So for the report... it was a very early start to the day as I got up at 3:30 a.m. to meet some Infinite teammates at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon at 4:45 a.m. My original plan was to stay in Ogden at a hotel with my family and have my wife drive me up but she was very grateful not to have to do that once I found a ride with the team.
Once we arrived at Snowbasin the ride had already started about 10 minutes previous but since it's not a race it didn't matter and we unloaded and got ourselves ready to roll out. Temps were really nice at the start. I was thinking it would've been much colder but it was comfortable at the beginning. Snowbasin was beautiful in the early morning. It's funny that I ski so much yet I've never been to Snowbasin til Saturday. I was impressed. The ride out of the resort was uphill at first then plunged down. It was a fast and gorgeous decent down into the Morgan Valley. I rode with a small group most of the way through Morgan until we came to the first feed stop. I wasn't hungry but it looked like the group that I was with needed to stop so I thought it was best to stop along with them. As I did, a large group came flying past which I noticed several teammates in. They saw me and waved to me to hurry and catch on which I did after jumping on my bike in a hurry and riding hard for a couple of miles. After riding for a while the group ended up splitting, as I knew it would as we approached the Hogback climb. This was at about 35 miles into the ride. From there is was a long, slow climb to the base of Brown's Canyon some of which was with a group and some alone. The Brown's Canyon climb went well enough but the wind began to really pick up. I also noticed that I was getting really hungry. I knew there was another feed station once we hit Park City but that was still a ways out so I knew it was going to be a problem. To be hungry with the biggest climbs still to come was a bad sign. It meant that I wasn't getting enough calories and I would be in danger of bonking later on. The Brown's climbs was a bit longer than I expected but I was relieved to roll into Park City. The food station there was poorly stocked. I'm pretty sure I got the last (warm)bottle of water before they ran out. The only food they had that was worth eating in my mind were rice crispy treats and oranges. What I longed for was bananas and peanut butter sandwiches. They had those last year but not this year.
I filled up on what I could and then set off to what I knew was going to be a monster climb. I've never ridden my bike up Guardman's Pass to that point but I've driven it many times when I used to work in Park City. Still, it surprised me how long and steep it was. It was so demoralizing to come off the top onto the false summit only to see the true summit far in the distance. The road turned bad once on the final long push to the true summit which made things worse. I willed my legs to keep pedaling as the incline went steadily up. Several riders were pulling off the road to rest while several others decided to walk their bikes up. I fought the temptation to do likewise and just kept pedaling.
Finally, reaching the summit the wind was really blowing and it had gotten pretty cold. It was amazing the temperature difference between even Park City and the top of Guardsman. I don't think that could be good for the system to feel such changes. After a brief water stop on the summit I quickly plunged down into Big Cottonwood Canyon. I wasn't feeling the greatest by this point and I began having worries about finishing with Little Cottonwood still to come. The decent was long and the wind was blowing directly up canyon which slowed me down some. I thought maybe this was good because maybe the wind would be blowing up Little Cottonwood, meaning it would be and my back.
After hitting the valley I began the climb to the mouth of the Canyon. I had serious thoughts about quitting at this point. The only thing that kept me from not doing so was the thought that Jen had probably already made the drive up to Snowbird and would be waiting for me with the kids. I thought they would be mad if they had to drive down after already going up and waiting. So I kept going. The wind was coming from the south like it usually did in the valley so now it was in my face again which didn't help the moral. At this point I also started to worry about not getting to the end before the pro peloton did. That's always the goal after all, besides finishing.
Upon arriving at the mouth of the canyon I noticed that Infinite Cycles had set up a tent. A teammate who didn't ride that day rushed out with his kids to give me the first cold water I'd have all day. He also gave me an ice pack to put on my neck. It was so relieving and welcome sight. It gave me just what I needed to keep going. Talking to him I asked about what time they were expecting the pro's to come through and he said in about an hour. This made me worried thinking that they'd catch me but first things first, I had to try to concentrate on just finishing.
So up the last canyon I went knowing that I was undernourished and weak and that this climb was hard even when you are fresh but I just told myself I'd keep pedaling as long as my legs would do it. It was really warm again by this point but the ice pack helped. Several people were again pulling off the side of the road to rest but I knew if I did it would be really hard to start up again. I began marking points up the road to try to concentrate on and then once there marking another point in a way to break up the ride mentally. It was a dark time. As I went further up crowds of people began to form waiting for the pros and by doing so made it impossible for me to stop anyway as this would've looked so bad in my mind. So then it became my pride that kept me going.
After passing Tanner's Flat and getting all sorts of encouragement and the occasional push I knew the worst was over and I'd make it to the finish. The grade gets less intense by then and with 3k to go I began counting down to the finish. I crossed the finish line to see Jen and the kids cheering and ringing bells along with the crowd. Riding with a crowd cheering you on is a very cool feeling and probably the best part of the Ultimate Challenge. Though I know it's not me they are really there to cheer, it's the closet thing I can imagine to being in a real "tour" race.
I ended up getting to the finish before the pros. After getting a bite to eat and sitting in the tent I watched on the big t.v. as they were just going over the top of Guardsman and into Big Cottonwood. Still, I am amazed at how fast they did the race. Over 2 1/2 hours quicker than myself. Compared to last year, this year's was definitely harder but on the up side, I didn't feel like throwing up at the end like I did last year. I very much had an appetite at the end. I should have eating more during the race. A good thing to note for Lotoja. As for how I'm feeling now? I feel great. Not terribly sore and I did a little recovery ride this morning. I'll take this as a good sign. Anyway, the stats:
Not the best video but you get the idea.
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| The team at the starting line at Snowbasin (photo by Ken Dawson) |
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| I was looking rough after the ride. |
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