Racing Through City Park

The Colorado bicycle road racing season kicked off March 4 at City Park, with the University of Denver Cycling Team hosting the annual DU Criterium series of races. The racers completed a three-quarter mile roughly triangular course on the west side of the park, past the large fountain and around the MLK, Jr. Memorial statue. College teams, both women and men, from CU Boulder, CU Denver, the University of Denver, Air Force Academy, Colorado Mesa University, Fort Lewis College, Colorado College, the School of Mines and others raced in the morning, and amateur racers of all categories raced in the afternoon. The winner of the Women’s A collegiate race, Khristina Vrouwenvelder of CU Boulder, is a 25-year old third-year graduate student, and has been racing for five years. “I really enjoy racing at City Park,” says Vrouwenvelder, explaining that with the tight turns, it is easy to lose speed, “so you jut have to hold on through the corners.” Organized road racing will occur nearly every weekend along the Front Range through June. For more information about bicycle racing in Colorado and the schedule of races, visit the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado at www.coloradocycling.org.  Photos by Reid Neureiter