I was originally going to go out of town for Memorial Day weekend, but when those plans fell through I decided to sign up for a driving event at the brand new High Plains Raceway with the Z Car Club of Colorado (ZCCC) and participate in the BolderBoulder. It sounded like the makings for a SWEET weekend, and boy howdy, it sure was.
High Plains Raceway. All I can say is, "WOW." That is an amazing 2.55 miles worth of track. The many and varied elevation changes take what are already challenging corners to a new, mind bending level. Until you have all fifteen memorized, you'd best just take the course slowly, savoring all of the late apexes and blind entries, lest you rocket yourself right off the curb-free track. (I think about five of the fifteen corners are blind. It's just you, the horizon, blue sky, and a whole lotta' hope.) As it stands right now I think my favorite corners are 6 ("Danny's Lesson"), 11 ("Bobsled"), 12 ("Ladder to Heaven"), and 13/14/15 ("Prairie Corkscrew").
1 Friends coming through the first turn of the "Prairie Corkscrew"
Fortunately, though you might not think so, the first two sessions of the morning were sopping wet thanks to a steady, un-Colorado like, late spring rain. That forced us all to slow down, which gave a lot of time to focus on learning the line, but made for some filthy cars.
2 A filthy Laguna Seca Blue M3
As the rain let up (for all of an hour or two in the afternoon), we finally got to push it a bit more. But then the rain returned…
3 Moments before the sky re-opened
Even though it was soaking wet nearly from start to finish – made even more soaking wet by the lack of ANY kind of permanent shelter at the track – it was a great event hosted by the Z Club at Colorado's newest and most exciting track. Wow again. Once I know the M3 and the track a bit better, I think we're all going to have a lot of fun together.
So that was Saturday. Then on Memorial Day morning I walked the BolderBoulder 10K with my friend, Susan. We had such a great time and that is such a great, fun- and joy-filled race. How they run an event of that size (with such good cheer throughout) like clockwork is a mystery to me, but one I feel we're awfully fortunate to have right in our own backyard.
4 People as far as the eye could see
The weather was beautiful and the 6.2 miles flew by, thanks to good company and a 3.8mph average pace.
5 Coming up the hill (with a gazillion other people) to Folsom Field
Crossing the finish line inside Folsom Field, its stands filled with cheering Boulderites, was pretty fantastic.
I may just have do this all again next year.
(Full photo sets – High Plains Raceway: http://www.flickr.com/photos/losborne/sets/72157618799777644/ and the 2009 BolderBoulder: http://www.flickr.com/photos/losborne/sets/72157618712961095/)
