Sand Creek Sports will once again be organizing mountain bike races in Colorado Springs in 2012. There will be a cross-country race on July 1st in Palmer Park and a 5 race Wednesday evening series. Unfortunately insufficient sponsorship caused a couple planned races to be canceled including the September Palmer Park 50.

The ProCycling Palmer Park Classic on July 1st will use a course similar to the shortened Palmer Park 50 course but with normal cross-country distances. Pikes Peak Velo is sponsoring a Kids on Bikes race and Borriello Bros. NY Pizza.

Wednesdays Evening Ascent Cycling Series Dates

• June 6 at Bear Creek Terrace
• June 13 at Palmer Park (South Course)
• July 18 at Bear Creek Terrace
• July 25 at Palmer Park (North Course)
• Aug. 8 at Bear Creek Terrace

Leadville’s winter snow bike race series kicks off this Saturday with a night race at Copper Mountain. There are 4 races in the series.

Although fatbikes like the Salsa Mukluk are ideal for riding in the snow, regular mountain bikes can be used with as wide of tire as will fit your frame and running low tire pressure. The Hub bike shop has fatbikes for rent if you want to give one of them a try.

Schedule is

• Jan. 14th – Copper en Fuego
• Feb. 4th – Tennessee Pass Night Jam
• March 3rd – Mineral Belt Mayhem
• April 7th – East Side Epic

For more details, see the Cloud City Wheelers event page.

With the Fall Back Cross and PPV Rock Ledge Ranch cyclocross races coming up, Pikes Peak Velo is putting on free cyclocross skills clinics at Rock Ledge Ranch the next 3 Wednesday evenings – November 2nd, 9th, and 16th from 4:30 until dark. Practice going over barriers, getting on/off bike, carrying the bike, running up hills and of course…running out of breath! Head over to Pikes Peak Velo to get the details.

Pikes Peak Velo is putting on their cyclocross race at an exciting new venue this fall on Saturday, November 19th, 2011. The past several years they’ve used courses at Bear Creek Park but this year they’ll be at the Rock Ledge Ranch with part of the course going into the old reservoir area of Garden of the Gods.

The course is awesome with lots of double track, single track through Garden of the Gods Park, and super-fun (and hard) run-ups. There’s even a BBQ lunch and Pizza dinner for anyone who makes a donation (any amount) to Kids on Bikes. Check out the race flyer and course map for more information and don’t forget to mark your calendar! Because of the nature of the Rock Ledge Ranch please don’t ride through it for training.

There will be cyclocross categories for all skill levels: beginner to professional, plus a free kids race on a special course! Also, there will be a “Citizens Category” specifically reserved for anyone brand new to the sport of cyclocross. If you have a knobby tire bike but have never raced Cyclocross… now’s your chance!

See the Pikes Peak Velo site for all the details.

Saturday was the 3rd Annual WMBA Halloween Costume Crit at the SRM service center. The criterium course included pavement, dirt, curbs and rocks. As in the past, there were some great costumes.

The race had a LeMans start which was very funny to watch and is shown in the video above. Doing well required more than being fast on the bike since there were hula hoops, limbo, jello shots and hopscotch.

Once again the ladies of WMBA put on a very fun event. In addition to the crit, there was drinks, food and a raffle for a bunch of awesome prizes. There were prizes from many of the local bike shops and SRAM went all out with 2×10 drive trains and RockShox fork.

Below are a few photos. You can find many WMBA Halloween Costume Crit photos here.

[View with PicLens]

Medicine Wheel is organizing a work day for the C-Line dirt jumps next to the freeride/skills park in Red Rock Canyon Open Space and they need your help. Work will begin at 11 am on Sunday October 30th and will focus on repair and minor redesign of the jumps, as well as vegetation control and drainage improvements. They will have their tool trailer but they could use a couple wheelbarrows and flat bottomed shovels.

Halloween is almost here and that means it’s time for the 3rd Annual WMBA Costume Criterium. Every year WMBA throws a great Halloween criterium that’s more party than race with food, drinks, and fun. It will be held this Saturday, October 29 at the SRM Powermeter Service Center. Spectators are welcome!

There will be an adult Costume Criterium full of stunts and silly obstacles. The kiddie race will take place immediately after the adult race. Registration begins at 3:30 and the race starts at 4:00pm. Costumes are mandatory and helmets must be worn by all racers.

Bring your friends and family. This event is open to the public and a definite not-to-be-missed event!

$10 suggested donation will get you into the ride, a prize ticket, and a drink cup. There will be lots of great prizes and prize drawings.

There will be many amazing giveaways with items from:

RockShox
SRAM
Truvativ
Corepower Yoga
Criterium Bike Shop
Bicycle Village
Old Town Bike Shop
Carmichael Training
City Rock
Sound Mind – Sound Body Salon and Day Spa
Local’s Barbershop
…and more!!

You might be one of the lucky ghosts or goblins who will walk away with a RockShox Sid XXWC fork, a SRAM X-9 2×10 drivetrain, a month of unlimited yoga, or one of the many other sweet giveaways!!

Related Link

• 2010 WMBA Costume Crit

USA Cycling is putting on a cyclocross race in Colorado Springs on Sunday November 6th. Since time changes the night before, they’re calling it Fall Back Cross Race. The first race starts at 8 AM and the last race is at 3:36 PM. There will be kids races and a Strider Cup for toddlers in the afternoon. There is also a first-time women’s category for those that want to try cyclocross without the intimidation factor.

The race will be held on empty land to the east and south of the USA Cycling headquarters building. The official address is 210 USA Cycling Point but using 6000 Delmonico Drive will work better with most mapping apps. Turn at the Mateos Day Spa.

The course is primarily grass, sand/dirt, with a start and finish on pavement. It is was designed with input from Katie and Mark Compton. I’ve seen the land in the past but didn’t pay much attention. My recollection is it’s a fairly typical empty field with grass and weeds. It slopes down toward some railroad tracks so there’ll be some up and down.

Races other than those open to Cat 4 will require an annual USA Cycling license. Cat 4 racers can buy a 1 day license. There’s good and bad to this.

Most cyclocross races in Colorado are sanctioned instead by the American Cycling Association so many racers don’t have an USA Cycling license. For those planning to race Nationals, it’s good as the race counts toward ranking which will be used for call ups at Cross Nationals in Madison, WI.

For more info and start times go here. Online registration is here.

The October 5th planning meeting on Red Rock Canyon, White Acres and Section 16 was to focus on trails. Some people had expressed concern that other developed areas and amenities hadn’t been sufficiently discussed. These areas were discussed and the trails discussion was moved to a new meeting on October 19th.

The meeting will again be at 6:30 PM at Westside Community Center (1628 W. Bijou St.). This is an important meeting for mountain bikers to attend to make sure the trails are open to bikes. There are some trail users that don’t want bikes allowed.

We were shown a preview of what the city and consultants are thinking about for possible trail changes. The ideas are on this Red Rock Canyon, White Acres and Section 16 map. Brown circled areas are discussed on October 5th. One thing I didn’t know is the state regulates crossings of landfills and they don’t even like trails going across a landfill and any that do must be approved by state.

Additional public workshops to continue development of the plan will be held on November 16 and January 18. All workshops will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Westside Community Center.

Some of the Colorado Springs’ most popular open spaces, Red Rock Canyon, White Acres and Section 16 were purchased primarily with TOPS funding, the one tenth of a cent sales tax dedicated solely to trails, open space and parks. A plan is needed to provide a coordinated approach to conservation, management and use of the three open space areas.

For information about the master planning process, visit the City’s website.