By Cimarron Chacon
For the 7th annual 6 Hours in Frog Hollow, held on April 16, 2016 in St. George, Utah, an almost sold out crowd lined up at the starting line with 20 mph sustained winds to their back. Despite the weather the crowd was full of smiling faces and a few costumes. Everyone was up for a day of competitive mountain biking. The first 2 laps were the toughest, with up to 50 mph gusts on the ridges, racers had to really work hard to stay up-right. Although the gusts subsided a little as the day went on, the sustained winds grew to 30+ mph. It was a tough day for all battling the wind.
For some one lap was enough, but for those who were in for the long haul, the day seemed to get more and more fun. Lap times were different than in previous years. No speed records were broken, but with an uphill tail wind, and a head wind on the decent, racers found themselves pedaling more, which led to very consistent lap times.
Two-time Solo Male champion Cary Smith (The HUB), not only beat his 2015 time by 6 minutes, but also set the course record for the fastest 6 laps during the race since the course was changed in 2012. His final time was 6 laps in 5:15:41. Smith’s first two laps were about 50 minutes each. If he could have held that pace the entire race, he may have been the first racer to achieve a 7th lap. The wind was likely the cause of the slow down.
Melisa Rollins (Team Fatty) took the win for the Female Solo category. Melisa is a relatively new face on the racing scene, but with Lisa –the hammer – Nelson as a mom, it is no wonder that Melisa is shining. Melisa completed 5 laps in 5:33:28. Meanwhile Mom (Lisa Nelson, Team Fatty) took second in the Solo Singlespeed Female category to Heidi Volpe, Team Helens, in what was a near tie race. The difference between these two ladies was 00:00:02 seconds after 5 laps of racing neck and neck. Heidi took the win with 5 laps in 5:45:54.
For results, see page 16.
For complete results and racer stats visit
http://6hoursinfroghollow.com/results/
