Sunday, April 3, 2011

ICUP #2 Cholla

ICUP #2- Cholla was on Saturday.  I had never raced this course so I figured I'd make the 3.5 hour drive and check it out.  I wasn't able to leave Draper until 8:45pm on Friday so I booked a hotel in Cedar City and arrived 15 min before midnight.  The race wasn't until 12:30 on Sat so I had plenty of time to sleep in, shower, eat and make the 40 mile drive to Hurricane for a pre-ride lap before the race.

Not a huge turn out.  Only 6 in the SS class (which included Phast Dan and Brian Tolbert).   The smaller races make me more nervous cuz there is a significant chance of coming in last.

From the gun, Brian T. and Phast Dan pressed on the gas.  I was able to hang with them long enough to put a significant gap on the rest of the SS group.  Within 3 min everyone else was out of sight.  So there I was, hanging on by a very thin thread as Dan and Brian hurt each other.  I was happy to watch them from a distance and didn't think I would have a chance to catch them. Once we hit the first wash section on lap 1, Dan was gone.  He just pedaled away.  I was on a 32x17, Dan on a 32x16, and Brian had a 29x16 (a smaller chain ring which made his gear slightly easier than mine.)

No significant climbs or downhills.  It was a fast course which meant we were pedaling all the time.  Gear selection would play a major role.

I knew I would be racing for 2nd place.  Dan is just too fast.  Brian and I traded spots a few times.  He could hurt me on the climbs and I could gap him on the flats.  We went back and forth until lap 2 when I decided to keep on his wheel for the climbs until we hit the flatter, wash sections, recover for a few min and then try and get a gap before the climb to the finish.

My strategy worked and I was able to pull out a 2nd place but it was not easy.  I must have looked over my shoulder every 30 seconds during the last 15 min of the race.  If Brian would have had the same gear, I'm pretty sure he would have dropped me.

Oh, and I got this sweet ribbon and a hoodie. 

9 comments:

Jonnie J said...

Yo SunderCAGE. That's a real nice result.

Rick Sunderlage said...

JJ- SunderCAGE is my new name. Keep in mind, the race was in Hurricane. I tried to correct the lady several times but i wasn't making any progress. I kind of like it.

Daniel Zvirzdin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Daniel Zvirzdin said...

Nice job holding Tolbert off. Good thing he doesn't read your blog or he would've known your gear secrets.

Ski Bike Junkie said...

My bike has a 17 and a 15, and I can switch from one to the other whenever I want. I thought you hot shot sales guys all made enough money to buy bikes that could change gears. Maybe not.

All kidding aside, nice work. It's always a plus when you can do a spring race without missing out on a good ski day.

Kyle said...

Nice work man. If you ever want to catch Ted you're going to have to stop drinking Diet coke with Lime and start drinking Diet Mountain Dew. That's his secret.

sewa mobil said...

Nice article, thanks for the information.

eeeeeeeeeevilbanks said...

Nice one man----

Nick Rico said...

Dude... That ribbon is WELL worth the pain. Can I borrow it sometime?