Trial. Photo: Cotton Sox Photography.
By Ryan Barrett
June 2011 – In a repeat of the previous weeks’ state criterium championships, Michael Booth and Laura Howat (both Ski Utah-MarketStar) won the Bear Lake Classic Road Race. Held on May 14th under warm and sunny skies, the primary difficulty in the event was the wind. The Pro 1-2 men rode two laps around the lake, totaling just over 100 miles. The race was aggressive from the start with the author (Ski Utah-MarketStar) and Darren Goff (Chick-Fil-A/The Bike Shoppe) forming the early breakaway in the first few miles. The gruesome twosome were able to pull out a maximum advantage of less than three minutes; not nearly enough for two riders to stay away given the flat and windy course. And so it was, with about thirty miles to go, they were brought back into the fold.
The field split through the crosswind section at the north end of the course, only to come back together. From this point on, the race was extremely aggressive with attacks going constantly. The final group of six came into the finish, with Booth able to take the sprint in front of Chase Pinkham (Bissell Pro Cycling) and junior TJ Eisenhart (FFKR).
The Pro 1-3 Women completed one lap of the 50-mile course, and also came down to a six-rider break. Howat was able to use her sprint prowess to best Amy Frykman (GAS/Intrisik) and Megan Hill (Porcupine).
The Bear Lake Classic remains a full weekend of racing, with Friday nights’ hillclimb time trial won by Pinkham and Howat, respectively in the men’s and women’s pro events. Sunday featured a 50-mile team time trial won by Ski Utah-MarketStar in the men’s pro event and Revolution Café Rio in the women’s open division.
