Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Summit Center Classic

Well we were going to take the weekend off from racing, but Ty decided he wanted to compete in the Summit Center Classic Stage Race in Flagstaff last weekend. So, we again took the “back way” up to Flagstaff on Friday night. We have really enjoyed traveling via the back way to Flag - going up through Payson and into Flagstaff via Lake Mary Rd route. Ty saw 13 deer during our trip up there – a new record for him!

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The "backway" to Flagstaff

Saturday AM was the hill climb prologue stage, a 0.6 mile uphill time trial. Ty rode the stage strong enough to put himself out front of his friend and rival (Zach) by 16 seconds. On to Stage 2 Saturday afternoon for a road race out in Williams, AZ. The roads were very hilly and the winds were ripping through the trees and the riders. I volunteered to do wheel support for the Juniors and rode right behind Ty and Zach for the whole stage. The two boys rode together for the whole stage and battled the wind and hills together. The last few hundred yards they dropped the hammer and sprinted to the finish. It was a photo-finish and Zach edged out Ty by a hair.

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Sunday AM was the Crit at NAU. The boys rode hard for the full 15 minutes and it again came down to a sprint finish. This time, Ty came out on top...

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Going into the final stage on Lake Mary, Ty was only ahead of Zach by 16 seconds in the G,C. The Juniors went out at a pretty good paced and stayed together for the 1st few miles. Then, Zach had some trouble with his gears and fell off the back of the pack. Ty was able to hold on a bit longer before he fell off the pack. He had a pretty good gap on Zach and was able to hold it to the finish line. A great weekend of racing!

In between stages, we went out to a local Disc Golf course and had a little fun. I think Ty actually threw one or two discs that did NOT hit a tree :-) More pics can be found
HERE
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a sweet bike throw on the finish line!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the idea on the back way to Flagstaff. Went up that route yesterday and it's definitely more relaxing than the 17.

Wouldn't that climb from Payson up past Strawberry be sweet on a road bike? I just wish it had some semblance of a shoulder to work with.

Congrats to Ty on the finish...

Marty said...

Thx, Dara! I do not know where he learned that. Did you teach him?

Travis, I am glad you like the "backway"! It would be sweet if there was more shoulder on that route!