Friday, June 18, 2010

Thursday Night Race Championship II

The Thursday Night Race Championship II happened last night. I counted about 20 racers. Some came from places as far away as Provo for a chance at the Belt. (Technically, Kyle and Phast Dan came from Soldier Hollow as in, they raced Soldier Hollow at 6:30, rode through the finish line directly to their car and drove up for more racing....ah to be young).

Pic at the start taken by Brad:

It was another good night with perfect weather.

After 3 climbs and 3 fast, technical downhills, with a time of 1 hour 5 minutes, a new champion was named- Brad was the big winner. Nicely done. (Brandon wasn't able to defend his belt, but he had better things to do like hang out with his new baby boy born that morning- Congrats!)

The Belt fits him well (Beer not included). Check it out:


Brad with the cash "purse" literally (and beer #2)


The new course, for me, was a lot better. Canyon Hollow is a great climb at race pace. And mixing in some down with the up made it much more interesting.

JJ, Trent, and Jason M., got the early hole shot at the start but the group closed the gap before we got to the base of Canyon Hollow. I decided to take the lead so I could set a comfortable pace for the initial climb up Canyon Hollow and avoid blowing up. Brad was on my wheel followed by Corey L. The nice thing about night racing is you can look back and see exactly where the pack is. We still had a significant train up Canyon Hollow but it was early in the race with 2 more climbs left.

By the time we got to the Jacobs climb, it was Brad, Corey, and I with a small gap on the rest of the field. At the top of Jacobs, we had enough of a gap to enjoy the downhill all to ourselves. I felt like I was riding at high noon as I followed Brad and Corey down the technical descent. Plenty of light.

Things didn't change from there. Brad, Corey and I finished the 2nd Canyon Hollow climb in the same order and neither of us could get around Brad on the single track downhill.

I have a feeling the Belt won't look the same after Brad and his daughters get done with it. I can't wait to see the added bling.

Thanks to all who came out to play. Good one.

10 comments:

Nate said...

I could see a steady stream of lights last night coming down Jacobs. It was pretty cool.

gregclimbs said...

thanks tons for organizing this...

was a lot of fun getting lost on new trails.

next time, I'll bring something smaller than 32x17 :O

g

Rick Sunderlage said...

Nate- I need a new email address for you. I keep getting bounced messages. Wish you were out there with us last night.

Rick Sunderlage said...

Greg- wow. That's a huge gear. How are the knees this morning?

KanyonKris said...

Good times, good time, MC Rick.

Aaron said...

Rick, the fact that you can hang with Brad the day after the icup is impressive. I road this morning with new-daddy Brandon and was still toast. Way to take the W, Brad.

South County Ciclista said...

Sounds like a really good course. Next time I am coming with my game face on. The belt belongs at my house. Nice W Brad.

gregclimbs said...

I had no idea that trail was straight up, and straight down...

next time something smaller...

lotta time in the 40 rpm range:

http://wattagetraining.com/screenshots/Finder.png

and:

http://wattagetraining.com/screenshots/GoldenCheetah.png

ouch.

young-ish knees help.

thanks again! too much fun.

g

Anonymous said...

Mileage and elevation?

Rick Sunderlage said...

Anonymous- I haven't a clue. I don't ride with a bike computer but it was just over an hour of solid suffering.