COLORADO SPRINGS (25 August 2021) – Due to public safety concerns amid an uptick of COVID cases, the United States Air Force Academy has withdrawn approval for us to conduct Sunday’s Colorado Road Race Master and Junior RR Championships on the Academy. We regret the missed opportunity to host a great road race on a stunning and challenging course. We hope to see you again next year.
We are currently working on issuing refunds to those who pre-registered.
COS Racing
See also: BRAC
FOUNTAIN, CO – COS Racing rider Jasmine Kemble took first place in the Colorado Women’s Road Race (Cat 4) from a field of six racers. The road race was held on a tough, hilly course on the plains southeast of Colorado Springs under hot summer conditions.
This race is the culmination of a series of podium finishes for Jasmine ths year, including Dove Valley Criterium (1st place), Modern Market Criterium (2nd), Bannock Street Criterium (2nd), and Littleton Twilight Criterium (2nd).
Full Race Results: HERE
WINTER PARK, CO – Last weekend, COS Racing racer Guillermo Rosaly took 2nd Place in Cat 1 30-39 at the Grand Gear Grind (G3) Mountain Bike Stage Race in Grandby, Colorado. Based at the edge of the world-renowned Rocky Mountain State Park, the G3 is a mountain bike stage race covering the best, highest, and most challenging single-track that Grand County Winter Park, Colorado, and the USA has to offer.
In total, the race covered 90 miles and over 15,000 feet of climbing through challenging Rocky Mountain terrain. Guillermo has been an avid and incredibly strong MTB racer for COS Racing since 2020 – most recently, racing in the “Zia Rides Royal Gorge 12 & 6 Mountain Bike Race”. According to him, his “fire is lit” and he’s ready to compete in many more events in Colorado. Guillermo is building towards a podium finish at MTB Nationals.
Congratulations to Guillermo and his support squad on a superb start to the MTB season.
KEENESBURG, CO – On June 12th, 2021, longtime COS Racing rider Vladimir Dragomirov took the State Championship title in the Men’s Category 3 40K Individual Time Trial (ITT) with a time of 52:26.8. Starting second-to-last in an 11-person field that also included teammate Seth Hurley, Vlad powered to a decisive 30-second victory over the next best rider.
Vlad averaged an impressive 45.76 kph (28.64 mph) and almost 300 watts over a largely flat course that featured two U-turns.
Congratulations to Vlad and all those who participated in the State ITT Championships.
ELBERT, CO – Ten miles away it was sunny and 65 degrees. At the Peaceful Valley Scout Camp for the start of the Mad Gravel race, the day started cold and foggy with temps in the 40s and a 10-25mph wind ripping out of the north. Despite that, COS Racing’s 15 riders had a very successful day at today’s inaugural edition presented by Rattler Racing. Today’s racing featured three courses – 123mi, 78mi, and 43mi. It also featured a CX-style singletrack climb through a dozen tight S-turns to the finish. The majority of COS Racing competitors participated in the 43-mile “Sprint” event.
Dave Neis of COS Racing took an impressive 8th Place overall in the 123mi “Ultra” event behind multiple past- and present professional riders to include Grant Koontz, Greg Daniel, Jonathon Cavner, Jürgen Eckmann, and Alex Howes, making him one of the top amateur competitors in this event. Johanna Neuber also finished 4th in the women’s category.
In the 78-mile “Marathon” event, five riders also participated with Ellie Malfeld taking 2nd overall in the women’s category. Vladislav Dragomirov reportedly crashed hard while riding in the breakaway, surviving but breaking his handlebars in half in the process.
At least nine riders crossed the start line along with 116 other riders in the Sprint. The highest placing were Jeffrey Turner (4th) and J Erik Hartel (6th), overall, with Wendy Kimmel Stalnaker taking 8th in women’s. In age group results, Jeff and Erik took the top two podium positions in MM 50+, while Tracy Sharples, Jean-Baptiste Lafon, Kevin Healy, and Mike West took positions 2nd through 5th in MM 60+, which featured an unusually deep field of over 18 riders.
This weekend, team members also raced at the Royal Gorge Six and Twelve MTB Race and Lookout Mountain Hill Climb yesterday, and Louiseville Criterium. At Royal Gorge 6 & 12, David Johnson and Guillermo Rosaly raced solo, while Michael Brothers, Dustin Holcomb, Zach Pickett, and Roy Pruett combined to compete in the team category. (As of publication, results had not been posted.) Meanwhile, at Lookout Mountain, at least three teammates raced. Ron Bdh (Buhdi) captured 3rd in the Master’s Men 50+ 4s. Other racers included Derek Bondy and Steve Cade.
Full results from the Mad Gravel event can be found at: LINK
Thanks as always to our sponsors for making this possible.
08 May 2021. TRINIDAD, CO – Johanna Neuber and Vladislav Dragomirov won the women and men’s categories at today’s Pony Xpress 85 (PX85) gravel race in Trinidad, CO. Pony Xpress is part of the Colorado Gravel Grinder Championships. This year’s event featured over 230 riders competing on 85K and 160K courses through the Sangre de Christo Mountains with epic altitude gains of 3,500ft and 8,400ft.
There was an impressive sea of blue-and-orange jerseys at the start, standing out boldly in a field of approximately 110 gravel riders for the 85K race.
Beyond Johanna and Vlad’s superb results, the team also swept the remainder of the men’s podium, with Michael Brothers and Jeffrey Turner taking 2nd & 3rd overall. In age group results, COS Racing swept the podiums of the Men’s 50+ and Men’s 60+ to 4th position. Jeffrey Turner, Ron Budhi, George Pollard York, and J Erik Hartel took 1st through 4th in 50+, while Tracy Sharples, Jean-Baptiste Lafon, Kevin Healy, and Mike West took the top positions in 60+. Similarly, Johanna Neuber, LeeAnn Perea, and Cindi Brothers took top results in their age groups – Women’s 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49.
Other notable mentions included Andrew McAdoo, who completed the 160K route plus some bonus miles, and Benton Beltramo, Derek Bondy, and Aaron Sudduth, who each took 4th place in Men’s 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49, respectively.
Finally, for a few others teammates, this was their first race of the year. This includes Benton Beltramo, Chris Ferguson, David McDaniel, Curtis Potter, and others.
Full results at: http://racingunderground.racetecresults.com/results.aspx
Thanks also to our sponsors and Mr. Phil Schweizer of Koobi Saddles for hosting the race.
COLORADO SPRINGS on 1 NOV – The 1st of November will mark the official start of COS Racing’s 2020/2021 racing season. Last year was the most challenging for the team in its five-year history – with COVID-19 significantly impacting racing locally, regionally, and nationally.
That said, team members still managed to amass over 230 race starts across all disciplines – specifically in road, gravel, cyclocross, mountain bike, and track. Most notably, the team had powerful showings at the Pikes Peak Apex MTB Stage Race, Steamboat Stage Race, the Colorado Gravel Grinder Series, the US OTC Track Series, Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the Black Swift Cycleton CSP Criterium Series, Grit-Nine-O Gravel, and the Karen Hornbostel Time Trial Series.
New riders interested in joining/applying for COS Racing’s race- or club teams are invited to attend our team meeting virtually at 4 PM on the first of November for more information. New and returning members are also welcome to register under the “MEMBERSHIP” tab above.
PIKES PEAK, CO (14,115ft) – COS Racing racers pulled off an excellent performance at Pikes Peak this weekend during the 11th Annual Broadmoor Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb race with four podium-finishes and multiple other top-fives in the USA Cycling race.
COS Racing’s Matt Bell won the Men’s Category 3 Race with a blistering time of one hour and 14 minutes, outpacing his next best competitor by over 6 minutes on this brutal 4,500ft ascent. Miles Juneau and Ron Buhdi both took 2nd places in the Men’s Cat 4 and Masters Men 50+, respectively. Dave Neis took 3rd in Masters 1/2/3 40+, while Sam Geiman, Aaron Sudduth, Erik Hartel, and Tracy Sharples seized 4th place in Men’s Cat 4, Masters Men 40+, Masters Men 50+, and Masters Men 60+.
The day featured strong winds above 12,000ft that nearly brought riders to a standstill during the headwind stretches. Over a dozen other COS Riders from across all three tiers competed, including Derek Bondy, Curt Butler, Jeff, Duncan, Marisa Farro-Miro, Kristen Lemond, Chris Milthaler, Alex Werden, and others.
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KIOWA, CO — It was a great day of racing for COS Racing at the Encierro Velo 100K Gravel Race, particularly in the Masters’ field. Six COS Racing riders took to the start today on a grueling 60-mile course that featured several long climbs and dozens of shorter ones. The top COS Racing performance came from Vladislav Dragomirov – who finished just off the podium in 4th place overall and 1st in the Men’s 30-39 category. Several of our Master’s racers also took podium positions. J Erik Hartel came in 14th overall and third in Masters Men (MM) 50+ while Mike West, Kevin Healy, and Michael Jones took first, second, and fifth in MM 60+.
As one might have predicted, this field was disproportionately stacked with professional gravel and road racers from throughout the region – most notably, team-friend Jonathan Cavner (Rodeo Labs) and former team member and neo-pro Henry York (Rio Grande) – all eager to race hard after a long COVID-enforced racing drought. At mile 5, on a section of road that featured strong crosswinds, Rodeo Labs launched a strong attack that shattered the field. Only Dragomirov was able to match the intensity – for a while, at least. Not atypical of gravel racing, the rest of the COS Racing contingent was left to race solo or in small groups soldiering through deep sand and over washboard conditions. Dragomirov described his race experience as a 54-mile individual time trial after losing contact with the lead trio. Most of our other riders shared his experience.
The race concluded with a Paris-Roubaix-style lap of the interior of the rodeo arena – a grueling slog through soft sand that had many riders dismounting to run their bikes across the line. The race was ultimately won by Nick Gould (Rodeo Labs).
This race was the first cycling event in the region since the lifting of some COVID-19 restrictions. Race organizer Phil Schweizer maintained solid control over the environment, enforced standards of social distancing and face-coverings in the start and finish areas, and had ample quantities of hand-sanitizer and other supplies on hand. Gravel racing is uniquely well-suited to social distancing since fields tend to splinter into small socially-distanced groups and individuals rather quickly. In this race, Rodeo Labs’ early attack set the conditions for a very dispersed race.
Additional solid performances came from David Johnson and George Pollard York, who placed 20th and 26th overall respectively.
COLORADO SPRINGS — It is with great sadness that COS Racing announces that Ryan Knoche, a stalwart member of our mountain bike race team, passed away from natural causes on November 9, 2019 after completing the Palo Duro Canyon 50 Mountain Bike Race in Texas.
Ryan was an outstanding mountain-biker with great charisma and a deep love of the sport. He was always ready to ride and race hard then share a laugh with teammates afterward. He was also a chiropractic doctor at Springs Chiropractic in Colorado Springs. Ryan leaves behind his wife of 17 years, Keely and their two children.
During the 2019/2020 season, COS Racing’s kit will feature a black commemorative patch bearing Ryan’s name to honor his memory, legacy, and cycling accomplishments.
A Celebration of Life Happy Hour will be held in Ryan’s honor on his birthday, December 4, 2019 from 4-7:00 pm at Trails End Taproom, 3103 West Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80904.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Ryan Knoche Charitable Fund c/o Pikes Peak Community Foundation at www.ppcf.org/donate or 102 South Tejon Street, Suite 350, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80903.
Ryan’s full obituary can be read at the Colorado Springs Gazette website: LINK
