Stinger Buzz

Team Honey Stinger/ Trek was well represented in the Laramie Enduro on July 31^st.  Two riders Pete Kalmes and Scott McCalmon placed in the top 10 and Daniel Matheny was not far behind in the top 20.

The Laramie Enduro is a 70-mile test of fitness and skill taking racers through varying terrain on double and single-track.  This year’s race started with a grueling pace and finishing times showed the top riders never let up.

Honey Stinger/ Trek riders Pete Kalmes and Scott McCalmon finished together placing 6^th and 7^th respectively.  Daniel Matheny finished 19^th.

     As is proving to happen regularly these days – Team Honey Stinger/Trek mopped up with the results this past weekend at a couple of different venues – USA Cycling Cross Country National Championships and the Breck 100/Breck 68.
     Most notably – Peter Kalmes – continuing on a season of high-place finishes, stood atop the box to earn the stars and stripes jersey and the 20-29 Men’s Cat 1 national title. This comes only two weeks after he took 2nd place at the Firecracker 50 – marathon distance nationals for USA Cycling. Nate Bird, Ben Portilla, and Ryan Dorsey represented Stinger/Trek in the men’s pro field at nationals – all finishing mid-pack in a large, deep, and fast field.

    Honey Stinger/Trek also brought some heat to the Breckenridge 100 this past weekend. As part of the National Ultra Endurance Series, a stacked field started out on course and set blistering first lap times. The brutal course made racers climb over 12,000 feet once and over 11,000 feet four times. All racers were well rewarded with some great sections of classic Colorado single-track that made the climbs worth every ounce of energy. Top honors went to Max Taam for finishing 5th overall. Josh Cullen and Todd Kennedy also were in the mix finishing well at 18th and 47th respectively. It’s such a tough race; Honey Stinger extends big congratulations to all finishers.

    The B-68 is the little sister to the Breck 100, and has competitors race the 2nd and 3rd laps of the 100-mile course. Scott McCalmon and Daniel Matheny attacked after the neutral start and never looked back. Finishing 1st and 2nd overall, Scott narrowly edged out Daniel for the victory. It was a super weekend for Honey Stinger/Trek in Breckenridge.

It’s about the middle of the summer riding season here in Colorado and Team Honey Stinger/Trek is hitting its stride. The MSC Blast the Mass was this past weekend and with a familiar XC course for our local Roaring Fork Valley riders, the team had a strong showing and landed two more podiums. Check out photos from the race below:

Len Zanni in the Pro Men's start

Team Captain Len Zanni battled it out with Jay Henry and Travis Sheefer in the pro men’s race to finish in a strong second place.

Jay, Travis and Len grind up the climb on lap 2

Also in the pro men’s race, Max Taam finished 6th, Ryan Dorsey in 8th and Ben Portilla ran his bike across the line (tubulars proved to be a bad idea) but still finished in 13th.

Ben Portilla

Josh Cullen and Michael Hayes had solid finishes in the Cat 1 division.

Josh (center) and Michael (right)

In the pro women’s race, Kelley Cullen continued her winning ways with another second place finish. Sari Anderson, 3-months into her post-kiddo comeback, fought through the hail that started just minutes after Kelley finished and ended up in a solid fifth place.

Kelley Cullen leads out the pro women.

Sari grits her teeth through the hail at the finish.

Dirty girl.

Next up for many team riders: XC Nationals in Sol Vista and the brutal Breck 100.

Team Honey Stinger/Trek showed up in force for the 2nd annual Fat Tire 40 race in Crested Butte on Saturday, the fourth stop of the Mountain States Cup race series. Featuring 40 miles of riding on some of the Butte’s best singletrack, including over 8,000 feet of tough climbing and some pretty technical descents, the race put riders and their gear to the test. Our team brought home some well-earned hardware, as well as plenty of bumps, bruises and big smiles.

Nate Bird, following up on his 7th place finish at the Bailey Hundo last week, had a terrific race and landed on his first pro podium in second place behind local Travis Scheefer. Kelley Cullen finished in third in the pro women’s race, hanging close behind winner Gretchen Reeves and runner-up Jenny Smith for the whole race. Peter Kalmes also finished in second place and Rose Alford finished in fourth place in their respective Cat 1 age groups. Team riders Ryan Dorsey, Ben Portilla, Len Zanni, Bryce Gordon, Michael Hayes, Sari Anderson and Tammy Jacques all finished the race as well – some looking a little more cooked than others, but all happy to have completed it.

Here are some some photos from the day, mostly taken at a creek crossing at the 20-mile mark.

Nate Bird crushing it across the creek en route to a 2nd place finish

Kelley Cullen cruising to 3rd place

Ben Portilla's Specialized S-Works shoes with boa are dialed in

The team’s Specialized S-Works shoes with boa technology were perfect for the wet, technical course, allowing riders like Ben Portilla to micro adjust the fit throughout the race.

Sari Anderson racing just 3 months after giving birth

Sari gave her prototype women’s specific Osprey Verve 4 hydration pack rave reviews.

Len Zanni

Lenny learned you might need more than one (or 2 or 3) extra tubes for a 40-mile mtb race. Nonetheless, he finished the race by running down most of Mt. Crested Butte

This past weekend, the 1st ever Bailey Hundo 100 mile mountain bike race went on in Bailey, Colorado and surrounding area (a lot of it!).  It was a cool event – sponsored by 4 state senators.  Instead of an entry fee – riders had to raise a minimum of $100 to ride – proceeds benefitting the trail system around Bailey, Trips For Kids, and the new Colorado High School Cycling League.

With a stacked field including legends Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Dave Wiens, and Travis Brown – Team Honey Stinger/Trek was out in force and ready to show their stuff against the other big guns.  Team racers in this badboy were Nate Bird, Scott McCalmom, Ryan Dorsey, Max Taam, Ryan Hamilton, Daniel Mantheny, and Josh Cullen.  Bird was the day’s top finisher coming in 7th place in a time of 7:31.  Not far behind was McCalmon coming in 9th followed by a slew of other Honey Stinger riders.  The team definitely made its presence felt with over 25% of the top 20 – all but one rider came in that top 20 to make an impressive showing on the day.

For pics and results check out the Bailey Hundo site, and also check out an ego-boosting article on the sole Steamboat rider, Bird, in the Steamboat Pilot and Today.  Bird has been strutting (pun very intended) around the Honey Stinger office offering his autograph to coworkers all week – as of yet there have been no takers.