2010 Tour of Utah - Prologue

Here are just of few of my good pics from the Tour of Utah Prologue. Man those guys are fast! And a big hand for the Utah guys that are racing it... some of which I raced with a few years ago and while I've stayed in the same category since then, they've moved on up and turned pro :-)

Start/Finish area

And here are a few of the big names in the group:

Levi Leipheimer

George Hincapie (he deserves two shots because I like him so much)

Francisco Mancebo (ex-Pro Tour professional now racing with Utah's own Canyon Bicycles)

U of U/Bikes for Kids Omnium

Here's the press release for the event I'm in charge of on March 26-27, 2010. It's coming up! Let me know if you are interested in volunteering or participating!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bikes for Kids Utah Hosts First-Annual Omnium With University of Utah Cycling Team Proceeds from the event's time trial will benefit the Bikes for Kids Utah mission to give Bikes to second-grade students SALT LAKE CITY - Feb. 25, 2010 - Bikes for Kids Utah today announced details of the University of Utah/Bikes for Kids Utah Omnium, the first of its three annual fundraising events. This series of three bike races will be held Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27 throughout Salt Lake County, and produced in partnership by Bikes for Kids Utah and the University of Utah cycling team. Proceeds from the Hill Climb Time Trial on March 27 will support Bikes for Kids Utah while proceeds from the Criterium and Circuit Race will support the University of Utah cycling team. "Developing our annual time trial into a three-stage, USA Cycling-sanctioned event is a great opportunity to draw more cyclists to the Bikes for Kids cause and for local cyclists to compete against each other in multiple racing disciplines," said Debbie Reid, founder and president of Bikes for Kids Utah. "We're working hard to make this a quality event that draws amateur and collegiate cyclists from around our conference." All USA Cycling, Utah Cycling Association (UCA), Intermountain Collegiate Cycling Conference (IMCCC) and cyclists who like riding in charity events are invited to participate in the three-stage omnium events to earn racing points and to raise money to buy new bikes for Utah children. Descriptions of the stages follow below: Stage 1: Electric Park Criterium Photo credit: Bradlee Duncan Friday, March 26 at 12 p.m. Starts in Thanksgiving Point's Electric Park at 3003 Thanksgiving Way in Lehi, Utah The criterium race track consists of an 11-cornered, closed loop through Electric Park and the surrounding roads. Each lap of the spectator-friendly course is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) that ends in front of the Electric Park pavilion. Riders will race between eight and 35 laps depending on their category, taking about 20 to 75 minutes to complete the race. Stage 2: Hill Climb Time Trial Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 a.m. Starts at the intersection of Bangerter Parkway and 13800 South in Draper, Utah. The climb travels up Traverse Ridge Road and finishes at the intersection of Traverse Ridge Road and Deer Ridge Drive. The four-mile (6.4 km) time trial course has an elevation gain of more than 1,300 feet (396 m) with 10 percent to 12 percent grades in some locations. Stage 3: Circuit Race Saturday, March 27 at 1 p.m. Starts at Early Light Academy at 11709 S. Vadania Dr., South Jordan, Utah Starting and finishing in Daybreak Utah, the race loop is 12 miles (19.3 km) and includes one 600-feet (188.8 m) climb. The route will take competitors up to the Kennecott Copper Mine, past Butterfield Canyon and through the Herriman area back to the finish. Riders will race between two and seven laps around the circuit depending on their category. Registration for these events opens February 25 at sportsbaseonline.com and closes for the Criterium and Time Trial on Friday, March 26 at 11 a.m. and for the Circuit Race on Saturday, March 27 at 12 p.m. Please register in advance, as there is no on-site registration at any of the Omnium events. The registration fee for each race is $25 and $65 for the entire omnium before March 1. Collegiate cycling discounts are available with collegiate cycling license. Any Bikes for Kids Utah supporters that want to make a $5, $15 or $30 donation to the organization can do so at sportsbaseonline.com. "We have really enjoyed working with Bikes for Kids Utah the past several years and are glad to increase our commitment to the organization's mission," said Brad Duncan, race director of the University of Utah cycling team. "Together we're planning and promoting strong events that will help get more Utah kids on bikes and strengthen Utah's cycling community." For information about joining USA Cycling, UCA or IMCCC teams and participating in rides sanctioned by the governing bodies, please visit usacycling.org. More information about Bikes for Kids Utah is available at www.bikesforkidsutah.com. More information about University of Utah cycling is available at www.utahcycling.org. About Bikes for Kids Utah Bikes for Kids Utah is a non-profit organization formed in 2006 that provides bicycles for underprivileged children throughout the Salt Lake Valley. It generates support for its cause through its event registration proceeds, auctions, and private and corporate donations. Bikes for Kids' annual bicycle fundraising events, including casual road rides, timed road races and a dinner auction, raise money to provide 1,000 underprivileged children with new bicycles each year. For more information about the events, please visit www.bikesforkidsutah.com or call 801.656.0472. Details about the Bikes for Kids Utah Fundraising Rides, held in conjunction with its bike giveaway on Saturday, May 8, 2010, and its fall dinner auction are forthcoming. ### MEDIA CONTACTS: Elizabeth O. Hurst, 801.656.0472 (work)/ 408.386.8168 (mobile) ehurst@soarcomm.com Chip Smith, SOAR Communications, 801.656.0472 (work/) 801.597.7515 (mobile), csmith@soarcomm.com or Debbie Reid, Bikes for Kids Utah, 801.232.2681, debrareid@mac.com Brad Duncan, U of U Cycling Race Director, 801.836.8079, bradleeduncan@gmail.com

Our team was nominated by USA Cycling as the Collegiate Team of the Month for March. It sure is nice to see the hard work paying off, now if I can just have the weather hold out for our race on March 26-27, we'll be in good shape! See below for the USA Cycling Write-up, the original can be found here
Notice GB's photo credit at the bottom :-) Good work G!

Team of the Month

University of Utah

Essay by Joel Hsia, Team President

The University of Utah Cycling Club is the classic story of a developing group that has overcome long odds to firmly establish itself in collegiate cycling. Founded in late 2004, Utah Cycling started out as a group of students who paid out of their own pockets to travel, race, and ride. Fond stories are still told about the early years of racing in jerseys with a block “U” duct-taped on, and even resorting to wearing jerseys belonging to campus parking enforcement. -- Utah Cycling is now self-supported and is able to assist riders in the costs of racing.

Like any club-level organization, Utah Cycling owes its survival to the dedication of its members and officers. It is labor and love from committed individuals that allows Utah Cycling to continue. One particular 2006-2007 school year marks a time of great struggle, when the team nearly fell apart from lack of a governing body. Utah Cycling's advice to other small clubs or teams is that above all else, a solid group of leaders is the most important thing to have.

Beyond racing, Utah Cycling places value in supporting local community and organizations. Throughout 2009, on top of participating in charity rides, the club spent time promoting bicycle safety with young children of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Utah Cycling is also an active supporter for Bikes for Kids Utah, an organization that provides children with free bicycles to help them play, exercise, get to school, and develop hobbies. One of Utah Cycling's top highlights is currently laying claim to being faster than rival-school BYU at the annual Red vs Blue charity hill climb. Proceeds from this community-involved event benefit the Bikes for Kids Utah group.

Utah Cycling's major race accomplishments include consistent qualification for road and mountain nationals. The club is home to and has turned out globally ranked riders such as Mitchell Peterson, Rob Squire, and former MTB national champion Heather Holmes. Utah Cycling had spectacular results at 2009 RMCCC road conference finals, with multiple podium wins in all categories and disciplines. With a great group of riders, and transition into the new Inter-Mountain conference, Utah Cycling looks forward to 2010 and beyond.

Utah would like to recognize and thank the following organizations for their continued support throughout many years: Mass Mutual, Blackbottoms Cyclewear, CycleSmith SLC, and Ritchey Design.

Utah Cycling
www.utahcycling.org

Photo credits, top to bottom: Gina Duncan, Katie Gasser, and SOAR Communications

Just a few shots

I haven't been taking too many pictures lately but Gina has been a bit busy.


Red vs. Blue Hill Climb (might have some pics at some point, results here)

Lotoja 2009 (results)

Harvest Moon Criterium (results aren't published yet but I got 8th in that too)

Guess 8th place is my lucky number this year no matter the race.

PS, I do not like how Google handles pictures on blogs and I don't want to take the time to fix it, sorry for the graininess.

Tour of Park City

A few of us from the U of U Cycling Team volunteered to be mobile course marshals for the "Felt Tour de Park City" back on August 1. We had a great time riding the course after all the other groups had passed through (essentially sweeping the course). The idea was that we could help patch tires, tend to crashes (if any), and help riders with mechanical problems... the irony of it all is that we didn't fix anybody's tires except our own. To be more specific, between just two of us (out of 4 of us total), we ended up with 7 flats during the 170 mile ride! I normally average 1 flat per year, go figure.

We still had a great time throughout the whole thing and I was super-impressed with how well the race/ride was organized. The organizers and sponsors did a great job with great aid station food, good support staff and vehicles, and a well-organized start/finish area. Looking forward to next year... maybe I'll race it next year :-)

Stats:
7 flat tires (4 for me, or was it 3...? hmm)
277 km (172 miles)
2,344 m (7,690 ft) elevation gain

Park City > Coalville > Evanston > Mirror Lake Highway > Kamas > Park City

(Click for larger map)

Gearing Up

For some reason back in May I had a funny urge to go to some website called www.lotojaclassic.com and register. Knowing full well that I'd, of course, never get in via the lottery as a category 4 racer in America's longest single-day road race, I was signed up within minutes of going to the website. The reality sank in while sitting at a friend's house idly checking my email on my phone and low and behold an email from Lotoja Classic came in telling me I was in. So here I am just a bit more than a month away from the race and I'm just trying to squeeze in as many miles in the saddle as I can.

Luckily, a friend from high school said that he and some other friends were going on a good solid ride on Saturday wondering if I wanted to come. Having been only 1 week away from lounging on a sailboat for 10 days, I gladly said YES! (was I thinking?) At the end of the ride I ended up with the following...

Stats:
Distance: 138 km (85 mi)
Vertical feet gained: 1,813 m (5948 ft)
# of riders: 6

Map:
Elevation Profile:

Tour of Park City Route added!

See my bike routes post by clicking the link or look over to the left at the top of the column to access it. Each link on that page will take you to an interactive map of the route.

The Tour of Park City route is linked under the "Summit County" section on that page.

Getting excited about the ToU this August

Tour of Utah - Tyler Hamilton

I got a few good pics from the Tour of Utah, and I finally got around to processing them. Here's my favorite one that I got from the race. Corner #1 in the Friday night Criterium in downtown SLC.

Rock Racing's own, Tyler Hamilton:

Tour of Utah Final - Local brings home the win!

The Tour of Utah turned into quite the nailbiter towards the end of Stage 4. With Salt Lake native Jeff Louder putting in a major attack on the lead group of riders to catch and pass Blake Caldwell (overall leader at the time) on the final climb up to Snowbird Ski Resort. After Stage 4, Louder was only 7 seconds down from Caldwell with a short time trial to come in Stage 5. After 14,000+ feet of grueling elevation gain on Saturday, the racers headed out to Miller Motorsports Park on Sunday to finish things up with a short and fast time trial of 12km around the LHM track and surrounding area to finally finish in front of the grandstands on the butter-smooth asphalt of the world-class racetrack. In the end, Louder knocked off 8 seconds from Blake Caldwell's previous 7 second lead leaving Louder wearing the yellow jersey on the final podium.



What a great race, and congratulations to Jeff Louder, representing for the "801".

Pics of Stage 2 and 3 to come soon from me. More pics on Cyclingnews.com and Velonews.com

Tour of Utah - Stage 3 video

Thanks to thefredcast for this great video of the Tour of Utah Stage 3 in downtown Salt Lake City.



Full results can be found at this link on Cyclingnews.com Here's a short quote from their write-up:

"Argentina's speedster, Ricardo Escuela of Successful Living, treated the crowds to a sprint showdown, winning the bunch kick ahead of Fast Freddy Rodriguez (Rock Racing) and Jonny Clarke (Toyota-United)."

Stage 2 short update and Stage 3 tonight in SLC!

Stage 2 yesterday was amazing, I got some great pics that I'll post as soon as I get some time. See the write-up on Cycling News to read about Stg. 2.

Stage 3 is the spectator-friendly criterium starting and finishing at Pioneer Park in downtown SLC tonight. Start time is at 7pm. Then stay for the Friday night movie in the park starting at 9pm.

Tour of Utah - Stage 2 Intro

Stage 2 is tomorrow, and it's the first brutal mountain stage of the Tour of Utah.

Stats:
Distance: 137km (84.6 mi)
Elevation: 3,226m (10,585 ft)

Three cruel climbs evenly spread throughout the day with the first coming at mile 6. Then one minor climb just 8 miles from the finish to smack the racers around one more time before the long downhill approach to the finish at the U of U Orthopedic Center. Should be a great race. Best places to watch are the top of each mountain pass, especially the decisive and aptly-named "Big Mountain." Click the map below for an interactive approach to the race course map.

Watch for early attacks on the climb up North Ogden Canyon with more serious attacks coming on the second climb on the backside of Mt. Ogden, and finally the climb up Big Mountain starting at about mile #62 will surely have fireworks all the way up it.

Tour of Utah - Opening Day

Just a quick update, Cycling News has posted the page for the Tour of Utah. Check it out here for updates, photos, etc.

So far in stage 1, a breakaway of 3 has gone off the front and one rider bridged up at about mile 55. Breakaway had a gap of about 6 minutes last I heard. Listen online at The Fan Sports Network for updates every 30 minutes or so.

***Update***

The break stayed away but dropped back down to 3 riders.

Final after Stage 1
1st - Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle)
2nd - Sheldon Deeney (The Fan Network Composite Team)
3rd - Brad White (Successful Living)

Tomorrow is a fairly big mountain stage with 10,000 feet of vertical climbing. I'll be watching from the top of Big Mountain!

Flashback - 2006 Tour of Utah

Just a few snapshots of mine that I found from the 2006 Tour of Utah.

Heading up the Alpine Loop:


Arriving at Snowbird:

Tour of Utah - Stage 1

When:
Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 10 am

Stats:
Distance: 162 km (101.2 mi)
Elevation Gain: 1,478m (4851 ft)
3 intermediate sprints (mile 40, 72, 87)
1 intermediate climb (mile 60)

Starts in Nephi and heads towards Fairview canyon.

Best places to watch:
See TOU website here

The Tour of Utah is Back!

After a brief hiatus last year, the Tour of Utah professional bike race is back this year. (next week in fact!) This year is "bigga' and betta' than ever"! A $75,000 prize purse and plenty of bragging rights up for grabs makes this race the "Richest Race in America". The race is now on the National Race Calendar which means that more mainstream professional bike teams will be vying for National points. Over the course of the 5 day/5 stage race, riders will cover 336 miles with 30,000 feet of climbing.

Routes Post

This is just a post for me to put links to various bike (mostly road) routes. I'll update this as I discover more fun routes to ride. Check back often.

Salt Lake County
Faultline Ride (Interval workout)
SL Valley Ride 'o Round
Wasatch Mtn. Loop
The Big 5
Marina Run. Some of the flattest riding along the Wasatch Front.
Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah's own "Alpe d'Huez". Almost the same elevation gain and distance as the famous Tour de France climb.
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Traverse Ridge Rd. (Connect to Suncrest Rd. in Utah County)
Millcreek Canyon (note that half-way up the gate is closed until June and may have snow until then)
SLC to Park City (via Emigration Canyon)
Emigration Canyon (just to Little Mountain)
Emigration Canyon (all the way to Big Mountain)
Rocky Mountain Raceway (RMR) Criterium Course
DMV Criterium Course (course layout can vary from week to week)
Potential 2009 RMCCC Championship Crit Course
My commute to/from work (less ambitious version)
My commute to/from work (more ambitious version)
My commute to/from work (MOST ambitious version)
Tour of Utah Preview ride with Utah County friends

Utah County
Suncrest Rd. (Connect to Traverse Ridge Rd. in Salt Lake County)
Utah Lake Century
The Gauntlet
The Nebo Loop
Sundance Hill Climb Route
Alpine Loop
South Fork Provo Canyon
Squaw Peak

Juab County
Tour of Utah 2008 - Stage 1 Route

Morgan County
East Canyon Road Race 2008

Summit County
Tour of Utah 2008 - Stage 4 Route
Tour of Park City

Tooele County
Potential 2009 RMCCC Championship TTT Course

Weber County
Tour of Utah 2008 - Stage 2 Route
Mt. Ogden Race Course



More to come!

Mmmmm

Il Stelvio in Northern Italy - Grazie allo "Rouleur Magazine" per la bella immagine. (need I say more?)

Hmm, I wonder which one rides?

I just love shots like this. Anybody care to make a wager at which one might be the cyclist?