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East Canyon Road Race |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Troy Nye
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Thursday, 03 May 2007 |
East Canyon Road Race
Salt Lake City, UT
April 28, 2007
 | | Troy has his game face on... Scared? That is OK, neither was anybody else. |
Several weeks ago, I emailed Dave with the profile for the East Canyon Road Race. He emailed me back with a picture of a La Chupacabra. Eerily similar, I must admit! Coincidence? Maybe. Dave, Vince and I were all signed up for the CAT 5 race. Sadly, upon checking in, we learned that Dave and Vince would be starting in the first CAT 5 wave, while I would have to wait about 20 minutes for the second.
The Course
 | | Sweet Campeon! And look - two water bottles - at least for the time being. |
It was a 58 mile out-and-back course with 3700 vertical. While the total climbing is not really overwhelming, the punchiness and placement of the hills certainly can be. The first and steepest climb comes at mile six, so it goes quickly from a basically neutral rollout, to a blood-spurting-out-of-your-eyes show of manhood. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would really want to break away this early, but everyone seems to want to show how tough they are. After five miles of descending and about 35 more miles of rollers comes a long, steep at times, climb of around five miles. This would prove to be the decisive climb of the day. The last several miles are made up of the reverse direction of the aforementioned 6 mile rollout, and finally, a nice civilized 1k 7% uphill finish; no crazy bunch sprints here.
Dave’s and Vince’s Story
 | | Big VJ bringing it home. |
In a nutshell – Disaster! At the worst possible time, on a very warm, dehydrating day, Dave dropped his nearly full water bottle just a mile or two before the initial steep climb. Being the consummate teammate that Vinnie is, of course he stayed back to help pace Dave back to the group. Normally, 95% of the time, this would be no problem, but not today. Closing in on a very tough, punchy climb, the group accelerated just as Dave and Vince stopped. Working together they were able to bridge back to the group just as the climb began. Being completely pinned from the chase, and having no time to sit on and recover, they had no chance to stay with the group on the 12% grade and were dropped badly just seven miles in. 51 miles of chasing, and no catching - that pretty much sums it up. Others may have gotten better results, but I doubt any got a better workout.
My Story
 | | La Chupacabra? |
With both water bottles safely in my cages, I was able to retain contact with the lead group, and even help reel in several attacks for the first 48-50 miles or so. On the decisive climb of the day, however, I was cooked. I stayed with the leaders for the first 2 miles but just could not keep the pace. I felt good; I didn’t really crack, I just could not muster up the strength to hold the pace of the climbers. On the 6 mile flat before the final 1k climb to the finish, I was in a very fast group of 6. We managed to limit our losses pretty well and I finished 13th of around 40 at about 2 minutes back. I’ll take it!
Interesting Side Note
While I didn’t spot any La Chupacabras - not that there weren’t any, I’m just saying I didn’t see them - there was a Saul Raisin sighting out on course. Not racing, just riding around in his Crédit Agricole kit. It seems he has fallen for the sister of Salt Lake City’s own David Zabriskie (Team CSC). They, in fact, are engaged to be married next year. Their children ought to have some pretty impressive lungs, wouldn’t you think? Look for Jr. Raisin to win the Tour in 2033.
Troy
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; "Troy has his game face on... Scared? That is OK, neither was anybody else.")
; "Sweet Campeon! And look - two water bottles - at least for the time being.")
; "Big VJ bringing it home.")
; "La Chupacabra?")
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