East Canyon and Antelope Island Road Races

The past 2 weekends have seen TE riders in the East Canyon Road Race and Antelope Island Classic. Both races provided a great early season challenge for our riders. Of the last 7 weekends in Utah, only one has been sunny and dry. Niether of these races fell on that weekend and what were already tough races were made even tougher with cold, wind and rain.

Jerald Olsen was the lone TE rep at East Canyon. The race starts with a brutal, steep climb. It tends to seprate the group. Even with an injured back, Jerald attacked the hill with strength and held on the rest of the race to finish his first race of the season strong. Jerlad travels a lot for work, but takes his bike wherever he goes. I'm sure he puts more miles under his tires than anyone else on the team.

Kevan Steed, Greg Stuart, Todd Anderson, Blake Mason and Ben Towery all tackled the Antelope Island Classic out on the Great Salt Lake. Conditions were nothing less than epic with rain falling steadily almost the entire race.

For Kevan and Ben, who are racing up one class from last year as Cat 4's, the race was eye opening. This is a super competitive group with strong weekend warriors and aspiring prod alike. The race started on the causeway and the leaders set a blistering pace of 28 mph. With spray from the tires, finding a good line to draft was difficult. We were soaked instantly.

Once on the island, we did 3 laps of the inner loop then took a 10 out and back to the south end of Antelope. It was here that all involved needed to prove their metal. Ben and Kevan took turns pulling each other ro finish near mid pack, which was the goal for this first race.

Todd, Blake and Greg all contested the Cat 5 class in the same brutal conditions. Greg and Todd both suffered flats but got back on the horse and finished strong. I think most everyone involved were happy to have that race over with. Our clothes were balck and soaked and it took quite a while to get warm. Congrats to all involved.