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Show Wednesday, June 5, 1974 sternum Page 10,000 FEET AND CLIMBING Saturday, the 1st of June, marked not only the opening of the fishing season, but also another district Olympic' development race. The race was started and finished in Midway at the U.S. Post Office. Starting time was 9 AM, with approximately 35 entrants in both the mens and womens divisions. As this was an Olympic development race, it was a long one 110 miles ! These district development races are kind of a build up to the area development races to be held, such as the Tour of Park City, Aspen and the Sierras, to be held later this summer. At these races, development points are awarded to the top ten finishers. The United States is divided up into three areas; the riders from each area with the highest point totals will go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July. In Milwaukee, a race will be held to determine the top national racers who will compose the team to race in The World Pro-ACycling Championships. There will be two of these championships, one in August of 1974 in Montreal, races to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil , Canada, and the in May of 1975. Thus, these district and area races are designed to produce potential Olympians. The contestants started out from the Midway Post Office towards Highway 40 via the River Road. They turned left on Highway 40, rode through Keetley and up phosphate hill. At the crest of the hill they turned right to Peoa; rode down Browns Canyon, through Peoa and Oakley to Kamas. In Kamas, they turned left onto Center Street and proceeded along that road into Wasatch National Forest to Bald Mountain summit and Mirror Lake. At Bald Mountain summit they turned around, headed back to Kamas, turned left and rode through Kamas and Francis to Hailstone Junction. At Hailstone Junction, they turned left on Highway 40 and rode back into Midway to the finish via River Road. The race was exceptionally gruelling, not only from the standpoint of distance, but also due to the altitude that they had to ride to. Bald Mountain summit is approximately 10,500 feet above sea level which means very thin air for cyclists ! The race was well-ru- n with all safety precautions taken. However, it was marred by one incident that might be termed as ethical difficulties. As mentioned in Bob Kassows cycling article last week in The Coalition, each rider takes turns pulling the pack and thus keeps the pace up to a speed that weaker riders cannot keep up with. One man alone cannot do this job for any prolonged period of time without excessively tiring himself. Although it is legal strategy to not draft for other riders if you so choose, it does tend to degrade the caliber of the race and show a personal lack of confidence on the part of the m Pan-Americ- an racer. The incident in question occured on the return to Midway from Bald Mountain summit. Most of the pack had dropped off and it was down to three riders Bob Kassow, Ed Parrott former Olympic alternate in 1972, and Randy Gaylord. Unfortunately for all concerned, Parrott and Gaylord flat out refused to do any pulling. Because of this, Bob Kassow had to maintain the pace and pull these other two riders almost the whole 50 miles back to Midway, or risk falling back into the rest of the pack. When asked later, Bob admitted hed had trouble getting into his high gear and thus lost out in the final sprint. Bearing this in mind, he said that he wouldnt have minded placing third, if only the other two had shown some racing spirit and friendly competition. This is the core of any athletic competition and should be exemplified by all contestants, especially a former Olympic alternate. The final results in the Senior Mens Gass were: 1st Ed Parrott, 2nd Randy Gaylord, 3rd Bob Kassow. The Womens race did show this particular brand of competitiveness. Their race was approximately 52 miles on the same course as the men, with the exception of the climb to Bald Mountain summit. A rather humorous incident occurred to Kathy Prince and Nancy Kassow as they rode through Kamas. A herd of cows was crossing the road and Kathy managed to sneak through while Nancy had to wait for the lifting of this bovine blockade. It took Nancy almost 30 miles to catch Kathy and when she did, they drafted for each other all the way back to Midway with the exception of the final sprint to the finish. Unfortunately for Nancy, after this excellent catch-u- p effort, she lost by only half a bicycle length to Kathy. Ttuly a sign of healthy competition ! The final results in the Womens Gass were: 1st Kathy Prince, 2nd Nancy Kassow, 3rd Laurie Bach . DELICATESSEN SPECIALIZING IN Imported & American Delicacies HOURS 12:00 am to 10:00pm 7daysavwek PHONE Next week, many of these same riders will journey to Aspen, Colorado, for the Area Olympic Development Race there. It will consist of two days of distance racing. The first days race will be 95 miles in length, and the second day will be 100 miles. and LIQUOR STORE 436 MAIN STREET 649-895- 7 PARK CITY, UTAH 19 |