The view from afar

Tim Speciale - April 24, 2021

Finally racing again tomorrow in Pueblo. From this great distance racing looks as beautiful as ever. I'm just not sure it matters.

Nestled right up on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, the Front Range is full of iconic and beautiful cities and beautiful iconic climbs; Rist Canyon, Flagstaff, Lookout, Pikes Peak. Anywhere you live here in Colorado is great riding. When I get to the top of these Front Range climbs, I always look back in awe at how the great planes just stop suddenly 1,500 feet or so below me.

If you drive east, Denver briefly hides the fact that you’re for 1,000 or so miles there isn’t much of anything. There certainly aren’t any mountains. But if you get far enough east, about to the Denver airport or so, and you look back West, you are far enough away to truly see the Rockies in all their glory. It’s only when you get far enough away from them that you can appreciate their beauty more holistically.

In the past 640 days I have managed to live through a global pandemic, my careers has taken a whole new form, my wife and I bought a house, and in a few months we’re expecting our first boy. It’s also been 640 days since I raced my last criterium. That is the biggest gap between races since I started this thing 12 years ago. Finally racing again tomorrow in Pueblo. From this great distance racing looks as beautiful as ever. I’m just not sure it matters.