Year five of the Fyxation Open brought fast paced racing and the addition of a new venue in Denver, CO. In partnership with the Velorama festival, the Fyxation Open thrilled race fans and festival goers with fast paced action on the Colorado Classic criterium course.
Fyxation Open Denver rolls out
The Velorama festival mashes a music and bike festival together in one huge venue. At one end of this six square block festival was the main stage featuring headliners Modest Mouse, The Growlers and Matt and Kim. Bicycle vendors and a pump track filled out the middle, while the north end hosted over 20 food and beer vendors making for a great festival with loads to see and do.
via Velorama
Cycling events ranged from spectator rides like race the train and a beer relay, to head to head pump track racing, and of course the Colorado Classic stage race. This four stage event took riders from two mountain stages in Vail, to a stage 3 road event starting in Denver and making its way to the front range and back. The Classic wrapped up with stage 4 and a 9.1 mile circuit course through the streets of Denver.
Colorado Classic stage 3 underway
The Fyxation Open rolled out under cloudy skies and Denver's well known sunshine was nowhere to be found. The closed course was a large oval covering nearly a mile. With big straightaways and a very tight turn 3, riders were forced to back off the speed coming through turn 3 and 4.
Fyxation Open Denver course
The long straight sections were made for powerful legs and tall gearing, with Fyxation team rider Charlie Lavin clocking a max speed of 39mph. Winning rider Colin Jaskiewcz used his extensive Pro racing pedigree to power the pack on, and with pushing 50x14 gearing, he ultimately won the day for the men.
Colin Jaskiewcz poses pre-race
The women's field was smaller and ultimately combined with the men but scored separately. The 2018 Fyxation Open Omnium winner Nicole Mertz was unfortunately involved in a first lap crash which shrank the womens field by one. Once racing resumed the riders found their groove and raced a strong race.
Michele Blackburn, Caden Stergius and Lorena Oblitas pose for the podium
The 2018 season exceeded all our expectations for the Fyxation Open! We are all looking forward to growing the number of races, regions and riders next year. With the help of the amazing riders and teams that come out to participate, and great partners like Velorama, Inteligentsia Cup and the Tour of Americas Dairyland the sport of fixed gear criterium racing in the U.S. is on a strong path to grow in coming years. Thanks to everyone who came out and raced and support the events. See you in 2019!
See you next year!
