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Porcupine Hill Climb |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Tim White
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Wednesday, 18 July 2007 |
Porcupine Hill Climb
Big Cottonwood, UT
July 8th, 2007
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This year’s Big Cottonwood Hill Climb had a lot of things going for it. An early start and a climb to 8,750 feet would provide some escape from daily temps hitting around 100. The race starts at a restaurant (Porcupine Pub and Grill) and after finishing at the top of the canyon, you can ride back down to the start for breakfast.
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This year’s race even had a comeback story. Pro Racer Saul Raisin (Credit Agricole) who suffered a horrific crash last year made the Porcupine Hill Climb his return to racing. (Info about Saul's crash.) He was at the start signing copies of his new book “Tour De Life” and rode in the licensed race that started at 8:00a.m. (Info on Saul's ride.)
The race is about 14.7 miles long, gaining 3,800 feet in elevation. There are a couple of flatter sections, but not many.
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The citizen’s start was at 7:15a.m. Troy Nye and I settled in near the front of the pack. There were over 220 riders in the citizens’ race so it took a little while for the pack to shake out. We had one of the stiffer headwinds I’ve ridden into in that canyon so drafting played a big role. The canyon hits a steep long section a few miles in at Storm Mountain which reduced the lead pack to about 5. The group was still working together pretty well and we were making good time considering the wind. About ¾ of the way up we were down to four and on one of my turns at the front I gradually ramped up the speed a few miles per hour to see how the others would adapt, and we dropped rider #4. With only 3 of us left, there was more riding side by side and the suffering was settling in. Closing in on Solitude ski resort, rider #3 had dropped off and managed to stay close by for a stretch. At the lower entrance to Solitude with a little less than two miles to go, I jumped and was able to open a gap. #2 started to close it after I had settled into a pace, but I was able to up the pace again and hang on for the win at Brighton ski resort by a little over 30 seconds at 1hr 12 min 27 seconds. Troy came in 9th in the 40+ category of over 60 starters at 1hr 20 min and 32 seconds. Honorable mention goes to unofficial Team Bikeman member; my lovely wife Melanie who finished at 1hr 42 min and 40 seconds taking minutes off her last year’s time and 10th place in the women’s 30-39 category. Full results can be found at Pocupine Cycling.com.
Tim
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