race out at a good tempo and stay strictly in my zones vs getting caught up in the race. I felt great until the infamous Columbine climb where it felt endless. Where you see tiny dots up ahead and realize, that’s people… wow I have a long way to go. It was a tough decision, but at mile 75 I decided to pull the plug. I have been fighting to the finish in every other gravel event this season, but this one felt different. With cyclocross too close on the horizon I knew the smart thing for me in the moment was to call it a day. I’m still so grateful for the chance to give Leadville a good crack of a first attempt. It’s one I’m looking forward to going back to. It’s stunning and the atmosphere around the Leadville race is really positive. It’s a big achievement for anyone to finish that event.” - Raylyn
Image by Dominique Powers
After we wrapped up the day in Leadville Raylyn started her journey adventuring with Pas Normal Studios from Leadville to Steamboat Springs. A bike ride broken up over 5 total days hopping from mountain town to mountain town.
Curtis made his way to Steamboat Springs to get in a quality week of training, rest, fly-fishing and mountain views.
SBT GRVL packs a weekend full of gravel love as the streets are flooded with people wondering the expo and taking part in the recon rides. On Saturday, Curtis and Raylyn joined TREK for a ride along with the Driftless TREK team to recon parts of the course. Followed by athlete hang outs at the SRAM tent, team Thai take out dinners in the Botanical Gardens, rodeos, movie premieres, you name it. The Steamboat Springs environment lived up to the hype.
Image by Daghan Perker
SBT GRVL: Curtis found himself right in the mix for the top 10 for most of the race. As the day was dusty it made for challenging visibility through a few of the sections where rocks were sharp. 5 riders in the mix for the top 10 all found the sharp rocks at the same time, and unfortunately Curtis was one of them. It was the luck of the draw, and Curtis was on the bad end of it, but we are proud of him for being up in the mix with the top guys of gravel and where his fitness is at. He is certainly hungry to come back and give the race another crack next year!
The team will put the Checkpoints and Supercalibers away for a few weeks now as we are officially about to hit the best time of the year - yes, cyclocross is HERE! We will kick off the cyclocross season with the USCX series over the first three race weekends.
