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| Pre Race Carb Feast!!! |
Brad decided to punish his body just a bit more this year and signed up to ride in the Park City Point 2 Point race again. 82 miles and 14,000 feet of climbing (check out their web site parkcitypoint2point.com) I will post some pictures and let Brad post about the ride. I had a great time again this year working at the mile 57 food/aid station. It was a great day and a big thanks to Jay and Shannon, who put together a great race again this year, can't wait until next year.
Well, I signed up for PCP2P again last February while still living in Highland Utah, having done it the previous September in Park City. So I went into this race knowing full well what was in store me and my fellow riders. It took m 10:43 minutes in 09' and I had just completed a full season of racing the Intermountain race series. Well alot changed in 2010, we moved back to Las Vegas to open a Rod Works Home decor store and I raced 5 races all year instead of 15, I also missed me 3-4 time a week rides with my good friend Justin Thomas in the Utah Mountains, I also forgot how hard it was to train in the summer months of Las Vegas. I tell you all of this as a set up to tell you PCP2P kicked my butt this year, it took me 11:50 minutes to complete. My goal after the race last year was to break the 10 hour mark, well that didn't happen. I knew it was going to be tough when the week prior I went to Brian Head for some training and about died on the mountain at a 11,000 feet after only 45 miles of riding, I immediately called Justin to try to convince him to do the PCP2P as a duo, but nooo he wanted to do the whole enchilada.
The race started out great, went out with the 9-10 hour group, the ride around round mountain was nice the pace was brisk and the morning cool, the ride up to Silver Lake was a bit harder than I remember and I was a a lot more tired than I think some of the other riders were at this stage after reading almost every blog posted. My daughter Samantha was there and it was good to see her smiling face, it's always good to see my baby girl. So with that I topped off my camel pack ate a half of a banana, took two more Tylenol and got on my bike and headed up Silver Lake. Now this part of the race I clearly remember from last year, I had been told be several friends that they had rode all of this section of the race, so I was determined to pedal more and walk less this year, well that did not happen, I think I did better this year than last but I enjoyed last year more because I walked with Brad Mullen and it was great company. I made it to the top and came around the loop back into the aid station in about an hour and was feeling pretty good, a bit worried about my riding companion Justin Thomas, but Sammi and David (my Son) said he was only 15 minutes behind me so I felt he was doing well and just riding at his pace. It again was great to see my kids and they gave me lots of encouragement. I ate some cookies, stocked up on some goodies and headed out of Silver Lake...this is were things turn a bit ugly...see I forgot to fill my camel pack with water, the whole point of going with a camel pack is so you don't have to worry about running out of water, well needless to say I ran out of water about 45 minutes on the way up to the lake, I was now on the bike about 7 hours or so and I was starting to really feel the pain, but I was determined to get to the Park City aid station (mile 58) so I could quit this stupid race, no just kidding (kinda) so I could see my wife (the best volunteer Jay and Shannon have) at her station and to see my kids again, which I did making the cut off by about a half hour or so. I was feeling okay but knew it would take me a long time to ride the last 25 miles to the canyons resort, I warned David saying don't be overly concerned if you don't see me for several hours. I got Lot's of cold water thanks to Sammi and Sarah and felt good leaving for the finish. I knew I would need to walk up some of Spiro to be able to finish mid-mountain which I did. And then along comes Brad Mullen just spinning up the trail I greeted him and got in behind him and put my head down and pedaled my stupid bike up that mountain until we reached the turn off to the mid-mountain trail head. There I met up with a couple of Revolution riders and was feeling okay and they helped me reach the canyons some how...all I can say at this point is PCP2P race is a test of will and stamina and it test the best of riders, I finished this year, which I'm happy about, but I still believe I can and will break the 10:00 mark in 2011. My focus next year will be on longer rides with several 50-100 mile events prior to PCP2P and I will reach my 9:48 minute goal in 2011...Thank you to my wonderful wife and children for spending there whole day waiting for a slow rider enjoy what he loves most...a good kick in the butt mountain bike ride, I love my family !
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| Brad and Justin ready to Race |
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| And GO!!!! |
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| Justin |
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| Park City Point 2 Point (2nd year) |
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| Brad on his way |
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| Alex Grant (who took first place) taking a quick drink |
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| Food/Aid station at mile 57 (where I spent my day) |
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| Need more water please!! |
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| Brad at mile 57!! |
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| Waiting for my hubby!!(and checking my email's) |
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| Here he comes!!! |
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| Brad with Brad |
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| relaxing at condo after race!! |
