VH1 Blogs

After a hard night of rain I was betting the ICUP race in Corner Canyon would be cancelled.  Draper City really protects the trails in this area and since we would be racing on the crown jewel trails of Clarks and Ghost Falls chances were that this event would be cancelled or postponed.  Turns out the course would be modified and delayed a few hours. Ed and his crew did a great job getting a plan B course set up and marked.  Initially I thought this course would be weak and boring, but I actually really liked it. It still had the long climbs and fast downhill.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t Clarks and Ghost, but it was fun.

Rick S. started things off right from the gun.  He set a BRUTAL pace up the first section of singletrack.  I hate when he does that! It is unfair how he can climb the steeps so fast. The pressure caused the class to breakup and both he and I were in the leading group of 4.  The 2 riders with us ended up gaping us on the flat/downhill jeep road.  I ended up catching one of them on the long climb and was closing in on the 1st place guy on the downhill.  Just when I could see his jersey in the twisty singletrack I must have lost focus and ended up hitting a stump with my front wheel.  I went airborne and slid on my face/belly for what seemed an eternity.  It took a few minutes to get my wits back, collect my yard sale of glasses, water bottle, tools, etc.. and remount.  I basically lost all of the advantage I built on the climb.  The next 2 laps I spent hunting down the 2 that past me at the crash site.  I ended up taking 3rd and I am really happy about it. Today I am achy, bloody, and sore but can’t wait for the next race.

Just a side note; my brother and brother in law made their ICUP debut yesterday and did it in the Sport class.  They both had a blast and did well.  They both ended up riding the optional 3rd lap and are both hooked.  It is fun to see new blood entering the ranks.

Here is the route of the course and my data for the race.

Here is the race report from the Desert Rampage this past weekend.  First of all let me say the weather and course could not have been better.  I took 5th place in a BIG single speed class and couldn’t be happier with my result.  After basically taking the past 3 months off I was just hoping for a mid pack finish.  I was shocked when I finished on the podium in 5th (Beating my time on a geared bike last year by about 8 minutes) and only a couple minutes behind Rick (he is as fit as a gazelle).  That being said I suffered like a dog and my data listed below will prove that.  Big props go to Brad (2nd), and Kenny(3rd) who ride Expert class on single speeds, Mike Luper(4th) who races expert even though this was his 3rd mtn bike race, Adam(5th) who tore up a sports class full of sandbaggers, and Rick who beat me and placed 3rd in the Single-speeders.

Click here to see my race data (I set my GPS from the condo and included a practice lap so the distance is not correct).

Here are some photos from the race:

Single speed podium

Single speed starting field

Rick

Justin

Adam

Me and that is not a smile, it is PAIN!!!

All in all it was a great time.  I learned a ton from this race when it comes to the art of racing a single speed and I will share what I learned later on this week.