First things first: I only report the facts ladies:) And spell check isn't working so this could look horrible.
75th overall, 9:23:25, 21.4 mph avg
Ok time to try and give this race- a report worthy of the NINE plus hours I spent in the saddle. Started the day off in Logan with temps at 65 F. It was warmer than we wanted and kind of scared us for later in the day. However the cloud cover that kept it cool all night stayed all day. Keeping the sun at bay and making for almost ideal riding conditions. There was a little gusty winds here and there but almost every time the wind was bad I was with a large group and it didn't seem to bother me. We also had some tailwind at times that was super awesome. I also started my Garmin late so I don't have a correct/ exact mileage.
1-30. The first part of the race was super low key. It's flat and your with all of your original starting group so the workload is low. The group took it EZ all the way over to Preston. Somewhere in the 25 mile range all of our little BikeFix team (Bob, Jared, Kevin and I) had to go potty. So about 2 miles before the road turns to start the Strawberry climbs we pulled off. That let of a bomb in our group and day. Virtually the second we stopped everyone started laying the hammer down. I got back on the bike and just tried to make up ground. Bob had to "go" longer than the rest of us and that extra 60-80 seconds took him out of the race with us. I never saw him again the rest of the day.
30-106. This is the meat and potatoes of the course. 17 mile Strawberry Climb down into Montpelier. Then up the Geneva pass, down and across some flats and eventually up the final Salt River pass and KOM.
As we started the Strawberry rollers that lead into the climb the pace was blistering. I rarely sat down and was sweating and working like a dawg. Finally the three of us caught up to the main group again. There was still 3 guys up on us in a break-a-way group that we never would see again. From there to the summit I basically pulled the group as we chipped off mile after mile of climbing. After we summited and started down the backside the group had trimmed down to around 15 guys. We made our way to Montpelier for our first "feed" station. Bob's dad Russ was there with our food bags and our drinks. It was a pretty seamless pitstop and we were off. Right out of town a big team in our group pulled off to pee. So now it was Jared, Kevin and I heading up the pass a lone. Once the hills got steep going up I started to feel great and without overworking started to pull away from the other two guys. I summited and dropped off the backside a lone. For around 10-15 more miles I was a lone wolf trying to catch a group ahead of me and hoping a group behind me would come pick me up. I finally caught the group in front of me only to realize they were a bunch of 60 year old dudes that were going 18-19 mph. So I rolled in with them for a few rotations and tried to recover before the Salt River pass climbs started. Basically by the time I was sick of riding with them we hit the beginning of the climbs so as I rolled to the front to take a "pull" I just took off. Felt great for half of this climb but really struggled for the last 4 miles or so. Started to get negative and the sun came out so I was hot. It just wasn't very pretty. In so doing some other guys from the group including Jared caught and passed me. Also the lead female's basically caught me and we rolled over the summit together.
106-150. This was a bad then good phase. From the summit down through the flats to Afton I was in a super dark place. Actually thought about dropping out of the race. Really. Just was hurting, tummy upset and I'd basically had enough. I said a short prayer. Something to the tune of "please help me recover, help me finish this with a respectable time, ect and said many thanks for my special little family at home. I was soon joined by about 4 guys and we were all right behind the three lead girls all the way to Afton. Here was our second feed stop. Jared and I rolled in together. Russ serviced Jared first then me. By the time I got out of the stop the group was gone... Son-Of-A.... For the next 6 miles I labored yet again to try and catch the group. But it was like beating a dead horse. It'd never happen alone. And as I started to fade yet again a Super group picked me up. With me there was 7 of us and everyone wanted to play. We laid it down basically the rest of the day together. As we caught up with Jared and the group he was in a few of them joined up as well including Jared. So back together again now in a solid line rolling into Alpine.
150-202. We came into Alpine and our last feed stop super hot. In fact we both had to lock up the brakes to stop in time for Russ. It was only like 20 seconds and we were back on the road. I had no intentions of losing the group again. I needed them for this last 50. The tempo stayed the same out of Alpine along the Snake river up into Hoback and eventually into Jackson. I felt AMAZING. Seriously had everything going. Stomach was still upset and I really couldn't take anything else down but I felt super strong. The group was down to around 8 guys. Basically me and two other guys (from two different groups) took turns pulling all the way up to Jackson. Which was fine. I didn't feel labored and about 5 miles past Hoback I actually kind of broke away up a hill and gapped the group. Nobody came with me so within a few min's I sat up and let the group catch back up. I was out too far to do it a lone still. Once we got into the Jackson Valley the road turn left onto a country road lined with trees that works it's way west and then north to town. It was here that my "Issues" started. A group of about 8 older guys came up and joined our group here and there up the rollers from Hoback. They were all in a serioius race with one another. So they'd freakout if anyone in got separated and all wanted to be right with each other. One guy turned into me and his back wheel and derailer hit my front wheel. It pushed me right off the road but I was able to stay up in the dirt and ride out the fender bender. But then I noticed the damage. I had one broken spoke flapping around and my wheel was bent out of shape so it rubbed on my brake pads at the top. Almost right then I could feel the workload go up. It was like adding a extra level of resistance with 10+ mils to go. My group left me with ease. I went from feeling like a million bucks to worried about finishing. The wheel felt too fragile to stand and peddle. But I'd come too far to just let this screw up the whole day. I had to make the best of it. So I sat there and spun as smooth as I could for the next 10 or so miles. Meanwhile riders would just fly by. My group was no longer in sight. Oh the drama. I could feel it all slipping away. All my hard work to end it like this? Ugh! Then the 5k to go sign and then 4, then 3 then 2. And another group passed me this one had a guy from my original starting group too! 1k to go and I look back with no other risks coming and I just eased in for a very anti-climatic end to a hard day.
Jared and the group I was with ended up beating me in by over 5 min's. There's no way I don't finish with them without the accident. They were 9:18 I was 9:23 and Jared ended up finishing 3rd in our Cat so he got to the podium. I ended up at 6th. Maybe I do or don't out sprint him at the end but worst case again is that I'm 4th and still get a prize...
Oh well. I'm still super happy with a 9:23. My goal was to break 10 hours. Had you offered me a 9:40 the night before I'd have taken it. The race was hard. A crazy roller coaster of emotions all day. In the end I had a great time and it was fun to spend the weekend with such a classy group. The Snake River outside of Alpine was beautiful! At the moment I don't think I'll ever do the race again.... but we'll see what 6 months brings.
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