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2007 Tour de Gap |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Troy Nye
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Wednesday, 12 September 2007 |
2007 Tour de Gap
8/18 - 8/19, 2007
 | | Photo by Beth Jones |
Overview-
With this year’s exit of the ‘Tour of Utah’ and its accompanying amateur stage race ‘The Thanksgiving Point Classic’, the “Tour de Gap” was now, once again, the premier stage race in the region. This is a two day, four stage race through some of the most stunning geography the state of Utah has to offer. I will focus this write up on the first day, stages 1 and 2, while my teammate Vinnie will submit for the final day, stages 3 and 4.
Arrival –
We arrived in Parowan, a tiny town 250 miles south of Salt Lake City, the evening before the race in a torrential downpour. So torrential, in fact, that, due to flash flooding, we were unable to travel up Parowan Canyon that evening to pick up our race packets at the tiny resort town of Brian Head. Not wanting to wait in the long lines that would have surely awaited us in the morning, we decided to take the long way around and get our packets. We picked up the packets and made the long drive back to the valley for the night. That put me in bed about an hour later than I had hoped.
Race day –
The alarm blasted at 6:00 AM. Uncharacteristically, I had slept like a baby. Metaphorically, that is, so don’t go thinking that I messed myself and then laid there screaming all night. I cooked my up some Oatmeal, ate a banana, loaded up the Campeon, and headed back up to Brian Head for the start of stage 1. At 9,700 feet, Brian Head is the highest town in Utah. Some locals even make the ridiculous claim that it is the highest town in the U.S., because, technically, the city boundaries do extend all the way up to Brian Head Peak at 11,307 feet. (Leadville Colorado, by the way, is a legitimate 11,000 feet)
Stage 1 –
Stage 1 was a tough, tough mountain stage so the GC contenders were going to be separated from the GC pretenders right off the bat. Furthermore, the first 4 miles of the race climbed at a rate approaching 15% in places, so the separation was likely to come sooner than later… and that’s exactly what it did. After a nice 1 mile neutral rollout, as soon as the road tilted drastically upward, someone drilled it! Riding very near my limit, I started to lose contact about 2/3 of the way up. I made the conscious decision to let them go thinking I could bring them back on the 15 miles of downhill that was to follow. That proved to be a bad decision and, in fact, by the feed zone at mile 30 I had lost nearly 5 minutes on the leading group of 12. Vinnie, meanwhile, was chasing the chasers at around 2 more back. So now, sitting at around 7000 feet, I and my chase group of 10 started the long 20 mile grind to the finish line at 11,000 feet. Not happy with the slow pace of the group, I recalled one of my favorite cycling truisms, “everyone climbs alone”. I knew somewhere back there Vinnie was doing it. So I went to the front and turned up the heat. One by one my climbing group was reduced to just me and two others, one of which would crash out 2 miles from the finish, while the other would go on to lose the sprint for 10th to me. Vinnie would power along in his own personal pain cave to an 18th place finish.
Stage 2 -
I’ve never really liked criteriums. I don’t know why - fear of the unknown I guess. I just really haven’t done that many of them. I had heard all the stories of mass carnage and just didn’t want to subject my 41 year old collarbones to the risk, I suppose. To my delight, however, this was one of the high points of the race for me. For one thing, my and Vinnie’s wives were able to watch the entire race unfold. That was different. And fun. For another thing, I think I rode it very well… right up until the end that is.
The race was held on the tarmac of the Parowan Airport. The not-so-technical course did, however, feature one 135 degree left turn at the end of a long, fast, straightaway that was further aided by a 25mph tailwind. That was a bit dicey. The crit was 40 minutes long and I think I must have spent the first 37 minutes bouncing between 2nd and 4th wheel. Perfect. I felt very strong and thought I had a great shot for a win. That’s when reality, not to mention my extreme inexperience, kicked in. With 3 to go, sitting 4th wheel, loaded with unspent energy, two lines of racers began to move up on either side of the single file line I was a part of. I was totally blocked in. As the lines made there way further forward, within a single lap, still full of energy, I found myself in the very back of the lead pack, completely unable to make my move. With even less crit experience than me, meaning he had one under his belt while I had two, Vinnie spent the last 23 minutes chasing alone, and pretty much turning himself inside out, in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to not get lapped.
To be continued –
Be sure to find and read Vince’s “Day 2” report for the exciting conclusion!
Thanks for reading.
Troy
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; "Photo by Beth Jones")
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