trying to be patient, I know it is hard lining up a site etc especially in these times with restrictions, but…
x2. I’m never shy about anti-governing body criticism, but I’m giving USAC a full pass on this one. Permitting and insurance are a huge hassle in the best of times. They’re a nightmare right now.
trying to be patient, I know it is hard lining up a site etc especially in these times with restrictions, but…
x2. I’m never shy about anti-governing body criticism, but I’m giving USAC a full pass on this one. Permitting and insurance are a huge hassle in the best of times. They’re a nightmare right now.
I talked to a race organizer and he was saying he had to delay or postpone for this year. What us participants probably don’t understand very well is that it takes a pretty sizeable chunk of change to organize a race. You have permit costs, port-a-potty resevations,… These expenses are typically paid by the title sponsors, which more often than not are tourism and entertainment related. These guys have taken big hits in the last 12 months and the last thing they want to do with their limited resource is bankroll something that isn’t going to happen or won’t bring in much additional revenue. I think you need to look for sponsors that actually did OK during hte pandemic, like Amazon or Zwift, but I am sure everyone has the same idea.
…and finally. Albuquerque, Aug. 5-8. (from USAC 'book post)
…and finally. Albuquerque, Aug. 5-8. (from USAC 'book post)
Any details?
This was sent by USAC 5 days ago: “For Masters Road, the expected host community was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 impacts, and we immediately began working with other possible hosts. Fortunately, a promising host city stepped up early this year, and we have been working closely with them to ensure a safe and exciting experience.”
Unlike every other state around, bike races are still cancelled in NM… so I figured the “expected host” might have been in NM…
Well their Twitter feed is saying if you want actual details you have to wait until May 26th. To just dump a date 12 weeks out and not provide any other details and expect people to just make it work is pretty lame.
They posted NM today.
It will be one lame national championship if held that’s for sure. I’m sure the very large majority of us already organized plans to race elsewhere.
It will be one lame national championship if held that’s for sure. I’m sure the very large majority of us already organized plans to race elsewhere.
Really? Are there any major event conflicts? I never plan anything that far in advance. And 12 weeks is enough time to get in racing shape.
Most Albuquerque races are over the mountains east of town… good, hilly terrain IMO, ~6-7k ft elevation. The Moriarty TT course is just a little farther east.
One negative is that early Aug is definitely still “monsoon season”. PM thunderstorms are pretty common.
Albuquerque isn’t much of a hub and doesn’t have a large bike racing catchment area. Not particularly easy to get to. In terms of lameness though, I can guarantee that there will be a significant Colorado presence coming down to make things hard. Plenty of people from Arizona and Texas as well. I’m sure lots of californians will make the road trip as well. It’ll be as competitive as any other Natz.
Looking forward to it.
…and finally. Albuquerque, Aug. 5-8. (from USAC 'book post)
Will there be any left turns there? 
It will be one lame national championship if held that’s for sure. I’m sure the very large majority of us already organized plans to race elsewhere.
If they use Moriarty for the TT there is a good chance that every age group record could be reset. A pancake flat 40K with passable pavement (20K pavement could be REALlY good), 6000 ft above sea level, probably the top 5 TT riders in every age group, and all the recent technical advances.
Heck, if weather is good for the 40ish age group I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see the overall National record get creamed. A 300 watt effort by a medium sized rider is probably enough to crack into the high 47s and the overall fastest time in Colorado was done on 360ish.
There is a good chance Nations could epic, rather than lame.
It will be one lame national championship if held that’s for sure. I’m sure the very large majority of us already organized plans to race elsewhere.
I know few people who’ve organized much for August in terms of national class masters racing. Tour of America’s Dairylands is in late June, no real conflict there. Sea Otter is in October.
I think it’s a reasonable job of USAC to get almost all of their national championships back online at roughly the same time that many much smaller regional race promoters are getting their events up and running.
The Moriarty course is the most obvious location for the TT. I would love to see it on that course. Certainly if weather permits, a number of national records will fall. However, I’m going to be careful not to get my hopes up that the Moriarty course will be used. I guess we have a few more days of waiting unless someone has an inside scoop?
Too bad I already wrote it off after waiting months to hear something. I’m going to be mad at myself if Moriarty is the TT course.
If they use Moriarty for the TT there is a good chance that every age group record could be reset. A pancake flat 40K with passable pavement (20K pavement could be REALlY good), 6000 ft above sea level, probably the top 5 TT riders in every age group, and all the recent technical advances.
Do you know if a smooth layer was eventually put over the chipseal? It would be an excellent course if that was the case.
The northern few miles was resurfaced with asphalt, rough chipseal, and a smooth layer several years ago. In 2019 the rest was resurfaced with rough chipseal, but thankfully the shoulder was swept so it wasn’t too bad. Don’t know if anything else was done with it. Rough chip and an unswept shoulder would not be too good…
They like to have a 40k for nationals and Moriarty seems the logical choice. But… it’s possible that traffic would be an issue for that many hours of racing. The annual 40k is early on Labor Day Sun&Mon for a reason; it’s a fairly busy road.
I’ve been wishing someone would make a 40k course on the Spaceport Road, starting east of TorC. That isn’t close to Albuquerque though.
I’d heard from a friend in ABQ, who may or may not have a clue, that the TT will be held on the Double Eagle course, the RR will be on the 505 Classic course, and the Crit will be at the balloon park.
The Double Eagle course is super smooth, a little rolly, but not too rolly if you’re inclined to run a fixed gear. It’s unfortunately not really suitable for a 40km course. I’ve only done the 20km course there, not sure just how much longer they can make it, but most certainly they cannot add 10km to the turnaround.
Haven’t done that road course, but the profile looks pretty tough.
It will be one lame national championship if held that’s for sure. I’m sure the very large majority of us already organized plans to race elsewhere.
Really? Are there any major event conflicts? I never plan anything that far in advance. And 12 weeks is enough time to get in racing shape.
Most Albuquerque races are over the mountains east of town… good, hilly terrain IMO, ~6-7k ft elevation. The Moriarty TT course is just a little farther east.
One negative is that early Aug is definitely still “monsoon season”. PM thunderstorms are pretty common.
Sadly I have to request vacation days way in advance to make a trip such as this. Really really tried to have an idea of location and date but I had to give in a few months ago with my official PTO requests for work. I’ll be at the gran fondo nats in Asheville instead but dang, I really wanted to race the TT and road race for masters nats.
The Double Eagle course is super smooth, a little rolly, but not too rolly if you’re inclined to run a fixed gear. It’s unfortunately not really suitable for a 40km course. I’ve only done the 20km course there, not sure just how much longer they can make it, but most certainly they cannot add 10km to the turnaround.
We’ve done a certified 40 km from the usual Double Eagle starting point sometime in the mid 90s. 20 km puts the turnaround just about at the entrance to Ventana Ranch off Paseo del Norte. The extra 10 km adds a quite a bit more climbing to the course though.
The Double Eagle course is super smooth, a little rolly, but not too rolly if you’re inclined to run a fixed gear. It’s unfortunately not really suitable for a 40km course. I’ve only done the 20km course there, not sure just how much longer they can make it, but most certainly they cannot add 10km to the turnaround.
We’ve done a certified 40 km from the usual Double Eagle starting point sometime in the mid 90s. 20 km puts the turnaround just about at the entrance to Ventana Ranch off Paseo del Norte. The extra 10 km adds a quite a bit more climbing to the course though.
Are you still in the area? If not, you should know there’s been a crap tonne of commercial growth out there, to include an Amazon distribution center. Frankly, I won’t be surprised if they don’t use that course, given the traffic out there.
Are you still in the area? If not, you should know there’s been a crap tonne of commercial growth out there, to include an Amazon distribution center. Frankly, I won’t be surprised if they don’t use that course, given the traffic out there.
I rode it Saturday. You asked how much longer they could make it; I answered.