Article written - June 28, 2006 by Charlie Czarniecki

I rode in  my 2nd Colorado Rocky Mountain Senior Games over the weekend (a.k.a. Senior Olympics).   This year was qualifying for next year's National Senior Games in Louisville KY (1st and 2nd place get National Games credentials).  There were twice as many competitors this weekend then last year, including another CSCC rider named Steve McClellan .  Saturday I rode the 10K (6.21 mile) Time Trial and 20K (12.4 mile) Road Race , there was a steady 20 mph crosswind all day (times were slower than last year) .  Sunday I rode in the 5K (3.1 mile) Time Trial and the 40K (24.8 mile) road race , the weather was nearly ideal.   We raced out of a small farm town named Keenesburg about 3 5 miles  NE of  Denver at I-76 exit 39.   The time trials were individual starts  spaced  30 seconds apart.  The road races were mass starts with constant paceline drafting up to the sprint to the finish line.

My Results in the 50-54 year old group:
10K Time Trial -  21.9 mph (5th place) ** Last Year 22.2 mph  ( 2nd place )
20K Road Race -  22.6 mph (3rd place) ** Last Year  24.0 mph  ( 2nd place )
5K Time Trial -  22.9 mph (5th place) ** Last Year 22.7 mph  ( 3rd place )
40K Road Race  - 24.0 mph (2nd Place) ** Last Year  23.2 mph  ( 3rd place )

I had hoped to medal in at least one event this year .   I set a goal 4 years ago to some day qualify for the National Games.  My 2nd place finish did that for me in my first qualifying attempt.  I wore last year's Buena Vista Bike Fest jersey on Saturday, and the CSCC jersey on Sunday.

The road races were fantastic!!  We started with  30 riders (youngest 3 age groups) .  The ride was great in the closeness of the  10+ riders who were able to stay in our group the whole race , just about everyone took their turn pulling the paceline on Sunday .   Because the wind was so bad on Saturday only 4 of us pulled for a while and then let everyone ride in a group up to the huge group sprint in the last K (.6 mile).  On both days t here was a huge difference in the effort when I was in the front position of our double paceline then when I was further back in the lines - but I always stayed close to the front so I could respond when some one took off .   I worked on my sprinting for the 3 weeks before the race on my morning bike training rides, and it paid off.   Both days I was in the final sprint and had speed left when opportunities popped up.  Sunday our very small group was sprinting at 29.5 mph in the last few hundred meters (which was slightly uphill).

I've include  3 pictures : I got the bronze medal Saturday for the 20K Road Race, the silver medal for the 40K Road Race, and a picture taken by our van after the races were over.  Most of the racers had time trial bikes and race bikes.  Several said they were discouraged that I finished in front of them riding a touring bike "with a luggage rack on it".  They offered some pointers that I am going to pursue before going to the Louisville races on 27 and 29 Jun 07.  The National rules state that any one qualifying in either road race at the sate level can race both at the Nationals - and I will. 

It was a BLAST,
Charlie Czar  :-)
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