My time in Utah continued as I made the decision to stay the week with Gma. Dairyland was definitely out of the question now with multiple wheelsets needing replacement. I decided to stay in Utah because the weather forecast was awesome. Sunny and warm every day, the opposite of the week before. Snow was still plaguing the upper elevations, but down in the valley riding was good. The Utah Crit Series had no racing last week, but this week there were two crits and a time trial. I may not being going to Dairyland, but I would get to race a couple of crits.
Tuesday night brought a crit over at the DLD, a place I was able to race at a few years ago when Dina and I came out for the Pro XCT race at Soldier Hollow. I really liked the course at the DLD as it had a great mix and variety. It takes place on a driving test course, completely closed to traffic. There were plenty of turns that could be configured all sorts of ways, as well as a big climb and descent. Tonight, there was no climb. It was flat course night, staying at the bottom of the hill on the mock street blocks. The course was short and technical with six turns coming in just over 1/2 mile. Five were left turns, one went right. The final four corners came in quick succession, with the finsih line coming less than 200 meters from the exit of the final turn. It was pancake flat. There was no wind tonight as the hills around the course block most of it even on a windy day.
The A Race (Pro/1/2) had a good field of 18 riders for the 45-minute race. I was a bit nervous as I had not really gone hard since I had been out here. Hopefully by now I was adjusted to the elevation. There were some fast guys on the line that I recognized from other races I have done in the past while out here. The 45-minute distance was not my preferred distance either. I prefer the longer 60+ minute races as the pace is not quite as crazy. Everybody in the Pro/1/2 can hammer 45 minutes. And I wasn't sure what kind of legs I had after doing double trail time the day before when I rode Corner Canyon on the mountain bike and then did the challenging hike up Bells Canyon.
The start was blistering fast. I just tried to hang onto the back the first two laps. It was literally a full sprint. Then things calmed down and we began what felt more like a normal race. There were attacks, chases and counterattacks. The pace was up and down, but manageable. The course was ridiculous fast. The turns were the only thing to slow us down. I stayed near the back of the group early, then moved up about 20 minutes in. I followed a big move which saw me in a break for a lap before we were caught. The counter that followed was big and it was the one that stuck. Just missed it! Four riders made the break. One eventually fell back and was caught by the peloton.
I had great legs in the race. I couldn't tell at all that I had done so much yesterday. I was frustrated at missing the break so I followed everything the last 15 minutes in an effort to get across. I was at my limit several times, but always able to recover. The elevation wasn't too hard on me, I just noticed recovering from those efforts took a few extra seconds. I attacked on the final lap between Turns 1 and 2. I figured if I could hit them first and get to Turn 3 in front it would be very hard to pass until the super short sprint. I was the first to attack and led the group into Turn 2. They were quick to come after me. I didn't really get any gap, but I had the speed high as we hit that final four-turn segment. It worked perfectly except I was out of gas coming off the final turn. I gave what I had, but it was a sad little sprint effort. Still, the plan worked well as the sprint was so short that I only dropped one spot and came home with a very solid top 5. The result made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy as the form is finally coming around. Sad because I was on form and not going to Dairyland. We ended up with a 25.9 mph average speed, which was fast on a course with so many turns.
Wednesday was another race night at the DLD. This time it was climbing night. This course was similar to the first time I raced here, featuring the big climb up to the DLD parking lot. The early races really split up as the hill took its toll on the riders. It was looking like a painful 45 minutes were coming. I was shocked to line up with only two other riders. We had just three total riders tonight. What happened to everyone that came last night? I asked the promoter where they all were and he said nobody ever comes on climbing night. I found that rather comical as this area is known for its climbers and epic mountain climbs. Apparently, riders out here don't like to mix their crits and climbs.
One rider was wanting to go hard so he took off on the start. I was able to follow him, but the third rider fell off the first time up the climb. This climb was a tough one, but thankfully you carried a lot of speed into it. If you got out of the saddle and went on up the hill it was only about 15-20 seconds of climbing. But the course was so fast that it was only a little over one minute before you had to go up it again. The two of us worked together for about 20 minutes. My companion for the day was a top Masters rider in the area training for Masters Nationals. He was the favorite for the Utah State Championship TT coming up the following weekend. They gave us five laps to go before we hit the 25 minute mark. I wanted to do the full race, but everybody else wanted to shorten it. The guy said he wasn't worried about winning and that I could take it, but I refused and told him we were going to race it out. I don't do gifts. I knew he was the stronger rider. I was struggling to hold his wheel up the climb on the laps when I pulled. He punched it up the climb coming to one lap to go and got a little gap on me. I chased hard, but the legs were just not there like yesterday. The adventures of the week were catching up. I chased all the way to the end, but came up short of getting back to him for a sprint up the hill.
We ended at 30 minutes, but I continued to make laps for another 20 minutes to get in a full race effort. That hill was not fun at all by the time I got done. I sprinted it 12 more times before finishing off my legs completely. Everybody had packed up and left when I finished. The gate was still open to the driving course. I heard there may have been a white van seen making some fast laps on last night's crit course. I can neither confirm nor deny those reports.
I was a bit later getting back to the house due to my after-party. Gma was cracking me up talking about being concerned about me being home so late. She said people should be in by 8:30, which is when the race swould have finished if we went full distance. It doesn't even get dark here until around 9 this time of year. I felt like a teenager. I couldn't tell if she was kidding or not when she said she was about to call the police and report me missing. There is no shortage of entertainment when you hang out with Gma!
I had two more days to ride before I was going to start the drive home. I was off work the following week, but I figured I should go home and get some stuff done since I wasn't racing Dairyland. The weather was looking less favorable for next week anyway. I did another double trail day on Thursday. The time trial for that evening was a flat one along the Great Salt Lake, so I chose to pass on that one and hit the mountain bike instead. I went over to Corner Canyon as it was the only trail close that was in great condition. This time I did did repeats up the various canyon climbs. I did the three main climbs and followed them with three different descents. It was a little bit shorter day at a bit shy of 2 1/2 hours, but I hit it hard like an XC.
After my ride, I drove north to hike up to Rocky Mouth Waterfall. This hike is much shorter than going up to Bells Canyon Waterfall, but it is steep and burns the legs after a big week of riding and racing. I hiked this back in 2017 with Shannon and Amber. It was not much more than a trickle then. Today, the snow melt had a good flow of water falling down the rock crevice. It was a bit crowded around the falls. I waited a while so I could get a few pictures of the waterfall without smooching couples in the way.
Friday was a day for a road ride. I opted for climbing Emmigration Canyon out of SLC to the top of Little Mountain, followed by crossing Big Mountain. I turned around around on the north side of the East Canyon Reservoir and climbed the opposite side of both mountains on the return. It was a ride I did back in 2017 as well, one I really enjoyed. Emmigration is fun as it is not too difficult. It's probably the fastest climb I have ridden in the SLC area. Big Mountain is tough, especially on the way out. You get a tough workout and plenty of great views. I completed 53 miles by the time I arrived back at the car.
There were no hiking plans for after this ride, just packing and resting for a long solo drive back to Tennessee. I was finishing packing quickly. Gma had plans for the afternoon, so I went to the movie theater. Shannon and I had seen a movie the previous week. I had been given a gift card and a vacation is about the only chance we get to go to a movie. The gift card paid for not one, but two movies for me. I almost fell asleep in the second one as I was tired from the ride. I grabbed a pizza on the way home so Gma and I could feast one last time. She loves Papa Murphy's so it made her day when I brought it in. It was the least I could do for her allowing me to stay an extra week, and for the apparent worrying I caused her by staying out soooo late. Haha, love you Gma!
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