High Uintas Classic Road Race: Derek Edwards takes 1st, Mark Otterson 8th

Congratulations Guys!  Derek takes a huuuge win for the team at the High Uintas Classic Road Race. 70 miles through the beautiful Uintas countryside - lots of climbing with a long rolling descent to the finish. Derek hammered it all the way to the finish to take the top podium spot, underscoring once again, the dominance of team Zanconato in the local racing scene. The "wrecking crew" is a force to be reckoned with!  scroll down for a race report from Mark

From Mark:  "Derek and I both raced the cat 4-5 group of the High Uintas.  This is a race that Derek also won last year on a 45 mile solo breakaway.  The profile of the race is the first 30 miles gives you about 4500 feet of elevation gain.  Derek and I pushed the pace pretty hard up the first 25 miles taking a lot of time on the front in the hopes of splintering the group but to my surprise there were quite a few of the 45 guys that stuck with the pace.  At that point it was in my 190 lbs interest to ease up and catch my breath for the kick up in grade but I think we may have waited a bit too long.  The grade kicked up and one small guy attacked and put a 1:20 lead on the rest of the pack with about 2 miles to go on the climb.  I was dying and even with a little push from "Slaughterhouse" I couldn't hold to my redline any longer and to my great frustration I popped with about 1.5 miles to go on the climb.  I had the next 15 miles descending by myself to reflect on rule number 5 and try to catch some of the approximately 25 guys in front of me.  I caught a few guys who were happy to work together to try and make up lost ground.  The group grew as we reeled other riders in.  I got to one guy in our group and asked him how many guys were out front and he was very vague about it and when he came to the front to take his turn in the rotation he would slow the pace from about 32 miles per hour down to about 26 miles per hour which was his strategy to prevent us from catching his team mate.  I caught onto his strategy and basically just skipped him in the rotation.  We caught his team mate and then I asked him the same question on how many were out in front and what the time gap was.  Unfortunately I didn't know how many were still out and they led me to believe there might have been 15 or 20 guys still.  On the final stretch when I still thought we had a couple of miles to go the one guy who was slowing the pace to 26 sprinted off the front.  I jumped out to catch him and two other guys came including his team mate.  As we rotated his bloody team mate blocked me and slowed the chase.  Unfortunately we were about 500 meters from the finish and not 2 miles.  I was pretty bent that those two guys let me do so much work to chase down other racers and benefited by about 10 overall positions due to the work I did and then blocked me at the end but I guess that's racing and I need to learn not to trust any of the other bastards around me.  I finished in 8th place and due to not quite 50 participants I got a goose egg on upgrade points!

...basically when I was dying up the climb at 180 bpm heart rate Derek was chatting it up with another guy beside me and putting his hand on my back giving me a little boost.  He summited with a small group and they quickly caught the solo breakaway climber and spat him out the back.  They worked together for the remainder of the race with Derek doing his usual high percentage of work out front and still had enough in the tank to win the final sprint and take another Zanconato win for the season!!

Derek also got his upgrade to Cat 3 with this win.  Way to go Slaughterhouse!  You set an impressive standard my friend.  It was a pleasure racing with you - while it lasted :)"



The "Wrecking Crew" - GoPro video from last week's Bear Lake Classic road race

Thanks for getting the nice video Devin (cyclist hosting the GoPro on his bike). To quote Devin, here's some footage of "Elias, AFCU, and the Zanco' wrecking crew from behind!".  Our team has a new moniker. The Wrecking Crew. I like it.

Nice shot of Aaron looking pro, rockin the Carbones at the start. Then around 2:10 Devin bridges up to a break with none other than Mark...drafts off Mark's arse for awhile. Mark went on to win. It's a long video, but you'll see a smattering of Zanconato kit here and there..including Derrick and Derek. You can see the Zank boys were at the pointy end of the pack for a good part of the race. The only thing missing is Devin got caught up on the final run in so there's no video of the sprint finish with Mark pipping the other dudes at the line.

Bear Lake Classic Road Race: Mark takes the Podium

Congrats to our own Mark Otterson (AKA the tall Aussie fella disliked by the racoon community along Legacy Parkway. Since he can't wrastle gators, he'll take on the racoons. Sorry for yet another down-unda stereotype Mark, but you're an easy going guy so i know you don't mind mate. Crickey!!!).

Mark took first in a very tightly packed Cat 4/5 field, in a crazy sprint finish with 40+ mph speeds at the end. 51 mile course around Bear Lake, clockwise. Derek Edwards rode in a very fast Cat3/4 field. - speeds averaging close to 27mph over the full course. Crazy. Unfortunately Derek flatted around mile 30, was not able to chase back onto the fast moving pack, and finished a few minutes down @ 02:07:15.7.

Congrats also to Derrick W, Aaron, and Dave:

Derrick Warlaumont  - 9th place (more accurately, three dudes, including Derrick, all tied wheel to wheel for 7th place), only .7 seconds off Mark's winning time of 02:02:51.5. *Derrick posted the fasted sprint time to the line - 40.7mph!

Aaron Branham - 39th place, 5.1 seconds off  the winning time. That should tell you how heavily contested the finish was.

Dave Baker rounded out the team placings at 02:14:16.4, a little further back, coming in with a chase group.

Here's a look at the top ten:

Race Updates: TOUR of the DEPOT / ANTELOPE ISLAND CLASSIC

Tour of the Depot: Brutal weather conditions. Wind & pouring rain. Temps down in the mid 30's. It was a race of attrition. Our own Derrick Warlaumont takes 5th across the Cat4/5s. Nice.

Antelope Island Classic Road Race:  Derrick W, Derek E, and Mark O raced this past Saturday. The course was mostly rollers, some short kicker type climbs, and a final climb to the finish. Around 47 miles. No one really lit it up for most of the race as the pack stayed together and the fast guys more or less marked each other. On the final climb Derek had a nice position and launched out of the group, but ran out of road, to finish 5th. Mark and Derrick W both had great times finishing at the front of a large field of 50+ riders.

Derek Edwards - 5th Cat4/5s
Mark Otterson - 9th Cat4/5s
Derrick Warlaumont - 18th Cat 4/5s

2014 ZANCONATO TEAM KIT is LIVE!

Click    HERE    to purchase the new 2014 Zanconato Racing Team Kit.

...Pictures can be seen here (the ordering site doesn't have the higer resolution pics yet)

R.O.U.S. – Raccoon of Unexpected Speed

Last Tuesday at 4:30am we gathered, by what can only be attributed to the Svengali-like power of Mark O., to ride as many hard miles (65-70) as possible before work.  For those who had extra time, this would include ascending Emigration Canyon, east of the University of Utah.

Four of us departed along the Legacy Parkway bike trail: Mark O., Derrick W., Dave B. (myself), and Colt F. from America First CU Racing.  No more than twenty minutes in, while Mark was pushing the pace in front, he noticed something on the side of the path.  As the pre-dawn brain cells attempted to identify the object, and just as Mark considered the idea of slowing down, a large (and surprisingly swift) raccoon darted across the trail and in front of Mark’s tire.

Like the R.O.U.S. (Rodents of Unusual Size) attack in “The Princess Bride”, Mark was unceremoniously knocked to the ground, while peril ensued.  Amid the chaos, I either heard or said an expletive.  Somehow the rest of us were able to brake, weave or skid past the pile of man and machine.

The first order of business was to inspect Mark.  With the use of our headlights, it was clear he had some serious road rash and bruising on his hip and forearm, yet the team kit remained remarkably intact (Go TEXmarketUSA!).* Fortunately, his full-finger gloves took the brunt of what would have been some major lacerations to the back of his hand.

The next order of business was to tend to the Zanconato.  Maybe we should have done this first.  Anyway, aside from a scraped up saddle and bar tape, and a tiny tweak of the derailleur, the steed was in great shape (Go Zank!).

Once Mark collected himself, we were riding again.  After just one rotation of the paceline, Mark was back up front, pushing a big gear as usual.  When we reached Emigration Canyon, Mark faced it like Inigo Montoya vs. the six-fingered man (Go Mark!).

And thus the pronouncement: “Raccoons make lousy speed-bumps!” Indeed they do.

*It should be noted I believe this retelling is in compliance with Rule #81, since after the ride Mark went to InstaCare to have his wounds scrubbed and treated.  Also, no selfies of the injuries will be posted; otherwise, Mark may be accused of being a Congressman.  I’ve seen the pictures - definitely not safe for work.

Ride on,
Dave

TOUR DEL SOL STAGE RACE: Another amazing result for the team / 2014 Kit is almost here!

Zanconato Racing leaves a big mark in the Southern Utah red rock country with a  1st overall by Derek in the Cat4 race! (scroll down for complete results).  Another great development: The 2014 Zanconato Racing team kit is almost here. Stay tuned for links to order. Anyone who has last year's kit knows that Tex-Market gear is top notch - they supply many of the kits in the pro peloton. This year's getup is no different, and the new design is killer! Here's the final design for a few pieces - we'll have arm warmers, hats, etc, as well.

TOUR DEL SOL STAGE RACE RESULTS

Congratulations Derek! Zanconato Racing establishes an early season presence in Southern Utah

 

Overall
1st Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (8th overall Cat3/4)    GC Time: 3:58:52

20km Time Trial - Saturday 3/29, 7AM

 2nd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (17th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 26:51

Criterium - Saturday 3/29 2PM

3rd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (20th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 45:21

60 Mile Road Race - Sunday 3/30 8AM 

2nd Place Cat4: Derek Edwards (12th overall Cat3/4)    Time: 2:46:40 



Race report from Derek:

Very competitive and large cat 3-4 group (60 plus dudes).  Big team turnout from Intermountain LiveWell (Imagine that) and Las Vegas cyclery.  These two teams had big advantages with strong riders and planned out tactics.

Time trial was a great course with 1st half slight downhill and the 2nd half slight uphill (15ish miles).  Definite advantage with TT bike for downhill portion, but road bikes had a slight advantage coming back up.

The Crit race was a 1.1 mile course that took place on the old airport runway in St. George.  NOBODY out of our huge group dropped out of the race because they couldn't hold onto the peleton.  The corners were fast and smooth.  We hit max speeds just under 40 MPH in some laps and averaged 28 MPH!  I got a few great breaks but couldn't stay ahead of this strong group.  The final sprint entailed team tactics that lasted over a half mile.  OUCH!

The road race was just under 60 miles.  It started in Ivins, UT and climbed up old HWY 91 where we were greeted with a small rain storm.  We turned around at the top and then peeled off towards Gunlock reservoir at the bottom and started climbing again.  Just before the town of Veyo, there is a steep 3/4 - 1 mile climb that broke off more than half the group.  I couldn't hang on to the aggressive climbers, but was able to catch up with the group after the climb a few miles down the road.  The terrain out of Veyo I actually pulled away from the lead group for several miles but they reeled me in with 10ish miles to go.  The major decent out of Snow Canyon had a massive crosswind.  We all had to slow down our pace considerably to stay on the road.  The last few miles entailed a brutal headwind.  Our group of 13 then became very 'lazy' and nobody wanted to work out in the wind so I spent a lot of time out front.  But of course, the last kilometer, things heated up, and I popped on the last slight incline combined with headwind.  Felt like I was pushing some major power but wasn't able to move very fast!

Valley of Fire Stage Race - Derek Edwards places 12th in a very strong field

Congratulations to Derek on a fine showing in Overton, NV this past weekend at the Valley of Fire Stage Race.  He finished an impressive 12^th place in a very strong Cat3-4 field of 72 racers mostly from the warmer climates of Nevada and California.  Way to represent Derek!