The week of the Boulder 2014 Cyclocross National Championships was amped. Juniors grinned ear to ear or scoped the course seriously with their headphones blocking distractions. Masters over 70 sharpened their elbows to contend for stars and stripes. I took it all in with pleasure and the pride of getting to show off something you love at its best.
At the Colorado Cyclocross SW3 State Championships the past weekend Emily Zinn got narrowly outsprinted for second place on her custom magnesium Zinn cyclocross bike.
Emily Zinn
"As soon as the sun came out and the snow started turning to mud I knew I could do well in Frisco. The slicker the better for me, because it's all about trusting your equipment and letting your bike take you for a ride. The brilliant golden of turning aspens with the fresh snow could not have been a more idyllic setting to suffer and feel the cold air freeze your lungs and fingers." Emily Zinn
Saturday started cool and dry and turned to pouring rain in the middle of my race. Fortunately, I had opted for tires with good tread (Dugast Typhoons) rather than fine tread, which would have been faster in the conditions at the start but which would have been sliding all over the place in the mud that formed rapidly the last two laps. I had lots of catching up to do in both races, since I started in the very back row both days. Unlike local races, in which riders are called to the line based on their points totals, the USGP in my and Emily's categories do not have a points category of their own and don't honor any other. Call-ups are based entirely on order that registration was received, and we registered late.
It's great to see a father and daughter team racing 'cross together. Emily decided to join Lennard this year to train and race in the local Cyclocross series. Despite a snowy start to the season, the two of them have been out training together at dawn at least once a week, and racing on the weekends. Both are riding custom Zinn magnesium cyclocross bikes, and the lightweight, smooth riding bikes have helped keep the energy levels to the max. (Emily isn't quite lucky enough to have two bikes, like her dad, yet. Christmas is still not here......)