In their first Utah race of the season, Bobs-Bicycles.com sent four guys down to Salt Lake City for the Hell of the North, a 50-mile road race which included 15 total miles of gravel/dirt /pothole/washboard road. 

The course was simple:  a 5 mile rectangle to be completed 10 times, which had one stretch of dirt road.  Conditions were far better than past years with temperatures hovering around 45 degrees and only moderate wind (which is better than snow and rain). 

Twenty-nine anxious racers took the line, and no less than a mile into the race, the attacking began.  A blur of colors kept zooming off the front, but they kept coming back.  The carnage once the race hit the dirt took about 400 watts for 2:00 to hold on.  On the second lap Calvin Allan, Justin Rose, and three Utah riders made a small break, with 1 guy just sitting on.  The charging peloton did not approve, and brought it back within a couple miles, at which time Matt Weyen took off on the counter.  Still having some juice in their legs, the group did not let anything go with a flurry of more attacks. 

At the dirt section the fourth time, Rose took another go at getting off the front, which was successful this time along with Logan Race Club rider Sam Krieg.  The duo worked well together for two laps before they were caught, giving Allan and Weyen opportunities to counter-attack some more.  Yet again, their reputations in Utah are too well known and they instantly marked.  These counters gave Rose a break to recover, and then he too took off, this time he went alone.  Four laps to go, he was determined to stay away or blow up trying, allowing his teammates to enjoy some drafting.  More attacks were going off like fireworks in the peloton and suddenly a chase group of Ryan Barrett of Logan and Allan was 30 seconds behind.  And behind them was a chase group of 2 more, Krieg and Weyen.  With 1.5 laps remaining, the two chases combined which allowed Allan and Weyen to hang on for the ride to see if the Logan riders could reel Rose in. 

Krieg put in a big effort the final time down the dirt road stretch, gaining on a fatiguing Rose, but the gap was already too large and Rose held off the chase by 30 seconds.  Krieg continued a leadout for his teammate, but the fresh legs of Weyen and Allan came around to seal up 2^nd and 3^rd.  Allan’s power data showed that he spent 20% of the race in zone 5 (vo2 max).  Full results can be found here.

While Logan Race Club put up a great fight, Bobs-Bicycles.com came to show that they deserve an invite to the Tour of Utah in August.  The podium sweep was the third in as many races, which included two other Boise spring series races as well.  The team will be heading back up to the northwest to keep the winning streak alive at King’s Valley RR just outside of Portland.  Thanks also to all of the friends, family, and supporters who have been taking pictures and cheering on the squad!  We all appreciate it!!!