Last weekend I embarked on the last of my endurance races for the season, which was the hardest yet. The Park City Point to Point proved to be everything promised, an epic adventure around three of Park City, UT ski resorts.
This race was not on my calendar until about three weeks before the race started. A teammate had a late season crash that took him off the bike and unable to ride. He offered me the entry, which I graciously accepted. Many of my friends were also doing it, so I knew it would be a great weekend of hanging out with great people and completing the race season with a great race.
My plan for this race was the same as the Breck 100, A pace of zone 3 HR, and low zone 4 HR on the climbs. The only problem was that there was so much climbing, I was always in zone 4, except when going down hill. Turns out 40% of the race, 210min was in zone 4, the rest was split almost even in zone 1,2 and 3, and a little in zone 5.
There was 14,000 ft of climbing on this 78 mile course, however most of the climbing was in the middle. a majority spread of 55 miles.
I had registered in the Men Open class, no age group. So when I lined up at the front of the race, I was next the big guns going for the win, To my left was Josh Tostado, and on my right was Kelley Magelky and Alex Grant. It was kinda funny, especially since there was a guy filming the start, and there is me, right in the middle, having not business being next to these guys at the start of the race. See the video below. I have a few appearances if you watch closely.
At the word go, I was swallowed up pretty quickly, but I stuck to my plan on not chase. I leaned at the Laramie Enduro, I’m not ready to hold a fast pace for these longer races. My old age isn’t helping any either.
We got around the first loop in Round Valley pretty quickly, then started the climbing, My race was uneventful for the first 5-5.5hrs. I was enjoying the single track, and climbing was hard, but we were rewarded with a great downhill, awesome views and some of the best trails I’ve ever ridden. At around 5-5.5hrs, I started to get tired, and the legs were getting heavy. I finally got to the 3rd Aid station at around 6 hrs. If I was a quitter, I would have pulled the plug right there, but I wanted to finish. I refueled with more gel, hammer, and water and was on my way. The last big climb was ahead of me, a 5 mile ascent, which got the better of me. I keep pedaling along, it seemed like the longest climb ever. Finally we crested the top and had another great descent. At this point, I had enough recovery from the descent that I started to feel great again, and I was able to kick it into high gear. There was an awesome rolling trail, that allowed me to move quickly, and was able to really enjoy the trail without suffering.
I finished the race in 8:39.48,17th in the Mens Open, 32nd overall. I felt like I finished strong, and other then the 1.5hr of mental bonk, I had a good race. I would have liked to have gone faster, and beat the bonk. I’m still working on some nutrition for these longer races, and I learned a few things about my nutrition in this one.
Park City Point to Point KML file
The complete ride profile from my Garmin 500
I’m looking forward to a short break, and doing a couple of CX races, and challenge the 24hr of Moab 35+ 4man team event.