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Tour of Utah 1000 Warriors race report by Jeff Unruh:

   "I recently competed in the epic known as the 1000 Warriors race in Utah. This road race mirrors Stage 4 of the tour of Utah, only we left 5 hours before the Pros. It had previously been just a citizen ride but this year the organizer decided to open it up and make it a race. The event is also a fundraiser for families of wounded Veterans of the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, and that money is used to provide scholarships for college. There were also seven wounded Vets riding the course during the non-competitive ride. Very moving. The parcours leaves Park City, is 94 miles long, ends at Snowbird ski resort, and includes 3 major climbs with a total of about 9500’ of climbing. I had spent a week in Colorado about 3 weeks before race day to try to get in some climbing and stimulate the old bone marrow with the natural EPO.  This seemed to help as I felt good most of the day. But rewind 24 hours and I’ll try to open my mind to give you a little window into the logistics of doing a point-to-point race with no team/technical support.
 I had been asking about hand-ups, neutral feeds, and wheel vehicles for weeks. Wheel vehicles were out for the Masters racers as they could not come up with enough cars. Plus with such a long distance and varying abilities the race would be so spread out I doubt I would have gotten a wheel change anyway. Plus I would have had to ride to the start (more on that in a minute) transporting another set of wheels.  So… do I ride tubulars and risk a puncture or forego the weight savings and ride clinchers and take tubes, tools and CO2? I had rented a set of Zipp 202’s from Echappe Equipment for race day (very clean transaction as they were shipped straight to my hotel, but a bit pricey). These babies were going to take 650 grams off my total bike weight! Very Pro. I had to give them a go. Damn the flats full speed ahead, tubulars it is then.

 Food and beverage throughout what could be a six-hour ordeal proved to be more pressing. Confusion reigned as the organizer initially told us that there would be hand-ups and neutral feeds. Awesome, no need to take a bunch of bottles to Utah! My glee was quickly snuffed as two days before the race I was informed there would be no hand-ups, but neutral feeds would be available but I would have to provide my own bottles and food. The food was not a problem as I brought enough Clif Bars and Shot Bloks for a small army. Luckily two days prior as I was race viewing t he 2nd Stage of the ToU I was able to score some bottles near the first sprint point of the day. I also happened to meet Brent Bookwalter’s parents and followed them to the finish. Once the stage was over I met Brent and some of his BMC teammates and scored 5 more bottles. So I was set, 9 bottles for race day, 3 to start and 2 at each of the feeds. These would be carried to their respective areas around the course by Black Canyon Sports, a local bike shop. I would have to stop, find my “musettes” as it were, and then dig out the goodies within. Not exactly Pro but better than refilling bottles from a cooler and carrying all the aforementioned rations for an entire race. So with this all taken care of there was just one more small detail; how do I get from the finish back down the mountain? All Resort Van service, that’s how. I had to arrange to be picked up at the finish the evening before as I left my rental there after driving the entire course. Thus I had to ride to the start the next morning.

 Race day I was up before first light. My start time was 0630 but I had to be there to stage by 0600. That meant I left the Hotel at 0520 as I had an 8-mile ride to the start! It was 58F at that time but was forecasted for low 90’s for later in the day. Arm warmers for sure but do I cover my knees? So I set off in the darkness without lights in my all black Slimen kit. Nice warm-up actually as I pedaled easily. Once at the start it was chaos as the road we were to stage on was also the access road for parking. People and bikes were everywhere with some 650 riders registered. I proceeded to stand around and shiver for the next 30 minutes until they called up the Masters 35+ B race. I decided to race the B’s because a lot of ex-pros live in the Salt Lake City area and even though I had no illusions of winning I at least wanted to be in a category where I could be competitive. So we set off all 47 of us, and there are like 15 guys on the front from Spin City Cycles (must be a sister club to Team 360!) There are 2 short climbs at the start then generally downhill rolling terrain before the first major up. On the second little ascent I faded off the back as I was about to redline and we were only 10 minutes into the race. Back-off and survive I told myself. I eventually found 2 other guys who must have adopted a similar strategy and we worked together for the next 20 miles or so. We covered almost 45 miles in the first 2 hours but had not really gone uphill that much. Then came the first climb, the Alpine Loop. Nine miles and 8-10% grades. It winds past Robert Redford’s Sundance resort. All that kept going through my head was Johnny Cash’s song ‘Get a Rhythm’. The first 2 miles are hard then it eases off a bit, but a true alpine ascent. Narrow road, lots of switchbacks and Aspens made for a very Pro moment. I started to pick of some guys from my race but it was so spread out by then it was hard to tell where the front was. Blast, no team cars or radios, not so Pro.Took me 45’ to get to the top (that’s right all you mathematicians out there 12mph!) then came the 15-mile long descent. The promoter had warned to have new brakes pads for this descent and I soon began to see why. Screaming down at 40 mph to blind switchbacks on an essentially one lane road will test your mettle. This is where the race became not so much a race anymore. As I was nearing the mouth of the canyon I noticed traffic was backed up in the right hand lane. I came upon other racers who were stopped at a crash scene. Two guys had gone into the back of an SUV that had braked hard. EMT’s were loading one guy up to take down and tending to 3 other guys who had crashed avoiding the initial crash. We stood around for probably 10 minutes before the sheriffs let us pass. Blood on the pavement and glass everywhere is never a good scene. We were allowed to descend another 2 miles or so to the canyon mouth but were stopped again to let Life Flight take-off with the injured cyclist. We hung out there for another 20-25 minutes as our numbers swelled from behind. So here we are about 200 bike racers at a stand still. Everybody was pretty shaken. There was a lot of talk about stopping the race. It was starting to get hot and I needed another couple of bottles. The next feed was about 8 miles away.
 The sheriffs finally set us off in waves of 25-30 riders as they didn’t want to overwhelm the right hand lane with a giant peloton. I reached the feed and grabbed everything I had packed. This was just before the second climb. The Suncrest ascent is 3 miles and 6%. It went pretty quick and I was still feeling good. A little stiff from stopping for the feed.

This descent was just plain sketchy. Crosswind gusts and 10% grades are not a good mix. I heard more than one person complain of speed wobble! After the descent proper it was a long drag of rollers the final climb. It was now mid morning and it was over 90F. I knew fro driving the course the day before that once on the road to Snowbird it was 6 miles to the finish! Before that came though, I was starting to cramp whenever I got out of the saddle. I ate and drank anything I could with electrolytes in it. It was hard to force that stuff down. I had tried to be attentive to eating and drinking enough but must have fallen behind. Not so Pro. At the base of the last climb there was a water station set up. I filled 3 bottles and poured one over my head to try to cool off. Alright, 6 miles to go! Spin baby. Hardly! I started the climb in a 36X23 and quickly shifted to the 26. I felt the rpm’s dropping and tried to stand but continued to cramp. Drink, drink, drink fool! The climb itself is a bear. Averages 8-12%, no switchbacks, no shade, wide road, a grinder. It pretty much hugs the Little Cottonwood Canyon walls all the way the ski station. The canyon is narrow enough that you can’t see ahead very far. I had no idea how far I was from the end. I did not want to look at my computer because I was going slowly enough that the miles were not ticking by very fast. Just get up to that next guy and follow his wheel for awhile! By this point I was in the 29 and pedaling squares. Not supple at all. I had dropped deep into the pain cave. The last 2 miles or so seemed to drag on forever but the body came back a bit and I stopped cramping. At the finish there were lots of well wishers cheering everybody on as each racer struggled with their own demons and machines. I found my car (uphill from the finish no less), cranked the A/C and sat there for probably 30 minutes cooling off. I cleaned up, changed clothes, got some lunch and then watched the Pros make it look so easy. There were some suffering like I was so I did not feel quite so bad. I had no clue where I finished and later found out it was 18th. I m sure the results were screwed up from the stoppages earlier in the day, but I finished.  Total ride stats; 94 miles, 5:45 in the saddle, 9450’ of climbing and another level of my already high respect for the Pros! Thanks for reading, Jeff Unruh.

Our team stronman, Matt Culp, toughed it out in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race last weekend and earned his buckle.  Weather was a major factor with strong storms at first light which continued throughout the day producing hail, fierce rain and wind, with cold temps to boot.  Race veteran and team member Bill McFarlane also finished the race in the tough conditions.   Matt spent the better part of the day slugging through the weather and climbs to get in under the 12 hour cutoff.  Lance Armstrong took the win on the day setting a course record and besting 7 time champ Dave Weins by a large margin.  Congratulations Matt!