It was a beautiful day. Cool morning temps gave way to a warm day. I made the drive up with my parents to watch the race. We got there in time to see the start at the Pineview Reservoir. We watched from across the lake at a point that juts out toward the marina where the swim begins. It's not the best vantage point, but then again, nothing is really good outside of having a boat. At least by being on that side of the lake we were not going to get stuck in the traffic that always forms as spectators try to race the riders to the different vantage points on the bike course.
Our view of the swim at XTERRA USA
We raced up the mountain to the first spectator spot just in time to see Craig Evans roll by. He was running 9th at the time. He is from our area in Tennessee and also a regular on the local mountain bike scene. We watched a few riders come by, including the Pro Women's leader Flora Duffy, who already had a big lead. She was actually the 4th person out of the water overall. I was cracking up at my Mom trying to figure out this guy's sign that read "Turn Yourself Inside Out!" She was not getting it at all.
A rider nears the first of the two main climbs on the bike course
Next, we went to the transition area at Snow Basin to catch the leader. It was current XTERRA World Champion Ruben Ruzafa from Spain out front. He had about a minute lead over American Josiah Middaugh. Then it was a HUGE gap back to a battle for third. Craig had moved into 7th by the end of the bike. I almost missed getting a picture of him.
Ruzafa was first off the bike
He had a super smooth and super fast transition
Battle for third
I almost missed Craig yet again. This is the only shot I snagged of him and it is from a distance.
It was a little disappointing to not have the helicopter overhead filming this year. There's just something about the helicopter flying overhead that adds to the excitement! That was a huge expense for the XTERRA crew. To save dough, they instead bought two drones to fly overhead and get the aerial shots. That would have worked great, but they crashed one of them right in the middle of the trail just a few seconds after Craig went by. That's what scares me about drones. At some point, they will come down. And one day, someone will be underneath.
I ventured off into the woods to watch the riders negotiate some singletrack. The course here is not all that difficult outside of the immense amount of climbing. It has few technical sections, but I managed to find one that was giving people fits. There was an option to ride through a rather smooth creek crossing, or take a long way around for a bridge. It amazed me that only three riders out of about 50 even attempted the creek crossing. Of those three, two were women. Props to the women for trying more than the men! Most of the riders I saw had horrendous skills. How do you make it so far in this sport with no technical skills? It made me want to be out there so bad because I knew I could eat this course up. But then I thought about the run. Oh yeah, good thing I'm not racing!
Adam Wirth
Australian Ben Allen
Ryan Ignatz
Ben Torvik
Barbara Riveros finished the bike course on a flat rear tire. And she was still cranking faster than most of the riders I saw.
Riders taking the bridge
This Luna Chick decided to take the bridge as well
I jogged over to the run course after the top two had finished. Ruzafa took the win over Middaugh. The 18-year old from Mexico, Mauricio Mendez, took third. Craig finished in 8th and was just a few seconds behind 6th. Actually, 6th through 9th were very close together at the end. I was happy for Craig. He has worked really hard this year, quitting his job to pursue his triathlon dream. He was part of the inspiration for me to cut back to part-time. Great job Craig!
Flora Duffy smashed the Women's race, coming in over six minutes ahead of second place Riveros, who made a good recovery after her flat on the bike. Read more about the race here.
Ben Allen during the run
Flora Duffy on her way to the win
I have a short video posted below of some of the action during the bike and run segments. After the race, I grabbed lunch at the Expo Area thanks to some samples from PowerBar and Muscle Milk. Then it was my turn to ride.
XTERRA USA Championships Video
I brought my road bike because it would be hours before everyone would be off the trails. My plan was to ride Powder Mountain and then see how I felt. I have done a lot of riding on this trip and I was expecting to have tired legs. Plus, I heard Powder was very hard. The ride began with a 1.3-mile climb out of the parking lot, then I descended for six miles to the Pineview Reservoir before getting in some flat miles along the shore. Snow Basin is on the south side of the Reservoir and Powder Mountain is on the north side. I took the east side around and started up Powder Mountain after a little over 15 miles of riding. Powder is brutal to say the least. The climb is 7.2 miles long and the final four miles average 16%. Yeah, average. It's pretty much the same grade the entire way once you hit the first steep pitch. It gives you no breaks. Whoever built this road had never heard of switchbacks. The road basically goes straight up the mountain. Even more crazy than the road builder was the guy that made this a summit finish climb in the Tour of Utah.
To add to the difficulty for me, it was 93 degrees today and the tar in the road was starting to melt at the bottom. I could hear my tires sticking as I pedaled my way up. But the higher I climbed, the cooler it got. By halfway the tar was no longer melted. I just paced myself because I did not know what was ahead. These climbs are steep enough that you better always save something in reserve or risk catching a steep section when you are gassed and having to stop. I only used my 30-tooth cog once climbing out from Midway for maybe 30 seconds. I used it for a good two miles on Powder Mountain.
16% baby. The sign says down, but it covers both ways.
The pavement ends right at the top.
View from Powder Mountain
Starting back down
Going down was exciting. I rode the brakes because I was not familiar enough to go blasting down, not to mention that there were numerous dump trucks going up and down the mountain at low speeds. Still, with riding the brakes rather heavily I ran 47 mph for most of the way down.
I still felt good after Powder, so I decided to ride over the North Ogden Divide both ways. It's a short two miles up the east side of the Divide. There were some nice views on the way up. Then I got a three mile descent down into the town of North Ogden.
Going up the east side of the North Ogden Divide
Looking toward Powder Mountain from the North Ogden Divide. Squint and you can see the road going up Powder Mountain in the dark spot in the middle.
Another view from the North Ogden Divide
I turned around in North Ogden and began the climb back up. It was three very hot miles in the blazing sun. I was starting to feel the ride now. And I was out of water by the top. It was a good climb though. It's a steady, challenging 10% grade with many beautiful views of North Ogden and the North Ogden Canyon.
The start of the North Ogden Divide on the North Ogden end
Looking down on North Ogden, made hazy by forest fires in California
North Odgen Divide
After the fast descent back to the town of Eden, I rode around the west side of the Reservoir and eventually turned up Old Snowbasin Rd. This road climbs from the Pineview Reservoir all the way up to Snow Basin. It begins with a 2.7-mile climb and then features a short descent to the Wheeler Canyon Trailhead. From there, the road is closed to traffic. Only bikes and hikers are allowed to use it. After going through there, I see why. The road is in sad shape with many sinkholes and cave-ins.
Old Snow Basin Rd.
Better pick your line wisely on this road, especially if descending.
Out of food and water, I struggled the last three miles to the car. it was nice and peaceful though without traffic. Just me and the Fall colors. It was a good way to end the day after 62 miles and 4 hours and 40 minutes of bike time. This ride wrapped up the ninth day of the trip. I have put in nearly 34 hours of riding so far.
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