Amanda Miller

Fort Lewis College Mountain Bike Race

This past weekend was the Fort Lewis College mountain bike race in Durango, CO. From Fort Collins, it’s about an 8 hour drive. We didn’t leave until 2:30ish, so that put is in Durango around 10:30. The drive there was amazing. Awesome scenery!! We took a back way through Leadville and some other towns. Gorgeous! Once to Durango, we went to our host house. The family was really into cycling so it worked out well. The house was awesome and was in a valley outside of town, which meant really cool views. We settled in and hit the sack.

Saturday morning the race started at 10:30ish I think. The short track for the Women’s A’s was 25 minutes long. The course was actually pretty sweet. Most of it was single track, but there were some open double track. That was good because it made passing easier. I got a good start and positioned myself in the top 4 riders. Eventually 3 of us got away. On the last lap, the CU girl attacked. She got a bit of a gap on me, but I kept charging and eventually caught her wheel. I attempted to pass her/attack her on the last straight open section, but failed. She reacted too quickly so I just sat in, figuring I could sprint her. Coming through the last single track section, I had an opportunity to pass, but didn’t want to wreck so I stayed where I was. On to the final stretch we went. It was only about 20 feet to the finish line once we got out of the single track. I wasn’t in a big enough gear so lost some momentum and she got away from me. I was catching her really fast and even threw my bike at the line. I think if I would have had another 6 inches, I would have got her. I’ll take 2nd place though.

After everyone was done racing short track, we headed out for a team pre-ride of the cross country course. It started with close to a 4 mile gradual climb. Awesome views and sweet trails. There were some gnarly downhill sections. Most of the trail flowed well, which made it pretty fun. I think the trail was around 12 miles long. It was a good time, and I enjoyed riding it. I don’t know if I would have liked racing it though. It was a pretty challenging course.

Sunday morning we all woke up to rain, not just sprinkles, but down pour. The race was canceled, thankfully. I wouldn’t have raced the course in the rain. It was dangerous enough dry. I couldn’t even imagine taking some of the downhills that were wet. So, we left Durango around 10:30. Drove most of the way in the rain. We stopped at a waterfall and took some pictures. Once we got closer to home, we started looking for trails. Decided to stop at Kenosha Pass around 5:00. The trail was a 12 mile out-and-back (24mile round trip). Awesome trail!!! Very smooth, technical tight stuff. I loved it. We turned around at the 10 mile mark because the daylight was running out. Sort of misjudged the time and road the last 4 miles in the dark. It was pretty interesting. Overall, it was a blast. I think I had more fun then I would have if I had raced. Durango is a sweet town. Colorado is beautiful. Next up, there’s a collegiate mountain bike race in Wyoming this weekend. It’s pretty close so it should be a good time. That’s all for now! Pictures are HERE.
-A

Fort Lewis College Mountain Bike Race

This past weekend was the Fort Lewis College mountain bike race in Durango, CO. From Fort Collins, it’s about an 8 hour drive. We didn’t leave until 2:30ish, so that put is in Durango around 10:30. The drive there was amazing. Awesome scenery!! We took a back way through Leadville and some other towns. Gorgeous! Once to Durango, we went to our host house. The family was really into cycling so it worked out well. The house was awesome and was in a valley outside of town, which meant really cool views. We settled in and hit the sack.

Saturday morning the race started at 10:30ish I think. The short track for the Women’s A’s was 25 minutes long. The course was actually pretty sweet. Most of it was single track, but there were some open double track. That was good because it made passing easier. I got a good start and positioned myself in the top 4 riders. Eventually 3 of us got away. On the last lap, the CU girl attacked. She got a bit of a gap on me, but I kept charging and eventually caught her wheel. I attempted to pass her/attack her on the last straight open section, but failed. She reacted too quickly so I just sat in, figuring I could sprint her. Coming through the last single track section, I had an opportunity to pass, but didn’t want to wreck so I stayed where I was. On to the final stretch we went. It was only about 20 feet to the finish line once we got out of the single track. I wasn’t in a big enough gear so lost some momentum and she got away from me. I was catching her really fast and even threw my bike at the line. I think if I would have had another 6 inches, I would have got her. I’ll take 2nd place though.

After everyone was done racing short track, we headed out for a team pre-ride of the cross country course. It started with close to a 4 mile gradual climb. Awesome views and sweet trails. There were some gnarly downhill sections. Most of the trail flowed well, which made it pretty fun. I think the trail was around 12 miles long. It was a good time, and I enjoyed riding it. I don’t know if I would have liked racing it though. It was a pretty challenging course.

Sunday morning we all woke up to rain, not just sprinkles, but down pour. The race was canceled, thankfully. I wouldn’t have raced the course in the rain. It was dangerous enough dry. I couldn’t even imagine taking some of the downhills that were wet. So, we left Durango around 10:30. Drove most of the way in the rain. We stopped at a waterfall and took some pictures. Once we got closer to home, we started looking for trails. Decided to stop at Kenosha Pass around 5:00. The trail was a 12 mile out-and-back (24mile round trip). Awesome trail!!! Very smooth, technical tight stuff. I loved it. We turned around at the 10 mile mark because the daylight was running out. Sort of misjudged the time and road the last 4 miles in the dark. It was pretty interesting. Overall, it was a blast. I think I had more fun then I would have if I had raced. Durango is a sweet town. Colorado is beautiful. Next up, there’s a collegiate mountain bike race in Wyoming this weekend. It’s pretty close so it should be a good time. That’s all for now! Pictures are HERE.
-A

Parker Criterium

Sorry for being so slow on updating this thing. I’ve been busy. Saturday night was the last road racing event of the year for me. It was the Parker Twilight Criterium. Last year this event was an NRC race so it was really well organized. The course was “D” shaped, with only one technical corner. The start/finish line was probably 20 feet from the first corner, so that was kind of scary. This was definitely one of the smaller fields I’ve raced in out here. Less than 20 people started the race, which took off at 6:25. Our race was 60 minutes long, so by the end it was dark. The first 30 minutes of the race sucked. It was incredibly fast. I checked my average and it was over 26.5mph. This course was really fast that’s for sure, or else everyone is in really good shape for cross?

The only team that had numbers was ValueAct. There was a TEAm Lipton girl, a Vitamin Cottage girl, and quite a few other strong people. I did the usual and took off really fast from the start and got a huge gap. Eventually they caught me. A few laps later I decided to go for a prime. I got a huge gap but sat up because no one went with me. Even more laps later, I decided to go for another prime, but along with two other girls. They blew by me about 20 feet from the line so I sat up. The next prime I went for too, but so did another girl who sat on my wheel the entire time and came around me. I think if I would have thrown my bike, I might have gotten the prime, but that would have just been weird. There were tons of primes in this race so it was constant speed up slow down kind of thing. When there wasn’t a prime, someone was attacking. I almost got dropped once. I also almost lost my pre-race meal. But I stuck it out until the end. With three laps to go, I made my way to the front and tried to hold position. Two laps to go and Megan Hottman (future teammate) takes a flier. People know who she is and don’t let her out of sight. We catch her and someone else attacks. No such luck. It’s coming down to a sprint this time. Things heated up as usual. I tried to get closer to the front. Made my way to the finish and picked up an 8th place. I was alright with that, considering I almost got dropped 20 minutes earlier. This was a sweet race for sure. The Pro/1/2 men raced in the dark. Taylor Phinney was there, along with several other fasties. Ok next subject.

I finally found a team for 2008. It’s Defined Fitness Training out of Denver. Right now it’s primarily a triathlete team. But for next season, the director Megan Hottman, is putting together an Elite Women’s Team. Should be a good time and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll let you know more details when I find them out.

Jeff Kerkove has been in town this past week. We’ve hit up a few rides. Sounds like he’ll be moving this way soon. It’s nice to be able to ride with familiar faces out here.

This weekend is a collegiate mountain bike race in Durango. I’m looking forward to it. It should be an awesome time! That’s all for now, take care and have a good one!
-A

P.S. Check out pictures here.

Parker Criterium

Sorry for being so slow on updating this thing. I’ve been busy. Saturday night was the last road racing event of the year for me. It was the Parker Twilight Criterium. Last year this event was an NRC race so it was really well organized. The course was “D” shaped, with only one technical corner. The start/finish line was probably 20 feet from the first corner, so that was kind of scary. This was definitely one of the smaller fields I’ve raced in out here. Less than 20 people started the race, which took off at 6:25. Our race was 60 minutes long, so by the end it was dark. The first 30 minutes of the race sucked. It was incredibly fast. I checked my average and it was over 26.5mph. This course was really fast that’s for sure, or else everyone is in really good shape for cross?

The only team that had numbers was ValueAct. There was a TEAm Lipton girl, a Vitamin Cottage girl, and quite a few other strong people. I did the usual and took off really fast from the start and got a huge gap. Eventually they caught me. A few laps later I decided to go for a prime. I got a huge gap but sat up because no one went with me. Even more laps later, I decided to go for another prime, but along with two other girls. They blew by me about 20 feet from the line so I sat up. The next prime I went for too, but so did another girl who sat on my wheel the entire time and came around me. I think if I would have thrown my bike, I might have gotten the prime, but that would have just been weird. There were tons of primes in this race so it was constant speed up slow down kind of thing. When there wasn’t a prime, someone was attacking. I almost got dropped once. I also almost lost my pre-race meal. But I stuck it out until the end. With three laps to go, I made my way to the front and tried to hold position. Two laps to go and Megan Hottman (future teammate) takes a flier. People know who she is and don’t let her out of sight. We catch her and someone else attacks. No such luck. It’s coming down to a sprint this time. Things heated up as usual. I tried to get closer to the front. Made my way to the finish and picked up an 8th place. I was alright with that, considering I almost got dropped 20 minutes earlier. This was a sweet race for sure. The Pro/1/2 men raced in the dark. Taylor Phinney was there, along with several other fasties. Ok next subject.

I finally found a team for 2008. It’s Defined Fitness Training out of Denver. Right now it’s primarily a triathlete team. But for next season, the director Megan Hottman, is putting together an Elite Women’s Team. Should be a good time and I’m looking forward to it. I’ll let you know more details when I find them out.

Jeff Kerkove has been in town this past week. We’ve hit up a few rides. Sounds like he’ll be moving this way soon. It’s nice to be able to ride with familiar faces out here.

This weekend is a collegiate mountain bike race in Durango. I’m looking forward to it. It should be an awesome time! That’s all for now, take care and have a good one!
-A

P.S. Check out pictures here.

Beaver Meadows MTB Weekend

Sorry for the short post lately, but I’ve been busy and the blog has been shoved to the bottom of the list of things to do. So it’s late, and I’ll try to write a brief re-cap of this past weekend. It was my first collegiate experience. Good times were had. The team consists of a bunch of really cool people and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better.

Saturday:
Short track races are really painful. This course was around a mile long. Nothing too technical as it was all fire roads basically. The back side had a false flat into the headwind that was a killer. The women’s A’s did 20 min + 2 laps. At the beginning, I covered quite a few of the attacks and tried to stay 2nd or 3rd wheel from the front. Some girl pushed the pace on the backside and I eventually popped but managed to stay 5th. Coming into the last lap, I could hear someone behind me. I knew there was someone close by because I had been riding with her but dropped her at some point. I locked out my fork and prepared for a sprint. She came around me on the final straight, I grabbed her wheel for a quick break. Then I came around her and sprinted for the finish. I was able to hold her off for a 5th place finish. Couldn’t breathe afterwards and felt like I was going to pass out. I guess that’s what racing at 9000feet does to you. I really don’t like short track.

Sunday:
Cross country races are a little better. Woke up in the FREEZING cold and mist. Really thought I wasn’t going to race, but decided what the heck. It was probably 40 degrees when we took off…brrr!!!! The course was right at 10 miles long. The uphills were time consuming, but nothing compared to Winter Park. Lots and lots of rocks. It was a pretty technical course, but fun. There was a stream crossing that wasn’t pretty much unrideable, so my feet were frozen. There was also a rock garden that was pretty much unrideable, unless you are super good at that kind of thing. The race started off decent. I didn’t warm up, at all. My legs felt like bricks for the first few minutes. I was about 6th place coming into the single track. Fortunately, there was an uphill that was really loose, so we all walked up it. This helped my legs warm up and also helped me move up a few spots before reaching the technical stuff. My legs started to feel awesome. I really didn’t care where I finished in the race, so I kept telling myself – “Just ride your own race”. That is what I did. I came through the first lap in 3rd place, after just passing a girl. She stuck close by though. The second lap I felt decent, and caught 2nd place (which I thought was 1st place, but I guess a CU girl was 3 minutes up the trail). I hung with her for a while. Then I started crashing. That really slowed me down. The 2nd place girl could descend way better than me. I don’t know what I was doing wrong, as I really wasn’t breaking all that much. So she got away from me. The 4th place girl caught me and passed me on this uphill fire road that came up on me way too fast. I shifted down and my chain sucked. I had to run up the loose stuff and she got a considerable gap. Tried to stick with her, but I kept crashing. Crashed a total of 3 times I think, maybe more. My legs are pretty bruised as of now. Got caught by 5th place, but was able to hold her off in the technical stuff. Came across 4th place. I was pleased, considering all I wanted to do was finish. That’s pretty much all. I had a fun time and am looking forward to the next one. I won’t be racing mountain this weekend, as I’m headed to Parker for a twilight criterium. Should be fun times. That’s all for now, I’ll try to update next weekend. Take care!!
-A

Beaver Meadows MTB Weekend

Sorry for the short post lately, but I’ve been busy and the blog has been shoved to the bottom of the list of things to do. So it’s late, and I’ll try to write a brief re-cap of this past weekend. It was my first collegiate experience. Good times were had. The team consists of a bunch of really cool people and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better.

Saturday:
Short track races are really painful. This course was around a mile long. Nothing too technical as it was all fire roads basically. The back side had a false flat into the headwind that was a killer. The women’s A’s did 20 min + 2 laps. At the beginning, I covered quite a few of the attacks and tried to stay 2nd or 3rd wheel from the front. Some girl pushed the pace on the backside and I eventually popped but managed to stay 5th. Coming into the last lap, I could hear someone behind me. I knew there was someone close by because I had been riding with her but dropped her at some point. I locked out my fork and prepared for a sprint. She came around me on the final straight, I grabbed her wheel for a quick break. Then I came around her and sprinted for the finish. I was able to hold her off for a 5th place finish. Couldn’t breathe afterwards and felt like I was going to pass out. I guess that’s what racing at 9000feet does to you. I really don’t like short track.

Sunday:
Cross country races are a little better. Woke up in the FREEZING cold and mist. Really thought I wasn’t going to race, but decided what the heck. It was probably 40 degrees when we took off…brrr!!!! The course was right at 10 miles long. The uphills were time consuming, but nothing compared to Winter Park. Lots and lots of rocks. It was a pretty technical course, but fun. There was a stream crossing that wasn’t pretty much unrideable, so my feet were frozen. There was also a rock garden that was pretty much unrideable, unless you are super good at that kind of thing. The race started off decent. I didn’t warm up, at all. My legs felt like bricks for the first few minutes. I was about 6th place coming into the single track. Fortunately, there was an uphill that was really loose, so we all walked up it. This helped my legs warm up and also helped me move up a few spots before reaching the technical stuff. My legs started to feel awesome. I really didn’t care where I finished in the race, so I kept telling myself – “Just ride your own race”. That is what I did. I came through the first lap in 3rd place, after just passing a girl. She stuck close by though. The second lap I felt decent, and caught 2nd place (which I thought was 1st place, but I guess a CU girl was 3 minutes up the trail). I hung with her for a while. Then I started crashing. That really slowed me down. The 2nd place girl could descend way better than me. I don’t know what I was doing wrong, as I really wasn’t breaking all that much. So she got away from me. The 4th place girl caught me and passed me on this uphill fire road that came up on me way too fast. I shifted down and my chain sucked. I had to run up the loose stuff and she got a considerable gap. Tried to stick with her, but I kept crashing. Crashed a total of 3 times I think, maybe more. My legs are pretty bruised as of now. Got caught by 5th place, but was able to hold her off in the technical stuff. Came across 4th place. I was pleased, considering all I wanted to do was finish. That’s pretty much all. I had a fun time and am looking forward to the next one. I won’t be racing mountain this weekend, as I’m headed to Parker for a twilight criterium. Should be fun times. That’s all for now, I’ll try to update next weekend. Take care!!
-A

A Brief Re-Cap

This will be short, as I’m tired and have a lot of stuff to do.

Friday: Drive to Denver at rush hour. Took me over 2 hours to do a less than hour drive to DIA. Really stressed out that I was going to miss my flight. Made it through security and to boarding on time, to find out the flight was delayed 40 minutes. Arrived in St. Louis around 1:00am.

Saturday: Raced the Washington Avenue Criterium. It was hot, and hard. Really didn’t do much in the race. Liked the course because I didn’t have to use the breaks very much. Miss riding my Cannondale, that thing felt awesome. Finished 13th in a field sprint.

Sunday: Giro Della Montagna Criterium. Fun course and atmosphere. Did some riding at the front and tried to cover some breaks. Finished 20th. Stupid heat and humidity…

Monday: University City Loop Criterium. Course was more technical, but fun. Long back stretch that was a false flat. Tried to bridge to a 2 person break-away in the middle of the race. No success, but the field caught the 2. Dangerous break of 4 snuck away towards the end of the race. No one wanted to work, go figure. Finished 9th and in the money, finally!

Tuesday: Decided I hadn’t had my fix of racing. Headed to New Belgium Brewery for the cyclocross series. Paid $5 to race my bike for 30 minutes with around 15 other women in the Women’s A’s. Got an early lead and maintained it. Picked off several of the Men’s B’s who started 30-45 seconds ahead of us. I heard I finished 5th in the Men’s B’s. Course was really dusty, and I still smell and taste it. Whiped out, but nothing bad. Need to get used to dismounts/mounting. Won $20 for 1st place. Pretty sweet little race. Great practice!!

This weekend: Beaver Meadow’s mountain bike race, which is CSU’s home race. Camping Friday and Saturday night. Sorry I won’t be able to update until Sunday evening at the earliest.

Lots of things to do this week that I just realized. Chemistry test on Thursday, need to get gear together for this weekend. No more sleeping in until 10:00. That’s all for now, I’ll try to post more when I get a few minutes. Good night!!
-A

A Brief Re-Cap

This will be short, as I’m tired and have a lot of stuff to do.

Friday: Drive to Denver at rush hour. Took me over 2 hours to do a less than hour drive to DIA. Really stressed out that I was going to miss my flight. Made it through security and to boarding on time, to find out the flight was delayed 40 minutes. Arrived in St. Louis around 1:00am.

Saturday: Raced the Washington Avenue Criterium. It was hot, and hard. Really didn’t do much in the race. Liked the course because I didn’t have to use the breaks very much. Miss riding my Cannondale, that thing felt awesome. Finished 13th in a field sprint.

Sunday: Giro Della Montagna Criterium. Fun course and atmosphere. Did some riding at the front and tried to cover some breaks. Finished 20th. Stupid heat and humidity…

Monday: University City Loop Criterium. Course was more technical, but fun. Long back stretch that was a false flat. Tried to bridge to a 2 person break-away in the middle of the race. No success, but the field caught the 2. Dangerous break of 4 snuck away towards the end of the race. No one wanted to work, go figure. Finished 9th and in the money, finally!

Tuesday: Decided I hadn’t had my fix of racing. Headed to New Belgium Brewery for the cyclocross series. Paid $5 to race my bike for 30 minutes with around 15 other women in the Women’s A’s. Got an early lead and maintained it. Picked off several of the Men’s B’s who started 30-45 seconds ahead of us. I heard I finished 5th in the Men’s B’s. Course was really dusty, and I still smell and taste it. Whiped out, but nothing bad. Need to get used to dismounts/mounting. Won $20 for 1st place. Pretty sweet little race. Great practice!!

This weekend: Beaver Meadow’s mountain bike race, which is CSU’s home race. Camping Friday and Saturday night. Sorry I won’t be able to update until Sunday evening at the earliest.

Lots of things to do this week that I just realized. Chemistry test on Thursday, need to get gear together for this weekend. No more sleeping in until 10:00. That’s all for now, I’ll try to post more when I get a few minutes. Good night!!
-A