Kat Wins SLC's Hell Of The North

Don't let the name fool you!  This year, SLC's version of Hell of the North was quite tame.  5 mile pancake flat loop with about a 2 mile dirt section.  Due to the amount of snow we received here Friday and the warm temps and sunshine leading into Saturday's race, the road was in great condition.  Unfortunately, turnout was low for the Women's Pro 1-2-3 race with 6 riders.  The Men's Pro race had 12.  Maybe folks here in SLC shy away from the word dirt unless mountain bikes are involved?   Maybe the race wasn't gnarly enough to bring out the Paris Roubaix fans and hard-ass riders? (You know who you are...you might love racing cross, or perhaps you look forward to races like Battenkill not because it marks the beginning of the road season, but because IT IS your favorite race.)  Regardless, the parking lot was pretty mellow and there was never a line for the porta-potty.  Our field raced for 40 miles with a number of attacks throughout.  4 of the other riders were from the Ski Utah Team, which resulted in an alliance between the two other solo riders and MA natives.  With two laps to go, I attacked before the dirt section and Sara Kaufmann countered when I was brought back.  She stayed away for about 4 miles with an increasing gap until I decided we were getting a little too close to the finish for my liking.  My attempts to bridge up to her solo were unsuccessful. So, those of us left chasing worked well together to bring her back.  Heading off the dirt towards the start-finish straight, 3 of us were left and I jumped early, confident I could get a pretty sizable gap and maintain it.  Turned out to be a good move and a nice start to the race season.

Post race bling and my new race recovery outfit thanks to Prana.  Our French friend asked if I was given a cobbler (meaning cobble) for my win.  Sadly, no.  

On a different note, I had an interesting botany lesson at the race.  As I was getting ready for my race, I couldn't help raise an eyebrow at all the racers carrying their bikes through the dirt parking lot.  I didn't see any glass.  Didn't they realize we were going to be racing on a dirt and gravel road?  The bike would get dirty.  Flats were going to happen.  As we rode back to the parking lot after the finish, Sara warned me about the "goatheads," a sharp two-spiked seed from the tribulus terrestris plant, in the parking lot.  I looked down at my tires to find them covered with these seeds, and began pulling the 6-10mm long spikes out of my tires.  I had never seen or heard of this plant in my life.  Several hours after my first encounter with it, I happen to come across a reference to the plant and its proposed medicinal properties in the book I'm reading.  Funny.

Thanks for reading :)