The Ultra Widowmaker

Snowbird has traditionally had two cycling races in the past - both hillclimbs and each considered to be a true test of stamina. One is a road-bike race from Sandy up to entry #2 at Snowbird which ends up being about 3500 feet of vertical in ten miles. The other is a mountain bike climb from the base of the resort up a service road to Hidden Peak at 11,000 feet. That's an astounding 3000-foot gain in about 3.5 miles! We're talking 13-14% grade all the way to the top.

So I was estatic last year when Snowbird announced they were going to combine these two races into one! 6500' in 14 miles - now that's my kind of race.

Due to lightning strikes on Hidden Peak last year, they had to cancel the mountain bike portion of the race, so this last weekend was the 1st annual "Ultrawidowmaker" hillclimb and it didn't disappoint. Here, I've just come over the finish line for the traditional Hillclimb and I'm hopping off my road bike. About ten second later I was cranking up the ski slopes on my mountain bike. Susie, Dad, and the girls did an tremendous job of cheering me on and having my bike ready to go at the transition area.

On the dirt portion, I passed several riders that had smoked me on the road bike. Many were walking with shaky legs up the steeper and looser parts of the course. Somehow I was able to make it to the top without puting a foot down and still felt pretty fresh.

I had been preparing my bike and my legs for this event for a few months and really feel like it was one of my best races to date. No, I didn't even come close to winning but I finished well and had a blast doing it. No nasea/puking, no mechanical issues, no getting off course - nearly a perfect race for me.

Results: Road hillclimb to Snowbird TIME--> 59:34 placing me 22nd out of 61 in my class

Ultrawidowmaker TIME--> 2:17:34 placing me 15th out of 35 overall