This is the 44th annual Bob Cook Memorial, Mt. Evans Hillclimb (aka Colorado State Hillclimb Championship). So what are a couple of flatlander Butt’r Boys doing here? Looking to have a good time and do a little climbing. I believe the fields were completely full again this year for the race in every category, so it’s a very popular challenge for a large number of people.
Trey was the first one racing and was entered in the 35+ cat 3 race. I believe this is the first time they have broken the 35+ field down into separate fields for the cat 1-3 group. They kept getting complaints that the 35+ pros (Michael Carter, Mark Southard, etc…) were hard for the cat 3’s to deal with….so they added this field (35+ cat 3) to the race this year. The field had 25-30 entrants at the start and the weather (which can be “iffy” at times at these altitudes) was almost perfect. It was a beautiful 65 degrees with little wind when the field rolled out at 8:50 from Clear Creek Middle School. A group of 12-15 broke off the front in the first few miles of incline and kept a good tempo from Idaho Springs (7,555 ft.) up to the feed zone just pass Echo Lake (10,597 ft.) 14 miles into the race. Trey had not had to do much work up till this point as the rest of field was content to set the pace and Trey was content to let them do the tempo. As the race reached the feed zone, Trey’s moved to the front end of the group and his climbing ability began to take it’s toll on the field. Just past the turn on to Summit road the mountain starts to kick up a little steeper and Trey kept the pressure constant and continued to climb while the group came apart behind him. With only two riders able to match the tempo, the three riders started putting a large amount of time on the rest of the field. Somewhere between the turn on to Summit Road (mile 15) and Lincoln Lake (mile 19/11,600 ft.) the tempo became too much for the other two riders following Trey and one by one they were dropped as Trey continued on. With no one left to pace him for the last 6-7 miles (11,600 up to 14,130) Trey would have to motivate himself to keep the pace high. The support vehicles did their best to make sure the road was clear because they could tell he was posting a great time, but trying to pass slower riders from previous categories races and racers now coming off the mountain, it was somewhat “busy” on the ride up. When Trey reached the finish line he was elated to hear he had ridden the 28 miles in 2 hours 1 minute and ? seconds. His fastest time ever, on a day he was really not expecting to be that good and with no one to push him nearly the last half of the race! He won the 35+ cat 3 category by several minutes over the second place finisher.
Greg Reed rode the 45+ field race and was responsible for keeping the “autobus” in check with a time of 2 hrs. 36 minutes and ? seconds. Wanted to say thanks again to Willie Latimer and his family for their help with the Butt’r Boys while we were racing in Colorado. It’s always good to see a friendly face and good word when you get a water handup.
Trey was the first one racing and was entered in the 35+ cat 3 race. I believe this is the first time they have broken the 35+ field down into separate fields for the cat 1-3 group. They kept getting complaints that the 35+ pros (Michael Carter, Mark Southard, etc…) were hard for the cat 3’s to deal with….so they added this field (35+ cat 3) to the race this year. The field had 25-30 entrants at the start and the weather (which can be “iffy” at times at these altitudes) was almost perfect. It was a beautiful 65 degrees with little wind when the field rolled out at 8:50 from Clear Creek Middle School. A group of 12-15 broke off the front in the first few miles of incline and kept a good tempo from Idaho Springs (7,555 ft.) up to the feed zone just pass Echo Lake (10,597 ft.) 14 miles into the race. Trey had not had to do much work up till this point as the rest of field was content to set the pace and Trey was content to let them do the tempo. As the race reached the feed zone, Trey’s moved to the front end of the group and his climbing ability began to take it’s toll on the field. Just past the turn on to Summit road the mountain starts to kick up a little steeper and Trey kept the pressure constant and continued to climb while the group came apart behind him. With only two riders able to match the tempo, the three riders started putting a large amount of time on the rest of the field. Somewhere between the turn on to Summit Road (mile 15) and Lincoln Lake (mile 19/11,600 ft.) the tempo became too much for the other two riders following Trey and one by one they were dropped as Trey continued on. With no one left to pace him for the last 6-7 miles (11,600 up to 14,130) Trey would have to motivate himself to keep the pace high. The support vehicles did their best to make sure the road was clear because they could tell he was posting a great time, but trying to pass slower riders from previous categories races and racers now coming off the mountain, it was somewhat “busy” on the ride up. When Trey reached the finish line he was elated to hear he had ridden the 28 miles in 2 hours 1 minute and ? seconds. His fastest time ever, on a day he was really not expecting to be that good and with no one to push him nearly the last half of the race! He won the 35+ cat 3 category by several minutes over the second place finisher.
Greg Reed rode the 45+ field race and was responsible for keeping the “autobus” in check with a time of 2 hrs. 36 minutes and ? seconds. Wanted to say thanks again to Willie Latimer and his family for their help with the Butt’r Boys while we were racing in Colorado. It’s always good to see a friendly face and good word when you get a water handup.
