The Scene Begins

This is what the drive to the final stage time trial looked like. RAIN, hail, tons of wind, and lightning. Pretty bad stuff.

After several delays, false starts, warm-ups, and cool-downs, they finally called the race. The final classification wouldn’t change. So much for keeping a little in reserve for today! Lesson learned, race your hardest and don’t leave anything out on the course.

Overall, I’m really happy with my weekend. I got a 9th, 11th, and finished 13th overall and managed to do so without digging too deeply. It was a lot of fun catching up with Uhl and Heather, my old friends from my previous racing life, and making a few new friends as well.

Goodbye Tour of Utah! Hope to see you next year!

Today’s race was one of the coolest I’ve ever done. Large pack, Highway Patrol motorcycles and cars with lights flashing escorting and following our group, brand new Subaru Outbacks full of spare wheels behind. 55 mile race with a huge climb at the end. Felt like the real deal… Let’s go!

After sitting 9th in the overall after the first stage, I dropped to 23rd because of my horrible race yesterday afternoon. They pro-rated our finish times since we got pulled and I ended up losing something like 3 1/2 minutes. My shot at a top ten finish was essentially over. Oh well, I just wanted to be able to ride well on a stage like this one.

We had to go up a canyon for the first 10-15 miles, into a wind. That kept things pretty compact as we made our way over the crest of the canyon. From there we had a very long descent (8-9 miles) before things flattened out at the turnaround. I was a little worried about the descent, so I made a move and hit the front just as we started down. I stayed there for a couple of miles, not working too hard, just making sure I was staying out of trouble. Things were great until we went bombing through the center of a little town and started hitting manhole covers that were an inch or two below the surface of the road. Not fun at 40 mph in a group of 50 riders. Bottles were launching out of their cages and skimming across the road between the wheels. Luckily we all made it through.

2 guys attacked before the turnaround, and 4 teammates of the overall leader went to the front to peg them back. I was 5th wheel and sitting pretty as the 4 riders ahead rotated amongst themselves to catch the leaders after a couple of miles. I had a front row seat and enjoyed watching them work as I was under no obligation to do so since they were defending the lead. Nice.

More climbing back up to the crest of the canyon before the turnaround, followed by a very fast and short descent, then we turned off the main road and started the final monster climb. Another 5 miler with an 8% average grade, and some steeper switchbacks thrown in for good measure (this was up the south side of the Nebo Loop – the north side was the original route, but it was still snowed in). I was sitting pretty with the lead group, which quickly shrunk to around 15 riders. I tried to ride a smart climb like I did the day before and eased into my own pace after a while. I was definitely working hard, but had plenty left in my legs whenever it came time to accellerate. I was hoping I could make up some pretty good ground in the overall standings, and then move up a few more places in tomorrow’s time trial. One guy caught me on a less-steep section before the top and seemed to be riding pretty strong. I didn’t feel good enough to work with him, but could hold on to the pace, so I yelled to him that I was going to hang on and wouldn’t contest the sprint since he was doing all the work. That was nice until the climb got a little steeper and he totally started to die. Really bad. I obviously felt fresher since I had been sitting on, but this was killing me. I had to really hold myself in check. Riders were starting to close in from behind, and I definitely wasn’t going to let them catch me. I thought I was going to have to push him the last 50 meters, but we eventually made it and he rolled over just ahead of me. Nice work, mate.

I ended up 11th and jumped back up to13th in the overall standings. It was a great day.

The second stage of the day was an afternoon criterium, held on a course through the parking lots at Thanksgiving Point.

A Criterium by definition is a multi-lap race on a closed course typically with a lap less than one mile. This style of racing has bred a unique athlete, which stresses speed and bike handling. Action is never more than a minute or two away, as riders cover lap after lap.

I had spent the time between races eating 3 bagels, drinking gallons of water, and laying in the shade. Also getting more than a bit nervous to race the ‘crit’. Some guys thrive on this type of race. Not me. Sure, they can be alot of fun, but can be carnage-filled as well. Especially in the category I was racing in. High on fitness, short on handling and self-preservation instincts…

I was more afraid of crashing and not being able to continue the race (tomorrow and then next day) than I was about actually crashing. I really wanted to see this thing through to the end. Sure enough, on lap two, a kid threw his chain pedaling out of a corner and slid sideways missing me by an inch. I was so mentally checked out it wasn’t even funny. I tried to surf the back for a while, but that is no place to be in a crit. The inevitable gap formed and just like that I was off the back with a few others. I wasn’t too upset, but used the time to actually ride faster through the corners and practice my lines in a little bit of a smaller group. We worked it for a while, but ended up getting pulled out of the race (due to the main group almost lapping us) with about 5 to go. That was a bummer, but considering the fact that I hadn’t ridden one of these races since 1994 that was ok. I accomplished my main goal and lived to fight another day. There was a pretty good crash about halfway through that took out 4 guys, but I think they were all able to continue on – just a little worse for wear.