Classic!

We headed out to Salida this last weekend for the last Colorado race of Kurt's season. I wasn't sure I was going to make it until about two days before, and I'm so glad I did. Got to get in these spontaneous trips while we still can!

Kurt himself almost didn't go. After Laramie and then his bike crash, he was feeling pretty low about racing. He told me, at the time, that he was burned out and considering no more races for the rest of the season (except Lotoja, because for some unknown reason, he enjoys riding 206 miles in one day). On the way home on Sunday, he told me a little more--that he had been seriously considering quitting all together. I think Kurt's done phenomenally this season, considering it's his first true racing season, but he was really discouraged a couple weeks ago. But he also told me, on Sunday, that if it weren't for his awesome team, he definitely would've quit racing after this year. Kurt's had some good races, and some not-so-good races, and if he'd been flying solo for the summer it would've been really hard to take. As it was, he got discouraged, but having an active, supportive team (and he helped get multiple guys on the podium) has made all the difference, and he's ending the year with a bang. Plus, hello! It's his first year. He's learned a lot, and still has a lot to learn, and I'm really proud of everything he's accomplished.

Anyhow! So, we drove up to Salida on Saturday morning and Kurt raced in the crit. He didn't get to warm up as well as he'd like, so he was sluggish at the beginning of the race, but after a while he looked (to me) and said he felt very strong. So warming up is so important! After the race, I walked around downtown Salida with the other team significant others (wives, girlfriends, fiancées). It's a really cute little town back in a desert valley west of the Springs. That night the whole team went to dinner. Then we got up crazy-early on Sunday morning for a short road race. I handed out water bottles with the girls, and it was really fun. Of course, the forecast had called for rainy and 70s all weekend, and it ended up being sunny and warm, so I was sweaty and gross-feeling almost the whole time. But whatever! After the race, we met in Buena Vista for lunch, then Kurt and I came home.

I didn't get an pics at the crit, as I was struggling to breathe at the time. For some reason, my asthma was really bad on Saturday. Go fig.

Kurt's team's the cluster of red and black kits (uniforms) at the front right. Kurt's the farther right, with the black helmet, red sunglasses, and red bike. This is lining up for the road race.

 Kurt had to lead the pack for a while to give his teammates a break, which is really exhausting. So he got dropped after a few laps. Here he is, heading into the feed zone on the last lap. On the lap before, I'd called out his name, and this time, some high school boys who were volunteering to hand out water bottles had remembered his name, and called it out. Funny kids.

 Primal Cat 4s after the race.

Sadly, most of these guys will more up to Cat 3 next summer, but a big reason the Cat 4 team is so strong is because of good leadership (and one of the leaders will be a 4 next year too). 

Now Kurt's got his eye on the big one: the Lotoja!