Dawn and I returned home about midnight last night from our trip to Torrey to watch Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour of Utah. It was such a great trip and exciting Tour stage, that it is going to be really hard to write this post without the end result sounding like gloating.
Brian's mom Charlotte hooked us up with a hotel room. Someone, I don't know if it was Kelson or Brian's dad Rob who is a county commissioner in Torrey, put some VIP passes in our hands. We watched the stage unfold on the Jumbotron from the comfort of the VIP tent surrounded by food and cold drinks. I am very grateful for the generosity of the entire family.
I will backtrack a little bit to repeat something I have said in the past when writing about the Capital Reef Classic. Torrey is one of the best places I have ever been. It is an idyllic little town with a long cottonwood shaded Main Street on the edge of Capital Reef National Park. It is surrounded by stunning scenery and outstanding cycling.
On Monday morning, Brian and I rode the Fish Lake loop. (I will try to post a couple of pictures and write a short commentary on Fish Lake tomorrow). Yesterday morning, Dawn and I rode the Torrey to Teasdale circuit, riding into town over the final kilometers of the stage finish.
If you have been following the Tour of Utah in Velonews or elsewhere, you know that yesterday's stage has been praised as one of the greatest stages in the ten year history of the race.
Rather than retelling the details of the entire stage, I have included a link to the VeloNews story. Here is how the stage unfolded in a nutshell. BMC rider Michael Schar, former Swiss National Champion and recent Tour de France finisher, was off the front most of the day including the massive climb from Boulder to Torrey. Schar was cramping and in obvious pain ahead of a fast charging peleton on the descent into Torrey and the long finishing straight. The announcers commented that he looked like a man passing kidney stones. At one kilometer, he had a gap of ten seconds over a rapidly closing field which was being driven by the sprinters' teams. The spectators at the finish were desperate for him to stay away. At 1000 meters, I would have bet my life savings against him holding on for the win. He came in at a full sprint right along the barriers on the right side of the street where we were watching. Dawn snapped a photo of his face as he passed. Michael Schar managed to hold a gap of two seconds all the way to the finish.
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