Friday night we headed downtown to check out the Crit race with all of the cool pros in town for the Tour of Utah. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Tour of Utah, it is a 5-day stage race through the a big chunk of the State.It was pretty awesome to see them fly by, and amazing to watch their speed. Max couldn't get enough of the race. He kept yelling "go go!" "here they come!" and would clap as big and as loud as he could. He had fun being there with his buddy Rex, too. I was really surprised that it kept his interest for the whole hour (something that is virtually impossible)!
On Saturday, Mike had a chance to get a little closer to the action. We woke up at the pre-crack of dawn and headed up to PC for the start of 300 Warriors. These 300 riders got to ride stage 4 (the queen stage) four hours before the pros took off. I dropped Mike and his buddy Will Hanson off at the PC Lodge with the temp at a brisk 40 degrees, and was their SAG for the rest of the ride with Heidi (Will's wife). It was so nice to get to hang out and see him along the way (usually I'm home taking care of maxman). Here they are just leaving Midway:
And, stopped along Wasatch. Mike's co-worker Gary and his wife (on the motorcycle) met up with us and rode to the top to see Will and Mike finish:
The stage was nearly 100 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing (or as Mike said later that day, halfway to Mt. Everest)! While they didn't try to race this one, they finished together in 6.5 hours (which I thought was awesome!). 
We stayed at the top of Snowbird to watch the pros come in - who finished the course about 2 hours faster! And, you could definitely tell those pros raced it, as their faces just look pasty and in serious pain as they made the uphill finish. Local racer Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) won stage 4 and the overall. It was nice to see a local guy beating up on Tour de France riders such as Tyler Hamilton, Will Frishkorn, Oscar Sevilla, and Danny Pate to name few.Here's a photo of Tyler, the closest I've ever been to a pro (nice face!):
Only a few more weeks until cross season starts...I know Mike is already counting down, and I know Max is just as excited for the excuse to go to Wheeler Farm more often!
4 comments:
I think six hours is still faster then I would do a century, and that is without the 15,000 feet of climbing.
Nice Job mike, glad you got to do the 300 warriors and actually finished...(notice my lack of negative road biking comments im about to buy one))
Joe, you know if you buy a road bike you will be totally gay.
wow, that looks epic! crazy amount of climbing. that's so cool they had a prerace bash of locals riding the course. mike's gonna be flying come cross season.
Post a Comment