Superior Morgul Classic Weekend

enCompass Racing participated in the second annual Morgul Bismark race in Superior over Memorial Day Weekend. This race is one of Colorado's most famous courses dating back to the Coors Classic in the '80s with riders such as Andy Hampsten and Davis Phinney participating.

Battling high winds in the criterium, Tim was 16th in the Masters 45 men, while Zane threw down for the podium with a 2nd place effort in the Cat. 3 men!

Cornering

In the field

Cat. 3 criterium podium!

The next day riders had to bring their climbing legs to tackle the plethora of climbs including the feared "Wall." Both Zane and Tim placed 9th in each respective category.

In the road race

In the middle of the field on one of the many hills

With their strong performances out on the road, Zane powered to a 4th place overall omnium effort, while Tim raced to 8th place in the omnium.

Photo Credit: Tim Hancock

Louisville Criterium in Pictures

This past weekend was the downtown Louisville crit sponsored by Sonic Boom Racing. Although we may be biased living in Old Town Louisville, it was an awesome race that really showed all the hard work by everyone who worked to put this race on! enCompass Racing is looking forward to racing this race for many years to come!

In the Masters 45 Men, Tim was active in the group and eventually ended up in 10th place. Later in the day, in the Senior Men Cat. 3, Zane rode in a breakaway of 3 then eventually by himself for about 40 minutes before being brought back to the field, then ended up 8th in the final sprint.

Cornering on the backside of the course

The straightaway on Main Street

Cornering in front of the Louisville Historical Museum

Cornering on the backside of the course

Mix 1 is the best recovery!

Track Season has Begun!

The 7-11 Velodrome in Colorado Springs has officially opened! Maddie is now a frequent visitor on I-25 in preparation for her first race, the Fixed Gear Classic in Blaine, Minnesota, on June 10-12.

Uni Hill Crit

Crit Racing returned to downtown Boulder! It was a very technical course that was either going up or down. The 45+ master men were scheduled for the morning but due to rain, Tim decided to race the Cat. 3 men with Zane later in the day after it dried out a bit.

Zane's Race Report:

The Uni Hill crit is one of the most fun crits that I have ever raced! The course was straight up, and then you descended right back down. On the up hill there were a lot of attacks, and that really selected out the race. The cat 3’s raced for 60 mins. And when were at 30 to go, there was only a group of 12 or so riders left. Whenever the group would go down the hill I would always try to be the one on the front so then I could stay safe. But not only did I stay safe I could pull away from the group, that was because of my tires. The Ultremo ZX’s were the prefect tire for all the high speed, off camber corners. When it came to the last lap it was one of the fastest times I went up that hill! But when it came to the last corner Michael Dessau beat me in to it. So he was the winner, and I got second. Once I finished I went straight to our car to get my Mix 1. It really helped me recover from the hard effort.

Here’s a shout out to Hannelore and Yannick Eckmann. Hannelore for all the awesome pictures. And Yannick for yelling at me to get up the hill! Thanks guys.

Downtown Louisville Crit- 5/21/11

Downtown areas make for the best criteriums, i.e. Boulder, Ft. Collins, Denver, Longmont, Niwot, and Louisville. These are examples of criteriums from the past and present that have proven to be some of the toughest and best courses to race. With downtown business areas becoming busier, courses like these have become more difficult to secure for the races we have loved. Sonic Boom Race Team has defied this trend and brought back the downtown Louisville criterium. Downtown Louisville is a growing area, and the city and merchants alike are embracing the race, thanks to the efforts of Sonic Boom. Get over the office park blues and get out and race a fast and fun criterium course! Our team is definitely looking forward to racing in our own backyard.

Koppenberg

Colorado is notorious for changing weather and snowy spring days. That was the forecast for today, but the clouds decided to hold and give the riders a nice day to duke it out on the treacherous, dirt hill!

Tim's Race Report:

The Koppenberg is an epic race, and this year was no exception. Even though the dirt had been smoothed out, some new faces as well as familiar ones kept it interesting by consistently pushing the pace. It was fast and continued to select itself out. After getting gapped off on lap 3, I felt fortunate to be in the front group going into the final lap. I was sitting inside the top 10, but halfway through the dirt pinch-flatted. Unfortunate timing, but racing does not discriminate in this way. Live to race another day!

Leading the field up the hill

In the pack

Zane's Race Report:

Todays race on the Koppenberg had some of the calmest weather I have ever seen at this race. When I got up this morning it was a little cold, but I was really excited to get out there and have fun. I got to ride my Ultremo Double Defense to not get a pinch flat, they worked well, and the FOCUS bike rolled smoothly over the terrain. On the first lap I just went to the front and picked the pace up. Once I got settled in I just got a free ride in the group, but on the third lap I was feeling good so I went to the front. That's when I looked back and only saw 13 other riders in our group! We just pushed it hard to the finish.

Pushing the pace at the front

At the front

Colorado Junior Stage Race

On Friday and Saturday Zane raced a junior stage race for some road racing experience. On Friday was a time trial and Saturday was a hill climb and a criterium, however due to dangerously high winds the hill climb was cancelled. Zane won both of the events in the junior men 17-18 category giving enCompass Racing their first win on the road! Good job to all the juniors who came out to race. The new kits felt awesome, and we recently received our shipment of tires from Schwalbe. The new Ultremo ZX's performed amazing, gripping the corners and providing a smooth contact to the road!

In the breakaway

Taking the win!

On the podium