cycling utah June 1999
Cyclists own downtown for a day
By Dave Iltis
Associate Editor
and Joel Kath
It finally stopped raining long enough to hold the Rhodes Downtown Criterium and the Cycle Salt Lake Bike Bonanza.
The racing kicked off with the Women's Category 4 event in which Carrie Scoggins (Utah Premier) lapped the field solo to finish ahead of second place Tunde Zsido (Logan Race Club).
The big guns were up next in the Women's 1-3 race. The field of 13 riders included Laura Howat (9th and 9th) former Tour de France rider, Andrea Foster (7UP/RCC) who will be competing in this years Women's Challenge, Laurie Humbert (9th & 9th) who sits atop the UCA points series and Daphne Wilhelm (Nissan) fresh off a 10th-place finish at the Tour of the Gila.
The attacks began early with Nissan working hard. An attack by Humbert, with Wilhelm and Howat in tow, set up the initial split of the day. Heather Albert (Nissan) joined the fray after a 2-lap solo bridge.
Soon after, the lead group of women numbered eight following an casualty-riddled attack by Foster out of the peloton. Wilhelm then attacked in what would become the decisive move and only Humbert could answer. The Nissan rider nipped Humbert at the line after a long sprint.
"Laurie was riding really well," Wilhelm said, "she's a strong racer. She only had one gear (due to mechanical problems). She would have beat me if she had more gears."
Albert made a valiant effort to bridge again to the leaders. She came up short but was rewarded with third place for her efforts.
Men's Pro 1-3
(As recounted by Joel Kath)
With a cool nip in the air and a bright, setting sun in the west, we readied for the evening start slated for 7:30 pm. Our race was the day's big finale, which was really more like a weekly crit-series race, except for a pile of cash for the winners.
The streets around the City-County building in downtown SLC are dotted with manhole covers and pot-holes. The jagged metal posts on the old style flasher barricades, used for traffic control, are also menacing to any racer willing to ride the gutter. The race was to be 60 minutes plus three laps on a one-block square course.
On the line we have a solid group of Category 1's, 2's, and 3's. After a lengthy speech by Gary Bywater, and with serious leg lock from just standing there in the cold, the mountain bikers sprint off the line. You can take the boy out of the dirt. . .
Anyway, we rode comfortably for the first while, attacking and countering. All the strong riders showed off for the crowd, though nothing stayed clear.
John Foster (Net.Now!) and his teammates held the upper hand with teamwork and horsepower. The Cat 3's, who never give up on a good chase, also kept things together.
At three laps to go, the big dogs took charge at the front. With two to go, a crash split the field; tires popping and the sound on metal scraping pavement, ewe. The small split allowed the lead gravy train to set the finish order. With an uneventful sprint, i.e. no crashes, Ryan Allison (Net.Now!) crossed the line with his hands in the air followed closely by Ryan Littlefield (Net.Now!), Joel Kath (9th & 9th) and Eric Flinn (Rhodes).
Back to Home Page