Chalk Creek Road Race

With it being the State Championship Road Race for Masters and Juniors, there were some larger than normal Masters Categories. The weather was much better this year than last years 95 degree temps. 

DC tried and tried to get into or set-up a break and finally succeeded in getting into the winning 4 man break in the Cat 3's 80 mile race.  Matt played the dutiful team mate and sat in and did nothing. DC ended up with a 3rd place in his first real Cat 3 race. 

After the race, DC was quoted saying "It was a hard fast race, but my legs felt good so i knew i had to have a go. After we finally established the break, my legs were on fire, but I just stayed focused. Unfortunately didn't have the legs for the final kick at the end but i can learn from this race and build on it for next time."

The Cat 4's and Cat 5's saw some fast action and some good attacks, but nothing strong enough to stay away for the full 50 miles. Both races came down to an uphill bunch sprint with Brandon Perry slotting in at 4th in the 5's.

The Masters 35B Category was the largest field of the day and we had some good numbers there from our team.  After several furious attacks for the first 15 miles proved fruitless, the race settled down a bit for the next 10 miles until the turnaround. Kracht tried a few times to get away but there were a few guys at the front of the group that weren't going to let him go.  The most dangerous rider in the group was from Spin Cycling and we had some great teamwork to get on his wheel when he attacked or guys to shutdown any of his attacks. In the end, this race also stayed together for an uphill, bunch sprint. Seth ended up coming around the wheel in front of him about mid way up the 3/4 mile finishing climb and was able to hold off the field to be crowned the Masters 35B state champ with Brandon Judd coming in 5th.

After the race, Seth said "I was hoping to get Kracht into a break so that his Cyclocross conditioning could take over and he could drill it to the line. Unfortunately the right guys never got up the road together. Crayk took over and worked at the front like an animal keeping it together until the last corner. After all of the work he did, I just had to give it my all."

HYPOTHERMIA CLASSIC or HIGH UINTAS STAGE RACE

Skull Candy had a good showing in the first stage; the “over the top” or Kamas to Evanston Road Race. Skull Candy was represented with racers in a variety of categories including: Cat 5, Cat 4, Masters 35+ B, Masters 55+, Competitive Citizens and Cat 4 women. Before the race began the weather was a big question mark. There were some light sprinkles with looming dark clouds and everyone was questioning how to dress. Before the Cat 4’s started Gary Bywater (the race official) commented on how lucky we were. He said the group before us had the storm following them up the mountain. As he is saying this, everyone is looking behind him at the big dark cloud rolling our way and not feeling lucky at all. As the race got started the roads were fairly dry and everyone was pulling arm warmers and vests off. However, as the steepest pitches of the climb began, so did the rain. At first it started out as a drizzle, but by the time most were cresting the summit, the deluge had begun. Tyler K. bagged the KOM going over the top almost 2 minutes ahead of the chasing group, proving to those who don't know...that boy can climb!
Needless to say, vest and arm warmers began to come back on and the smart ones pulled out their rain capes. The decent was treacherous, not because of the steep pitch or winding roads, but because the hypothermia began to set it. At this point the battle became more than just physical endurance; it became a mental battle of will. Every rider was shaking uncontrollably and struggling to keep their bike upright. Vision was blurred and several were seeing stars. Everyone tried to push on, but soon legs were turning blue, heart rates were skyrocketing and body temperatures were plummeting. Somewhere around the 2nd feed zone the smart ones pulled the plug. Those who were to stupid or crazy continued on. At the finish they opened up the Evanston Hospital so all the riders could take shelter and warm up. They provided nice big warm blankets/towels and hot chocolate. However, the hypothermia shakes ensured that most of the hot chocolate ended up on the floor. Everyone was glad to be done and no one wanted to see their bikes for a while.
As it turned out, those with earlier start times fared better than those with later ones. While some citizen categories had completely dry rides, the cat 4 and 5 groups took a drink from the fire hose.
Due to the circumstances of the day, the race promoters chose to modify the stages that would count towards overall General Classification Standings. They determined that the Road Race and the TT would be the only stages counting toward GC. The crit would be run as an independent race. Probably smart on their part as the crit field could have been pretty small considering those who abandoned the road race.

At the start of the TT conditions looked threatening again, and it was raining hard again by 9 am. Matt Bradley took 2nd in the Cat 4, TT finishing only 3 seconds behind the winner, he was on fire. Nice Job Matt! I guess that new speedy TT machine is doing him well.

State Road Championships

You can't make this face and take second.
Luckily for DC, he took 1st place in the sprint which makes him the Cat 4 State Champion, and makes that face justifiable.
Now if someone could just teach DC to zip up his jersey for the finishing sprint pictures, he would be set. Nice work!


Congrats likewise to Mike Kracht for a podium finish in the 35+B category with 3rd place.

Garden Creek Gap Road Race

A few guys made the looong drive up to Arimo, ID to do the Garden Creek Gap race on Saturday. The weather was perfect and the road was dotted with fresh cow manure from someone moving their cattle from one pasture to another on that morning before the race started.

They changed the course this year so everybody did one less climb but making it logistically better to have the start and finish at the same place instead of 8 miles apart.

Kracht was up in front for the whole race and felt good about making the selection up the 2nd climb, taking 4th place in the final uphill push for the line in the 35+b race.
In the cat 4 race, matt and DC attacked early and often, on the first lap. The first climb got it down to 8 riders with our eric and tyler in the lead group. Seth came over the climb a few seconds later but spent the first half of the second lap trying to chase back on to the lead 8. After a few guys got together, seth got on with 3 others making the lead group 12 strong. They kept the pace fast enough to stay away from the rest of the pack that was chasing behind. Matt and DC sat on and watched everbody burn themselves up right before the climb the second time. The lead group had enough to charge up the hill the second time with tyler taking 2nd at the line and eric not far behind in 7th.Tyler holding his 2nd place envelope of what turned into gas money for the long drive home
This happened to matt at the 1km to go mark. He was happy that although he walked the last kilometer, he still did not take last.

Stan Crane Memorial Draper Mtn Bike race

The original plan for the Stan Crane ICUP race was basically 3 laps up Clarks and 3 Laps down Ghost Falls. I think everyone was both excited and terrified to be racing this course. Last year if you remember the rain postponed the event from the originally scheduled monday, memorial day to a mid-week wednesday night race. This year looked as if the same thing would happen. At 7am the emails started coming in saying the start times would be moved back an hour to let the course dry. This would have put the start time at 10am. As it got closer to 10am, it was decided that the course would have to be “modified” to protect the crown jewel trails of Clarks and Ghost Falls. This modification to most everyone was not well received as it was thought the new route would be “flat and boring”. The groups would also be split into 2 starting flights. The Sport/Beginners would go at 11:15 and the Expert/Pros would go at 1:00pm.

The new race route, as it turned out, was neither flat nor boring (1000 ft of vertical per lap and a screamer downhill). Skullcandy had some good representation at the event and would have even been stronger if the event would have started on time (a bunch of guys had Memorial Day plans with the family that trumped racing). All in all it was a great course and a ton of fun. Attached is a map of the route. Here are some of the results from the team.

9 & Under
Kassidy Johnson-14th

Sport 19-29
Adam Clark-10^th (first race ever and chose the optional lap with the Sport 30-34 group)

Sport 35-39
Robert Johnson-2^nd
Tyler Seamons-12^th (first race ever)

Single Speed
Sam Clark-3^rd

East Canyon

We certainly had numbers for both the 4's and 5's. 

The weather looked menacing but it cooperated during the whole race and waited until we were back at the cars before snowing.

Most of the 4's were content to parade out to the turn around and back to the climb before letting the fireworks begin. Matt wasn't about to let that happen. After setting a good pace up the first climb and then sending attack after attack on the way out, we knew not much would stick but wanting to soften the legs of a few of the good sprinters that like to go to the front and bring back the attacks. Besides, who really wants to ride for 2.5 hours in z 3 just to sprint it out? 

 On the way back, we attacked some more and even got a little help from the Spin boys to help animate the race, but in the end it came down to the final climb. A few got off the front and Tyler brought some of them back, but not all. We had 3 in the top 10 in the 4's and 3 in the top 10 in the 5's with Luper taking a strong 2nd.

Hell fo the North Race

The race lived up to it's name.
With snow coming down at the start of the 4 and 5 race, it was going to be an epic race of attrition.
Many of the racers opted to ride cyclocross rigs due to the mud and gravel conditions on the west section.
Our team controlled the 4 race which started with around 35 guys. After repeated attacks and driving the tempo, the Skull Candy team whittled it down to about a dozen riders in the final of 5 laps.
Unfortunately with many of our team going with cyclocross bikes, the gearing did not lend itself well to a bunch sprint.
We did have 4 of the top 10 spots but missed the top three by 1.
In the cat 5 race we had a 4th, a 7th and one who was just happy to finish.
We are Looking forward to the tour of the depot stage race next weekend and controlling the race and doing some damage. We should be out in full force in the 4's and 5's and getting some upgrade points.
after a bold move and attacking and being off for half of the last lap, Mike Luper built up 150 meter gap on the gravel section, but got caught by the chasing peleton with 100 meters to go and came in 4th.

the kits look great even covered in mud

TIMING CHIP REMINDER

The first races of the year are fast approaching! All riders racing UCA events this year will be required to purchase or rent a timing chip.

You can purchase your chip HERE

Enter the discount code wtuca08 to receive your special UCA discount.

The price is $40.95. This is a one time charge, and the chips will be good for several years. This is a small price to pay for more accurate and timely scoring.

Chips will be available at UCA events for the one-day rentel fee of $10.00, Sportsbase will have representatives there at assist you if you don't want to purchase a chip and need to rent one.

You MUST use a credit card if you want to rent a chip at the races. Please be aware of this fact.