Snowbird Ultra Hill Climb

     I had one more recovery day before the Snowbird Hill Climb and our final weekend in Utah. I wanted to ride my Racer-X to make sure everything was working fine. I had not ridden it since we were in Wyoming. Shannon and I did sort of a backyard short track at Gma's for about half an hour. We didn't go hard, just got in some time to loosen up the legs and worked on her skills a little. We played several games like who could make the tightest turn and follow the leader. I think it was good for her skills and let me know that my bike was ready for racing. Then I went out for a spin on the road with a few sprints to open up the legs.

     The Snowbird Hill Climb was in two parts. You started on the road with a mass start and climbed from the town of Sandy up to Little Cottonwood Canyon, then made the right turn and continued up the canyon all the way to the Snowbird Resort. Like the finish to the Tour of Utah stage that ends at Snowbird, our finish line would be at Entry #2 into the resort after about 9.7 miles of climbing that gains 3,240 ft. in elevation, starting at 4,800 ft. and climbing to over 8,000 ft. I had only planned to do that portion of the event initially, but when it came down to registering I went for the Ultra Hill Climb option. For the Ultra you start with the road race, then once you get to Snowbird you change bikes to your mountain bike and continue climbing on gravel roads and trails all the way to the top of Hidden Peak where the resort's highest chairlift goes. The flyer said it would be another four miles of climbing up to an elevation of right at 11,000 ft. That's a lot more elevation gain in just four miles. I couldn't pass on the challenge.

     I went to the packet pick-up on Friday night so I would not have to worry about it on race day. I asked questions about the transition area and was assured it would be easy to find when I got up there, both for me as a racer and for my support group, which was Shannon and Amber.

     Saturday rolled around and we had an early start. It was chilly in the valley and even colder up on the mountain. But still I went with minimal clothing knowing this would be one heck of an effort and it would warm up as the day went on. There were 160 riders on the start line. Results would be classified by overall (male and female) and by normal road categories for the road race portion. Results for the Ultra were overall male and female only.

     All classes were starting together. On the line, someone asked about the markings for the mountain bike course...and nobody knew what it was marked with. One volunteer said arrows, one said orange flags and another said he didn't know if it was even marked. Great. I had never ridden here before and I was possibly going into a race on an unmarked course. One guy went to get us an official answer, but never came back before the start. I had my GoPro on my handlebar, but apparently forgot to charge the battery so I only got about 20 seconds of coverage, all of that before the actual start.

Photo by Snowbird Resort

The one shot I did get before the battery died

     The start was very fast for the first mile. There was one steep roller to go over a mile and that about got me dropped. They sprinted it and I was not ready for that. But then the pace backed down and I was able to recover. After 3.2 miles we reached the right turn onto Little Cottonwood Canyon. There was jockeying for position to get to that turn first because the climb began for real after that. I stayed about 40 riders back and just tried to settle in. I did not expect to do well on this road portion. I'm not the greatest climber in the world, especially not at altitude with a bunch of people that ride mountains every day. There were several Pros present, including Hincapie's Robbie Squire and Scott-3 Rox's Mikaela Kaufman.

     There were some attacks up front that started to splinter the bunch after a half-mile of climbing up the canyon. I found myself dangling off the back of the main group. I would push hard to get to the back only to find that the group ahead had split again and I was still in the second group. By the halfway mark of the climb we were spread out in groups of two or three all over the mountainside. I steadily picked up spots. I struggled on the steeper sections and just tried to hold my ground, but had good legs on the more gradual parts and could bridge to the next group. I got hooked up with two Masters riders in the last mile and we pushed it hard to the finish. Both of them came around me just before the turn onto Snowbird Entry #2. I thought the finish was going to be like it is in Tour of Utah, where you actually descend for 500 meters on the Entry road before the finish line, so I held back waiting for a sprint. But as we crested the rise to the Entry road, there was the finish line. I had no time to sprint so they both beat me. I climbed the 9.7 miles in 53:56. My time up the Little Cottonwood portion was 3:35 faster than my previous best time. I took 25th overall and 5th in Cat. 1/2. I was 6:11 off the best time of 47:45 set by Robbie Squire.

Me leading a group on the road portion of the race

photo by CyclingUtah.com

photo by CyclingUtah.com

photo by CyclingUtah.com

     As I crossed the line I began searching for the transition area. It was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Shannon realized the confusion and was just past the finish line to direct me toward the transition, which was down the hill and through two turns. I never would have found it if she had not been there. None of the race people were directing us. They acted like the race was over at that point. I guess it was for most people because only 31 of the 160 riders continued for the Ultra option.

     Even with Shannon's directions I still lost some time before finding the transition area. Amber was there waiting with my bike. I swapped shoes and my GPS. I had no idea how many people were doing the Ultra and was surprised to hear I was in 6th overall starting the mountain bike portion. There was no trail on the mountain bike course, only steep gravel roads. The bottom was steep, then it backed off some in the middle before getting insanely difficult for the last two miles. It was marked, with chalk arrows on the ground. Those were hard to spot on some of the faster sections.

     There was one section dubbed "The Wall" at about 2.5 miles. I had two riders just ahead of me when I started "The Wall" and one right behind me that had been gaining on me since the transition area. A third of the way up "The Wall" and all four of us were together, but I was the only one riding. "The Wall" is not only steep, but it has huge rocks lying all over it. There is no good line. I had to work really hard to keep my balance, but I managed to clear the entire climb. It was about five minutes of complete hell with me feeling my heart beating in my eyeballs. All those years of trying so hard on "The Wall" at Snake Creek Gap finally paid off! One of the riders I passed said he had never known of anyone that could ride the full climb. I had gained two spots and dropped the rider who was catching me. Cleaning the climb really motivated me and I put out for the next mile to get away from those behind me. I could see one rider ahead was a woman, so I knew I was in a podium spot for the overall men.

View from the bottom of the chairlift as Shannon and Amber rode it up to the finish

Riders on a steep portion of the climb seen from the lift

    It was supposed to be four miles on the mountain bike, but it was becoming clear that this would be well over four miles. At 3.9 miles I was dying and the top was still a long way away. I was forced to back off. I couldn't afford to round a switchback and see another wall with the effort I was putting in. One rider I has passed on "The Wall" caught and passed me at 4.2 miles. I kept him close as we started the last set of switchbacks. I was not really sure where the finish was, but I could hear cheering coming from the top of the chairlift which sits right on the top of the peak.

The finish was at the top of Hidden Peak

The course was that winding gravel road

Mitch Peterson on one of the many switchbacks

Mitch took 2nd overall. He always was a great climber. He and I raced a lot back in 2004 when we were both doing the NORBA National Championship Series in Junior X. He rode for Balance Bar DEVO then.

Peterson

Me and Richard DalCanto battling for third

     As we neared the lift station, I kicked up the pace again and started cutting down the gap to the guy ahead. I was giving it all I had as we went behind the lift station. It looked like we were going to finish right at the top of the peak and I was going to be able to time my sprint perfectly and get him. We rounded the next corner to start that final push to the peak and there was the  finish line. There was some construction going on at the lift station, so we ended at the bottom of it instead of on the actual tip of the peak like I had expected. He beat me by just a few seconds. So close! He had raced this the past three years and his course experience paid off. You can't see the finish line until you are right at it, just like in the road portion of the race. So, I took 5th overall and 4th in Open Male for the full Ultra Hill Climb. I missed the podium by a spot, but was not too disappointed. I never expected to be even in the top half of the field, let alone in the running for a podium spot.

Mikaela Kaufman

Tiny me down there with an awesome backdrop for a mountain bike race

I'm on the last section here

DalCanto takes third with me just behind

     The mountain bike portion wound up being 4.75 miles long with about 2,950 ft. of climbing. In total, the race was about 14.5 miles long with 6,126 ft. of climbing, starting at 4,813 ft. and topping out at 10,939 ft. I finished the full race in 2:04:05, good enough for 8th overall on the Strava leaderboards. Squire won the Ultra as well, completing the full distance in 1:40:46, which was 23:19 faster than I did it. I cannot imagine going that fast. It was a brutal course, maybe the hardest race I have ever done. My legs were DESTROYED at the top! Mikaela Kaufman killed it on the female side of things, winning the Open Women with a 1:55:16, which landed her as the third overall finisher. That's why she's on a World Cup team! You can read about the race here from the guys at Cycling Utah. The article is complete with pictures and even video interviews with the winners, Squire and Kaufman. A photo gallery is posted here.

    One cool thing the resort did do was let support crew for the riders go up the lift to the finish line for free. Shannon and Amber took a free ride up and got several pictures along the way and at the finish line. They took the lift back down to the resort, while I chose to ride to more enjoyment out of these trails without having to ride my guts out. I cheered on the other riders that were still climbing, then turned off onto some of the singletrack trails that go back down to the resort. They were fun little trails with quite a few rocks to keep you on your toes.

     Once back at the resort, I swapped bikes again to do the road descent back to Sandy as well. There was a lot of traffic on the road, so I got held up most of the descent. I nearly got hit by a truck in one corner. It was a sweeping right turn where several cars were parked on the edge of the road. I entered the turn at 40 mph, taking it wide to stay away from those parked cars in case someone walked out into the road. It was a good thing I went in wide because a truck pulled out from the shoulder straight in front of me. I was leaned over and couldn't grab the brakes or I would have slid out into traffic and more parked cars on the opposite side of the road. I ran down the yellow line and split the truck and an oncoming car. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced on a bike. If I had not been perfect I would have died, no doubt about it. Shannon and Amber were directly behind me and would have had to watch me get killed. Of course, the guy in the truck blamed me and then passed me back immediately in a blind turn, nearly running me off into the ditch. I was furious with him, especially since he had a mountain bike in the back of the truck! Of all people a bike rider should know better! Even bike people can be idiots when it comes to driving around bikes. Always look before you pull out, whether in a busy bike place or not!

    I had not been very happy with the amount of riding I got to do in Utah this trip and this ride helped to make the trip a lot better in my mind. Usually, I get in several big days each week when we are in town, but this year I only had two notable rides to speak of since we left Flaming Gorge. It was an awesome way to end our trip. I really did have a lot of fun at this event and think I represented Tennessee well. I hope I get to do it again next year if we happen to be in Utah at that time.