Got the W

I won a bike race at the Hell of the North. Someone remind me in some other races how many things have to go right for this to happen. It's been two years since lightning has struck for a pack finish in the Utah Cat 3s. Peter Schotting's (see bottom of page) 10 week endurance program sure has helped my bike fitness.
Wow that's all I can say. If the race doesn't go severely uphill I have a chance. I haven't had a great history at Hell of the North bike race. First time I did it on normal tires I got 2nd in the field sprint for 3rd place in the Crash 4s in 2004. I thought this isn't that hard. Then did the Master 35s later that day and watched TCooke and Bill Harris go 32 mph on dirt and was off the back in under 30 seconds on the dirt. Wow so that's how fast people can go on dirt?
2005 - 5 or 6 flats in 2 races on normal tires. 2006 was the rain/snow edition and I was on my death bed from a crash commuting home (80 stitches in my face) that's a whole nother story. 2007 did the Masters race in 3 inches of rocks/gravel in dirt. That was the hardest race I'd ever done with McKone and Skarpohl driving it. It was like a 1.75 mile uphill sinking in and just grinding out at 20mph. You pushed as hard on your seat as you could and skidded everywhere and hung on. My butt muscles hurt so much last year that I could barely sit after the race. I jumped in the Cat 3race but was cooked.
So 2008 I didn't have much expectations. I was like why am I doing this race again. My wife asked me how much I could win. I said I might get a cool trophy.
I wore Continental Contact tires that Ryan at Contender sold me on. You will notice they are 28 wide and 500 grams! I got some weird looks at the start line for sure. These are listed under city/treking tires. They are bomb proof. I commute on them and they don't puncture on goat heads nor pinch flat. I know I had a top 10 right there...ie. no flats. I rode around the parking lot goat heads and all before the race with guys yelling at me. I ride these tires to work thru worse on the Jordan river trail.
I noticed though that a North wind was in the forecast and that meant a headwind into the dirt. That was one good sign for me. I got lost going to the race?? You would think I would have remembered how to get there. I went up I-15 and was scrambling to get back down to I-80 and to I-215. Get to the race T minus 30 minutes. Sign up and pin numbers at car. Jog to porto lockerrooms to change and 10 minute ride and at the line ready to go. No jels or food and only one water bottle that Marek Shon filled for me at the line. Obviously I was well prepared?? Texted my wife at the start line. I race with my phone and keys just in case I need to talk to someone during the race.
It was 10 laps of 5 miles each. Pretty tame for the 1st time up the dirt. There were some guys off early but not too far. I got into a 6 man move and no one wanted to keep it going with me there? I was like let's work...you got at least sixth. Hmmmm I would have worked and wanted to work. I guess everyone figured I would sprint them??? I bridged up to a couple of more moves then decided that nothing looked like it would go.

Peter and Eric Thompson were up the road for quite some time but the other teams kept them in sight. I'm sure it was hard out there with the wind. I just was hoping for a sprint and trying to cover moves. There were still some strong teams in the pack with SBO. I don't have the VO2 MAX of some of these other guys who can go uphill like bunny goats but I can generate power for 30 seconds.
I was a little nervous of the last turn into the finishing road. I don't like to take risks. Although the last Cat 3 win at Sugarhouse I had two years ago. Jonathan Gardner came down the hill at 45+mph and we hooked about 6 inches on the left side by a group of 6 riders. I was like if he can make it I can but that was scary. He led me out to the hill and I was in the sweet spot for that sprint.
I was checking the wind and timing of when i would sprint in the last few times thru the start/finish. You had 600-700 meters from the finish to the dirt. The turn was mostly dirt then the road had loose gravel so I didn't want to mess with a WIN hungry pack thru the turn. Luckily we were whittled down to about 15 guys. I just figured I'd stay in the back out of trouble and work my way up to the finish line. I just happpened to be on the SBO strong guys (Nathin Arnin and Aaron Olson) and they led me thru the field and I was on Nathan's wheel in 3rd place. It was a good position to be in. Jason Asay (all in White) jumped from the corner solo in a gutsy move and had a big gap on us all. I was patient and with about 400m to go I just took off. It was a cross downwind sprint so you could get away with a long one. It was a little far out but I got a gap. I passed Jason with about 150m to go and held it to the line. I grunted and groaned then took a peek back and thankfully had a gap. I was pumping fists and hands. I know in some places you can get DQ'd b4the line if it's close like California. I did have a gap and I hadn't had a win in at least 60 races. You like to enjoy the moment and i'm not trying to show anyone up. It's just a huge release of excitement.

Forgot one other thing that was funny. The Pro/1/2 group passed us and the ref was in a car in front of us neutralizing us. She suddenly almost stopped we stopped and I slammed into the wheel in front of me. I had one foot down sliding thinking I'm going down. Somehow I stayed up and saved it. Marek Shon said nice skating. So yes in the end this is a skating blog.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that I got this 34 pound trophy. Thanks to Sean Hoover. It's a cobblestone mounted to a base. Granted we didn't go over any cobblestones but you get it. It's similiar to Paris Roubaix's trophy. The wife didn't think it would look too cool in the living room. It was destined for the garage but I had a better idea. Dick Thompson has helped me lots with fixing my bike. He has it on display at Alta Bicycles. He's a custom Steel frame builder in Salt Lake City. He's in the same building with Steve from Flat Attack just off of I-15 at 5400S in the Top It Building. Give these guys business as they are the little guys of cycling. Tell them I sent you and check out the cobblestone trophy!
One more thing. that was a long ass post and i don't know why anyone would want to read about my silly bike races but a couple of people wanted the "race report" so here it is. It's all about me but thanks to Christian for putting on this event for us here in utah and great to see Terry McInnnis at the races. I had a great chat with him and he's a tough dude. He just said he's a stubborn bastard. That's good too.