On April the 12th we had our first event of the season, the Willard Bay and Beyond 100K and 200K. This year, everyone signed up for the 200 km distance. The weather was rather decent, as in April, it can go either way (the following day, i.e. Sunday, it was snowing in the nearby foothills!). Prior to the official event, we had the Holmbergs “pre-ride” the route to determine if construction would be an issue. There was some construction on the route during their ride, but according to the flagman that they asked, it would be over by Saturday — and indeed we had no construction problems.
We had eight riders registered, but two had to bail, due to last-minute conflicts. Consequently, six of us left the parking lot under cloudy skies at 9 a.m. under a pretty decent temp of 54F. Four of us stayed together pretty much the whole day, while Larry and Joe stuck together as a team. Paul, who is training for the upcoming cross country TransAm race, flatted early on. Due to a last minute wheel switch, his tube didn’t have the right sized stem for his deep-dish wheelset. He could not find the puncture, so he put his old tube back in and it seemed to hold, but later started slowly loose air again. He eventually pulled the tube and just patched it (which later failed again and had to patch it a second time).
The temps raised to the mid 70s. We had some gusty winds off and on during the day, but nothing earthshaking. Later in the afternoon, it started to rain very lightly (and cooled down) so many of us put our jackets back on again. We had some surprise food at the turnaround store in Corrine, as they were demoing CampChef BBQ and smoking equipment. We had some samples of salmon, beef brisket and pork. That was a nice addition to the fast food which we obtained inside.
The group of four finished in under nine hours. Larry finished later, but he come in alone. He informed me that Joe had crashed about two miles back and was waiting for him to return with a vehicle to pick him up. Joe was riding behind Larry, when his wheel slipped over the edge, where the asphalt meets the concrete curb. His wheel hit the edge of the curb, and deflected him back the left again, causing him to go over the bars and down. His front tire received a big sidewall gash. His shoulder received the brunt of the fall. He later went in for x-rays and it appears to be a possible torn rotator cuff. His legs and hands also got some road rash. We certainly wish him a speedy recover. Thanks to Larry for being there with Joe throughout the day and especially at the end when he needed it the most. Incidentally, this was longest distance Joe has ridden to date.