Blue Mounds Classic

The Blue Mounds Classic road race is known for its hellacious climbs and they were just that. The race was a true suffer-fest. 87 riders took to the start line when we rolled out at 10 AM Saturday morning. The weather turned out to be absolutely great with no clouds in the sky and a light wind. The first three miles of the race was downhill and the pace kicked up quickly. The centerline rule was in full effect and I got boxed in by a number of riders who were not interested in pushing to the front before the climb. Luckily on the right hander before the first climb the field swung wide and I was able to pass about 20 riders before the start of the climb. There were 3 good climbs on each lap of the race which consisted of the downhill start, 2 laps on a 8 mile loop, and the final 5 mile climb back to the top of Brigham County Park. A group of 8 (including myself) broke away on the first climb. Erik Loberg, 3 of his teammates and I worked together to fend off the other three riders and cover any attacks they made. Erik went on a break on the first climb of the second lap. Erik easily stayed away as his teammates and I worked to cover the other rider’s attempts to cover the gap. About half way up the final climb I launched an attack immediately after we covered the previous attack and managed to send three riders off the back. I continued to hammer up the hill but the other three riders behind me sat in. I tried to accelerate again about 200 yards from the finish but was completely gassed. The three went past with about 50 yards to go. I finished 6^th for the day. As always, this was an absolutely awesome race and look forward to next year’s suffer-fest.