The second annual Tour of Utah, August 7 - 12, 2006, consisted of six challenging stages held throughout the rugged landscape in and surrounding Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah. Nearly 100 riders from 16 different strong teams including Navigators, Toyota United, Health Net, TIAA-CREF, Symmetrics, Kodakgallery/Sierra Nevada, Successfulliving.com, Priority Health, and a composite pro team "KJZZ" would vie for a piece of the $45,000+ prize purse. Additionally, a few top amateur underdog teams would take on the big boys in one of the most challenging races in the country. My own team did not get the invite due to the 100 person/16 team field limit, but fortunately I was invited to race with the Sienna Development/Goble Knee Clinic/Healthy Choice team for the week. Considering that the Tour of Utah will most likely be a UCI/NRC race next year and rival that of the Tour of California and Tour of Georgia, I was excited to take advantage of the opportunity to race in an event of this caliber.

As for my own ambitions, my primary goal was to finish the race while helping our team leader do as well as possible. Since I would be riding on a Utah team, we would be going for the best amateur Utah rider competition. I knew going into the race that I wasn't really on climbing form. The three or four week training block that I would have focused on climbing was right in the middle of our southern California heat wave - around 110 degrees where I live, and it was just too hot to do any climbing. So, for preparation, I did some endurance rides to keep my endurance up and a few climbing rides right before I left when it cooled down. Other than that, I would hope for the best!

Stage 1 - Nuskin Road Race (109 miles): "What the F?" The race started in Provo and consisted of flat and rolling terrain with a few small climbs as we circled Utah Lake. We finished with three five kilometer circuits to the straight and slightly downhill finish. "What the F?" was exactly what I was thinking only 45 minutes into this first stage. We started the race as big black clouds formed to the south - and headed our way.

The race, like every day, started with a neutral section out of town. As soon as the green flag was raised we were going over 30 mph with no signs of slowing. A few moments later the storm hit us with 30-40 mph winds, gusting up to 60 mph. At breakneck speeds we passed a few farmers fields which kicked up a huge dust storm right in our path. We hit the crosswinds, echelons formed, and we struggled to see the few riders in front of us because the air was so thick with dirt. Huge tumbleweeds flew across the road and we tried to dodge them while staying on the wheel in front of us. Riders were blown off the back. I was in the second group on the road. Because of the intense crosswind, our bikes leaned way to the left as if we were cornering in a criterium, and we struggled to stay on the road. My mouth was filled with dirt, but there was little opportunity to reach down for a bottle. My heart rate was through the roof. A tumbleweed hit the rider in front of me and then hit me. Half of it got stuck in my back wheel and sounded like a card in the spokes. Eventually, it slowed a little and I got back into the lead group. I reached down and was able to pull out part of the tumbleweed, but not all of it. As the rain came down, and when it slowed a little more. I stopped to pull out the mess from my wheel. Mavic was on me in less than 5 seconds flat and gave me a strong push as I threw the bush aside. I quickly caught back on. And this was only 45 minutes into stage 1. This was going to be a long week.

After the first hour and a half, the storm began to pass and it began to heat up again. The pace was fast until a two man break (Jesse Anthony-Kodakgallery/Sierra Nevada & Clayton Barrows-Einstein's) got away and then the field settled in at about 20 mph for a while. A three man chase formed which was let go by the big teams. By the time we hit the feed zone, about 40 miles to go, the leaders had 10 minutes and the chase had 5 minutes. I would have bet on the break. But the chase was on and we began to fly again as the advantage of the leaders dropped fast. We hit the finishing circuits and we were flying! We rarely went under 34 mph. We caught the chase group and kept going. Despite the efforts of the two leaders, they were caught with 3 kilometers to go. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators) took the lightning fast sprint, just ahead of Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) and Michael Friedman (TIAA-CREF). I rolled through 72nd, on the same time and in one piece.

Stage 2 - Miller Motorsports Park Road Race (99 miles): "Gone in 60 seconds". The race started at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and ended in Tooele. The terrain was mostly flat with 8 challenging circuits around the race car track to the fast finish. The race started fast with the inevitable early attacks. A couple breaks got away but were reeled back. The overall speed of the race was moderte but we also had a pretty good headwind the first portion of the race. And, it was hot - up to 105 degrees as we traversed the desert lands of Utah. I drank several bottles - someone from our team always going back to the caravan to get more liquids from our team car. I actually felt decent today and planned to attack when the course kicked north and we would have more of a tail-cross wind. There were several others who had the same idea and there were several attacks and counter attacks all about the same time. I made a chase group of 4 riders with about 8 more just a few seconds up the road. We motored, going about 35 mph and were closing in on the break. I thought it may be a great move, but then it happened. I looked over my left shoulder and saw the Navigators team lined up in a full on chase with the filed in shambles behind. I sped up to 37 mph but it wasn't enough to get onto the train which was apparently going faster. In 60 seconds I went from being off the front to off the back - hence, "gone in 60 seconds". Luckily, the break was caught, the field slowed, and other chasers and I got back on. I went to the car and got another couple bottles.

The finale was fast. Once again, it broke up into several groups before we hit the finishing circuits on the track. I lost contact for a while but got back on with some major suffering. Several riders blew up in the heat and lost time. There were many attacks, but each was brought back by the bigger teams. I hung in there and did my best to stay with the leaders. Chris Wherry (Toyota United) attacked with 2 kilometers to go and got a gap. He held off the field to win stage 2. Jeff Louder (Health Net) was second and Sergay Lagutin (Navigators) placed third to retain his leaders jersey. Chris Wherry and Jeff Louder were just a few seconds behind on G.C. I finished 30th on the stage, now 35th G.C. Next up, the race against the clock.

Stage 3 - KJZZ Time Trial (8.1 miles): "Meltdown". The course, topping out at 5900 feet elevation, started mostly flat with a slight headwind. Next,we turned onto the climb - continually getting steeper each pedal stroke. Finally, we went around a block and over some rollers and then flew back down to the finish. Well, some flew.

We would start in reverse G.C. order. I didn't warm up quite enough - my
fault. I started and felt that rush into the legs that warns you to slow down. So, I did. By the time I hit the climb, I opened up and went pretty hard and fast up the climb. I felt like I was going to do a decent time
trial. Then, just over the top of the climb on a roller, Tom Zirbil (Priority Health) came up from behind and passed me. I didn't know who he was and I pretty much had a mental meltdown. I became much less motivated, and although I still went hard the rest of the ride, I didn't really time trial like it mattered, and definitely lost time on the return trip.

After crossing the line, I found that Zirbel had the fastest time of the day
so far, posting a 16 minutes, 13 seconds. So, at the point he passed me, I wasn't doing so bad after all - my time check probably would have been pretty decent, but oh well. I ended up 66th with a time of 17 minutes 57 seconds, well within reach of a top 40 due to the close times if I had drilled it on the return. I went down to 45th G.C. Okay, lesson learned.

Chris Wherry (Toyota United) won his second stage in two days, finishing with a time of 15 minutes 50 seconds, and taking the leaders jersey. His teammate, Chris Baldwin was second in 15:58. Sergay Lagutin (Navigators) was third at 16:08. Zirbel held on to 4th place on the stage.

Stage 4 - The End Road Race (70 miles): "Hungry Hippo". This race started in Provo (elevation 4600') consisted of 50 miles of fast flat roads before hitting the base of Mount Nebo. The climb up Mount Nebo is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) and starts gradual before kicking up to some tough switchbacks. The climb is around 6-7% on average for quite a while. As you gain elevation, there are some false flat sections, and as you approach the top there are even a few decents to recover on. The finish line is at 9100 feet elevation! Now that's a climb!

As soon as the flag was dropped, attacks began and we were full on. I quickly shifted into my 53x12 and stayed there for a long, long time. Onerider overcooked a corner and went down in front of me. I managed to avoid him, but definitely felt the burn as I accelerated to close the gap. The first hour we averaged 30 mph. Then, Toyota United who was controlling the race thus far, let a break of 10 riders get away and just sat tempo on the front. At the base of the climb approached they picked up the pace and held the leaders less than two minutes up the road.

When we hit the climb, riders began to fall off the back pretty quick. The
breakaway was caught. My legs did not feel good and I didn't have tons of strength. Lack of mountain training was evident. I tried to stay with my teammate, Sandy Perrins (Sienna Development/Goble Knee) who was leading the Utah Amateur Classification, but couldn't hold the pace. I felt like a hungry hippo trying to climb a tree - it wasn't pretty. I ended up in a chase group, but couldn't even stay with them and started to fall behind. Then, I started to get into a rhythm and caught up with the chase group I was with previously. A few of us even kept rolling up the road and caught a few more riders and formed another little group. Although I wasn't flying, I was now pedaling circles instead of squares and continued toward the finish.

Then we rode by the 20 Kilometers to go sign! You got to be kidding - still 20K to go? Some riders in my group cracked when they saw that sign. I just took it a kilometer at a time and tried to keep it steady. About a year later we hit the 10 Kilometer to go sign.

Up ahead, the big boys were duking it out. Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) made his move and Scott Moninger (Health Net) chased in pursuit. Jeff Louder (Health Net) stayed with the leaders and could not be shaken. Cesar Grajales and Glen Chadwick (Navigators) also were constantly in the mix. The finale came down to a monster attack by Scott Moninger who pulled away from Jeff Louder and Glen Chadwick, who finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Burke Swindlehurst held on for 4th place on the stage. Riders were spread all down the mountain. Even riders who were in the top 20 were over 5 minutes down. I crossed the line 50th place, 14 minutes, 40 seconds down. Nearly a third of the field came in 20 to 30 minutes down.

On the leader board, Jeff Louder (Health Net) took the leaders jersey, just two seconds ahead of his teammate, Scott Moninger. Glen Chadwick (Navigators) was now 3rd, just 23 seconds out of the lead with his teammate, Burke Swindlehurst only 52 seconds off the pace. I was now 44th G.C. Two more stages to go!