Brian Head, Utah - Cycling is a lot of fun. Getting out and riding off road on fabulous trails is even more fun. Add in a little sunshine, amazing scenery, challenging terrain, and fresh air. Before you know it, you've reached a place where it seemingly just cannot get any better.The only thing that makes it slightly "less" fun, is when you live at about 450' elevation and you travel to race at 9,000 - 11,000 feet. There's not a lot of oxygen up there. Add in some big climbs, extra challenging terrain, and some longer race course lengths over 4 days (in a row) and it's almost enough to make you throw in the towel... except, for that "fun" part. It's the part that makes the grins poke out of the dusty grit and make you forget the pain.
Mike Ripley, Mike Adams, and Chris Brandt traveled the long road trip (18 hours each way!) to Southwestern Utah to race their mountain bikes in Brian Head at the American Mountain Classic, and to have some fun along the way. And after racing over 170 miles, they certainly had much opportunity for it! Brian Head has some really great trails and there's nothing quite like the challenge of surviving two laps through the gnarly "Dark Hollow" descent.
Stage 1 - 6 mile prologue
Stage 2 - The Rim. 55 miles. 5,000+ Feet of Elevation Gain
Stage 3 - The Peak. 55 miles. 4,000+ Feet of Elevation Gain
Stage 4 - Dark Hollow. 54 Miles. 5,600+ Feet of Elevation Gain
Results:
Chris Brandt - 20th Place Elite Men
Stage 2 - 4:29:16.1 / Stage 3 - 4:25:35.1 / Stage 4 - 5:24:27.0 / Overall Time - 14:19:18.2
Mike Adams - 4th Place Masters Men 40-44
Stage 2 - 5:23:12.0 / Stage 3 - 5:02:30.5 / Stage 4 - 5:57:50.1 / Overall Time - 16:23:32.6
Mike Ripley - 7th Place Masters Men 40-44
Stage 2 - 6:08:03.0 / Stage 3 - 5:56:09.6 / Stage 4 - DNF / Overall Time - 12:04:12.6
Full Results here.
A slightly boring video montage from the web here.
More photos in gallery here.
