2019 Hoodoo 500

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I would like to dedicate this blog to Paul and Cecile Meichtry, my mom and dad. Mom and Dad passed away just a couple months ago. I feel they were both with me looking down from heaven. They were finally able to get to see me doing what I love so much, riding my bike out in beautiful God's country. 

A short prelude:

The Hoodoo 500 starts in St. George Utah. The course is a large elongated loop that drops into Arizona for just a bit before heading through some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.

I have used this prelude before. Don't know a better way to describe this race than to quote Planet Ultra, the race organizer. Below is their explanation of this race.

“The most epic and challenging ultra-cycling race, the Hoodoo 500 route passes through or around three National Parks, three National Monuments and several Utah State Parks. The scenery varies from majestic cliffs and striking red rock hoodoos to aspen and pine forests and high mountain meadows. All the best of Utah’s Color Country!

Geologically speaking, hoodoos are tall, skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and sedimentary rock.

Mystically speaking, hoodoo means a magical spell; which is what the Hoodoo 500 experience will cast upon you.”

As I have said before, I totally agree with what it says above about this experience casting a spell on you.

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After doing the event for the first time in 2014 as a 60+ division solo racer with a crew, 2015 in the Voyager self-supported division and 2016 in the 2-man team division, I figured it was time to get back and do my favorite race again.

Having tried those other divisions, I wanted to try a different one for 2019.

I decided on doing the 500 Stage Race.

The Hoodoo 500 Stage Race is a great way to do this race for many reasons.

•  You get to see the whole course in daylight. When you do the race solo, you ride non-stop so you miss some of the most beautiful sights on Hwy 12 and the area leading back to St. George.
• The 512 miles is broken up into three stages. You get to sleep in a hotel after finishing each stage.
•  You only really need one crew member. Your crew can drive leap-frog support, direct follow is not necessary and also gets to stay in the hotel and rest each night.

Note: They do have a self-supported division for the stage race also.

This all does not make it much easier. I found that I tended to push harder, knowing that I could rest after each stage. At the age of 67, I found it pretty tough to get going in the morning after each tough day.

Still a wonderful way to do it.

The Race

The first thing I needed to do before the race is to get someone with racing experience to crew for me.
My first choice was my long-time friend Kevin Walsh. I have known Kevin for what seems like ages. He started doing ultras before me back in the early 80's and we first met in the mid 80's on some of the early double century events.
Kevin is a 508 Hall of Fame inductee with 11 finishes in his career with that race alone. He was our assistant crew chief when we did the Race Across America in 2018.
Kevin had been away from the racing circuit for a while due to medical reasons and I really wanted him to go so he could be out there at the race. He had a lot of friends racing and I knew it would be a lot of fun for him.

Kevin is a retired aerospace engineer at Nasa Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. He used to train by commuting to work 35 miles each way daily from his house in Lancaster Ca. An amazing ultra-cyclist with lots of desert experience.

Kevin and I at check-in

Stage One: St. George to Escalante

 187.3 miles · +11,378 ft / -8,103 ft

Stage race start

We started racing at 7 am on Friday morning. The temps in the area of southern Utah were really hot so I knew that I was going to have heat issues. Racing solo non-stop, it gets cool at night and sometimes downright cold up at the high altitudes on course. I would much rather have that. I was hoping it would be cool with a little rain or just something to keep heat-related problems down. Heat and being in your 60's for me don't mesh very well!!

We rolled out of town with an escort for the first 10 miles or so. After that point, the race was on.

Right out of the box I had to go to the bathroom so bad that I had to find a spot to stop. Right at the start, I was way behind. I really did not mind though. I like riding by myself and I was not doing this event to try and win anything. It has always been just about finishing for me.

After I got my second wind, I got into a nice rhythm and felt pretty good. It got warm really fast and I started to get a little hot-foot early on. It was not too bad though.
The first stage of the race was pretty much all uphill with no long descents until a final one toward the finish. Not much to recover on so my heart rate was a little high. I think it mostly had to do with the heat.
The Hwy was pretty busy with trucks and RV's on a Friday. I was really looking forward to the turn toward the new part of the course.

Rolling through Arizona

Rolling through Arizona

For the first time, we would be going up a different route toward Mount Carmel Junction. We would be bypassing Kanab Utah.


This new section was just beautiful!

The road was good, almost no traffic other than locals and a few campers heading into the park.

The area we were riding into is The Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

This area was just beautiful and a great addition to the Hoodoo 500 course. This change in course made the race a few miles shorter but added better scenery. Really worth the change.

 Just a spectacular area of new route

Climbing over a small summit with Robyn Stein

 

It was about 28 miles on this beautiful road. Gradual climbing with a few short descents before reaching the old course on Hwy 89.

Now we were back on the original course heading up over Mount Carmel and onward to Epic Hwy 12.

Hwy 89 was really beautiful as usual. It was a long slog to get to Hwy 12 but well worth it. Once we got to a certain point we had a tailwind with a gradual down-hill so it was great. My hotfoot was really starting to kick in already so I just spun the nice areas with tailwind and downhill so take the pressure off my feet.
I am in my happy place when I am on flat to rolling terrain as I am built more like a sprinter, not a climber. It would have been nice if I could have just gone at a nice steady pace like I do in training, but again like in the 24 Hour Time Trials a year ago, I lost so much time just coasting to take pressure off my feet. (and stopping to get out of the peddles. I really need to find a solution. It's one problem I never had when younger!)

While on Hwy 89 I rode a bit with my friend Rick. We talked a bit but I had to let him go since I and stay at my own pace.

  Rick is a really strong climber. He is the last person I thought I would catch up to after my break at the very start of the race.

Rick Jacobson

Chatting with Rick

The heat on this first day so far was taking its toll on people. We caught up to Sean Johnson, one of the fastest men in the race. He was really sick to his stomach due to the heat.
Sean actually lives in Southern Utah.

His company makes some of the best Chamois Cream out there, Podium Chamois Cream.

Even though Sean was stopping and getting sick by the side of the road or resting in his support vehicle, he is so fast that he still kept catching me and flying by me. (What a beast!) One time he asked me to draft behind him but my feet were hurting so much I just couldn't push much harder.

Sean coming up behind me.

Sean about to catch me again.

It was really a fast ride in the last section getting to Hwy 12. It really helped me recover. 

I told Kevin that I would like to stop at the Red Canyon parking lot and take a break as well as have an ice-cold soda. There is just something about a cold soda.

Just about to start riding into the most beautiful part of the first day, I was feeling pretty good and really looking forward to the soda.

Heading up the start of Hwy 12

Red Canyon ahead. Just a magical place.   

I made a quick stop, taking my feet out of my shoes while I drank the soda. Oh boy did that taste good.
At this point, you are required to jump on to the Red Canyon bike path.
This bike path takes you all the way to Bryce. A really nice path and totally away from any tourist traffic.

At the entrance to the parking lot. Pictures just don't do it justice.

Rolling up the bike path

Rolling up the bike path

Just about to turn into the time station at Bryce

I stopped just for a second at the time station in Bryce then headed out to finish the last portion of the bike path.

Next was a blazing fast descent to Tropic Utah and my favorite portion of the race.

Hit close to 50 mph on this descent. Finally a nice, long,  descent.

I rolled through Tropic in no time then caught up to Sean again. Somewhere in there, I passed Rick also. (not sure where though). Now I was rolling into the final stretch into Escalante, an absolutely beautiful section of the course.

Go, Sean Johnson!!

Did I mention how beautiful this section of the course is?

Onward toward Escalante

This next section went much faster than I remember on any of my prior three times doing the race. I think we had a slight tailwind which made for faster speeds but made the heat worse since there was no cooling breeze in your face. It was an absolutely fantastic day. I was making really good time and knew at this point that I would easily make it to the day one stage finish before dark.
I knew that coming up shortly, was a very tough climb to negotiate. Probably one of the toughest of the race as far as grade percentage is concerned. Its a beast but I was ready for it.

Oh boy!

What a climb!! You dream about climbs like this.

I reached the final climb of the day knowing that I had a very long descent going into Escalate and then I could spend the night in a hotel.

Not like the two times doing it solo where I had to keep going non-stop. This was going to be really nice although I did not know how my body was going to react at my age on getting up and racing again so soon. How long would it take me to warm up? Would my legs be locked up? How would my Heart-rate react to racing again so soon? 
Now would be the time to see if my "stage race-specific training" would pay off!!

What a nice descent it was. In previous years it was getting cold at this point and I was forced to put on warm weather gear on the descent and got the chills.
On this day it was warm and I just bombed down the descent coasting much of it at speeds exceeding 30 mph. My feet felt better and I was hammering into town. What a reward for a tough day!!!

 The middle section of the race which begins after Escalante does not have as much climbing as this first day but has the longest sustained climb (with no real breaks) of the whole race, the climb up Boulder Mountain.  I would need to eat a lot and fuel up for a tough morning.

Stage 2: Escalante to Panguitch

171.1 miles · +10,794 ft / -10,059 ft

Even after eating a huge dinner consisting of a pepperoni calzone and my protein shake, I woke up on day two feeling really good. 
It was nice and cool outside but nothing like it could have been in this area. 
I think this signaled it was going to be a hot day this year. 

Finally, I will be able to see this awesome section of the course in daylight.

Milling around getting ready for stage 2

On my two solo races, I did not hit sunrise until I was over the summit of the climb above the town of Loa after taking my break at the time station for sleep and rest. On both solo races, I was at Loa around 3-4 am and took a break until around 5 am before starting the climb.
On my two-man race, we didn't hit sunrise until we were not far from Panguitch, rolling into Panguitch not long after sunrise.

  I didn't get to see any of the area between Escalante and Loa.
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We started day two again at 7 am. It was so nice and cool that we all were wondering if we needed windbreakers or vests. I decided no vest, knowing that we would be climbing almost immediately into a rising sun.

It was really chilly on the little descent out of town. Feeling great, I just paced myself up the first climb. It was an absolutely beautiful sunrise with wildflowers all around. I was already in awe of what I had missed on my past 3 races.

The view from the summit and on the descent was just spectacular, to say the least!!! No wonder my friend and race director Deb had told me a gazillion times that I need to do the "Stage Race"!!

Down into the canyon we went. Wow-what a beautiful area. I remember when I did the Voyager division in 2015, there was a super moon. This area was glowing orange but you still couldn't see all its splendor. Amazing!!

The following pictures still don't do this area justice. It was just beautiful!!

Looking down at the descent from up above

Down in the canyon.

Starting the climb out of the canyon.

But boy......one thing I did remember and see with my legs.....was the climb to get out of this canyon!

The climb out of the canyon to the "Hogs-Back" is tough 12-15% but seemed much easier after a night's sleep and some good food for recovery. It was still tough though.

One of the most memorable moments of this area in darkness during past races was looking up ahead and seeing the tail lights of the riders and their support vehicles climbing out of the canyon. It was spectacular.

Over the top, we went and on to the Hogs-Back. It was spectacular.

                                       Hogs-Back drone shot. The canyon we climbed out of is above and to the right                                                                                 Photo: Michael Conti                      

Next stop, Boulder!

During past races, all I saw, was a few lights while going through town. I did not realize this was such a nice area. Boulder is a really nice place!!

Coming up was the nemesis of many a Hoodoo 500 solo racers......Boulder Mountain.

I believe that more solo racers DNF at this point in the race than at any other point. Many times due to weather extremes. There can be a 70-degree temperature swing from the races hottest point on the first day to this climb. This year I am thinking it must have been much better for the solos.

Boulder Mountain is a very long climb to a 9,600-foot road summit! The kind of climb that just seems endless when doing in the dark. The actual highest point on the mountain plateau is 11,300 feet in elevation.

Some interesting trivia about Boulder Mountain. Amazing place!!

"Boulder Mountain in Utah, USA makes up half of the Aquarius Plateau of South Central Utah in Wayne and Garfield counties. The mountain rises to the west of Capitol Reef National Park and consists of steep slopes and cliffs with over 50,000 acres of rolling forest and meadow-lands on the top. The mountain has a nearly flat summit of roughly 70 square miles. 
The mountain is the highest timbered plateau in North America and is part of the Dixie National Forest."

I felt really good on this climb. It was cool still which was really good for me.
At my age, from the start of the climb out of the canyon before the town of Boulder, I opted to not try and stay with my younger....faster...climbing friends. 
It was a good choice. I was really feeling good at the pace I was going. It ended up much faster than my previous solo races.
To my surprise, about halfway up the climb, a crew person who was leapfrogging his racer told me that I was only 9 minutes behind the lead person. Not bad for an old fart but 9 minutes is a long way on a climb. 

I'm getting there.

Sean and Kimmy looking good!

Sean Johnson

Victor Cooper

Rick Jacobson

I reached the false summit feeling really good. I knew there was one more kicker to get to the real summit and I felt absolutely fantastic getting there.

The false summit up ahead.

I took a quick break for some nourishment at the summit then rolled down off the summit for the turn toward the time station in Bicknell.

Rolling near Boulder summit

One heck of a climb in the books

What a view!!

This turned out to be a tough descent compared to past years. I forgot about some of the climbs in the middle of the descent and I almost hit a big bull and a couple cows. (I had to screech to a stop at one point. Glad I heeded the signs about the open range!!!)

At one point the calm air turned to a pretty strong headwind all the way to the turn in Torrey.

The beauty of the area is just breathtaking and it took my mind off the headwind. Even though it was slightly downhill on the lower slopes of Boulder Mountain, I was fighting a headwind.

Rolling into Torrey

Rolling into Torrey

I made the turn in Torrey then shortly after found my friend Rick again who had stopped in town for a break. Rick is one of the strongest climbers I know. I will never forget some of the epic rides we had done together in the past 20+ years.
Rick and I rode together a bit in the headwind getting to the next time station in Bicknell before my feet started hurting and I let him go.

This next stretch is where things started going downhill as far as my feet were concerned. I also was starting to get a saddle sore. (I never get saddle sores!) It was getting hot but the head-wind made for some cooling since it was still somewhat cool up at this altitude.

I stopped for a break to rest my feet just past Loa and before the climb out of town.

The next climb, in my opinion, is one of the toughest on course, mainly due to where it occurs. I found it much tougher on this year's race due to the temps and being able to see it. It just plays mind games with you. Ask any Hoodoo racer who has done it solo.

From the town of Loa, you climb to a summit of around 8,400 feet. It is a deceiving climb. It starts off with a really tough kicker to a false summit.
After this summit, numerous false summits just get on your nerves.

The climb out of Loa to the first "false summit"

Hitting the steepest part of the first false summit

Boulder Mountain in the rear. Rolling up another false summit.

It seemed like there were about 10 of these. You think you are at the summit, then you see another kicker up ahead.

SUMMIT!!

I never realized there was such a good view of Boulder Mountain in the rear. I am so glad Kevin got a shot of it. It is a beast of a mountain and it was hard to believe that we were up on the summit of that thing not that long ago.

Over the summit, I went.

Now we had a nice descent down to the town of Koosharem. I knew it was going to be hot down there but I had no idea that the section to come was going to be so brutal.

 In 2016 when doing this whole valley stretch in the wee hours of the morning darkness, it was 32 degrees here and I was freezing while my team-mate Victor took his sleep break. I was buzzed by a great horned owl with about a 6' wingspan while rolling down this valley that year. Only me and our crew chief Teresa Beck saw it. I felt it before I saw it. It flew the same direction as me from behind and was right in my headlight beam up ahead of me. (so close I felt the draft from it!)

It was around 108 degrees on the road once I got down off the summit and into the valley making the turn on Hwy 62. I got really excited because riding into the actual town of Koosharem, we had a great tailwind. I was cruising easily at about 23 mph in the wind just letting the feet recover. It was great and I was thinking.......WOW....this is going to be a really fast section on the flat and rolling terrain getting to the turn toward Panguitch!! A great chance to recover from climbing and headwinds in the last section. 

NOT!!!!

Rolling into very hot Koosharem. The highway visible coming down the mountain from right to left.

Not long after we left the small town of Koosharem, the wind changed to an erratic and hot headwind. No cooling effect at all!!

I am not a complainer being a glass half full type person, and also known for being a constant optimist, but this stretch really beat me down.
I lost so much time just gearing down and spinning and stopping all due to the hotfoot and an emerging bad saddle sore.
It was one of those damned if you do and damned if don't kind of stretches. If I stood out of the saddle to relieve the saddle sore it just made my hot foot worse. If I sat on the saddle and dropped into the aero-bars to fight the headwind, it made the saddle sore worse.

I have mentioned it before many times to others. One of the aspects of doing ultra events solo is being able to manage pain and we have all been through it at one point or another. This was one of those times for me.

We made the turn toward Panguitch and there was Rick again taking a break. We again rode for a while together but I had to let him go due to my issues. Kevin told me that Victor's son Evan was there and that Vic was only about 10-15 minutes ahead of us at that point. I guess everyone was suffering on this stretch. Not just me.

We rolled past a river along the way and I was so tempted to just stop, walk over to the river and plop my legs and feet into it. There was one area where I could have easily done it.

Rick catching back up to me again

Go, Rick!!

Brand new chip-seal. I don't think it is fully done yet. It was really rough and the top was not sealed yet

Rolling out of Centerville

I took a break at Butch Cassidy's house.

I made many stops in this last section which forced me to put my lights on. I rolled into the time station hotel just after sunset feeling totally spent. This second day felt like one of the toughest double centuries I have ever done. It was only around 170 miles but felt like so much more!!
Throughout the stage, my legs and fitness felt absolutely great. I just couldn't transfer any power to the pedals.

I was just too spent and wasted at the end of this stage. Some went out to dinner but I just left it all on the road and opted to stay in again and just make myself a sandwich, ice my feet and go to bed.

My body has a unique way of telling me when I am overly tired and I should just rest. 
Since my brain tumor removal in 1994, I have facial nerve weakness (bells-palsy) on my left side. I also don't have a balance nerve on my left side any longer.
 It is not very evident to people who don't know me...usually. 

When overly tired, my bells-palsy gets so bad that my face really droops on my left side. I take this as a warning that I really need recovery rest. It was really bad when I looked in the mirror and I was speaking weird due to it. 
My lack of balance nerve only reared its nasty head once and that was on the 2016 Silver State 508 when climbing 6-mile canyon in the evening. It presented as me not being able to hold my bike up straight while climbing in the dark at slow speed. (Your eyes compensate for the lack of this balance nerve but when dark and no light its impossible to stay upright). I felt like a drunk sailor and I had to be walked up the final 20% section with my crew-chief, Ellen, helping to steady me.
 I thought I was going to DNF with just a few miles of descent to get back to Reno.  Felt like someone who had just gotten off a ship that had been at sea for months. I had no land-legs. Luckily, when I got back on the bike on a descent, I was like new again. 
The human body is an amazing thing and I finished!
I am glad I didn't have this issue on this race. 

Stage Three: Panguitch to St. George

153.7 miles · +8,266 ft / -12,264 ft

The final day and I woke up feeling really good after a good night's sleep although not the amount of sleep I would have liked.
After that tough second day, I was really worried about the saddle sore issue and the hotfoot.

I decided to just start out easy and see how it all transpired.

Stage 3 start in Panguitch                                                                                                               Photo: Michael Conti

Leaving the hotel it was really cool but we all knew we would be climbing real soon in less than a mile.

Up we went toward Cedar Breaks.

Planet Ultra was still not able to get the permit for the original course which climbs into the state park and through Cedar Breaks. The race would again be doing the alternate course around the park.

I have only done the original course which was longer and had more climbing. I was sad that we couldn't do Cedar Breaks but anxious to see the new course as it looked like a nice area on the map.

My good friend Victor and I climbed out of town at a steady easy pace.

 Vic was my team-mate at the 2016 race where we set a 60+ course record on the old course original course.

Heading toward Panguitch Lake with Victor Cooper

Vic was really spent from that tough day 2 as I was. He had not done any altitude training before the race so I think all the climbing at higher altitude took its toll on him. He is an amazing climber and I am always chasing him on our local climbs.

All the usual climber suspects just motivated up the hill including my friends Rick and Shelby, both amazing climbers. This whole morning will be about climbing with very little descent.

My saddle sore was not too bad although it was present. I think that the seam on the shorts I was wearing on day 2 was causing it. The new shorts felt much better although it still hurt.

Vic and I decided at one point to just ride together all day. Surprisingly my legs did not feel half-bad once over the first kickers out of town. I was just hoping for cooler temps once off the mountain to help my feet.

Almost to Panguitch Lake.
It is just over that saddle in the distance.

Panguitch Lake

Vic and I                                                                                                                           Photo: Michael Conti

We did much of the climb toward Cedar Breaks before taking a turn toward Mammoth Cave/Duck Creek.

As we reached Panguitch Lake we started seeing the support vehicle of the first solo racer to catch us stage racers. We were not sure who it was at first.

We made the turn toward Mammoth Cave onto the new section that we had never done before. It started out with a really nice descent into a beautiful valley. We then had a very long climb to get out of that valley. This new area was really beautiful and just about as spectacular as the beginning of the Cedar Breaks climb.

Vic and I on one of the final climbs before the Highway

Just about to the Highway

It was on this climb that the first solo rider passed us. Her name is Heather Poskevich and wow what an amazing rider she is.
 She made the climb look so easy and she had been doing the ride non-stop. Heather is from Iowa and has not been doing ultra events long. I think she was the women's winner of the Iowa Wind and Rock, 150 mile, Gravel Ultra in Iowa put on by Sarah Cooper.
Heather would go on to win the 2019 Hoodoo 500, setting a new course record and winning over-all beating all the men and women. Congrats Heather!!

Vic and I made it to the main Hwy, SR-14.

 I wasn't sure how much climbing was left but according to the amount I was showing thus far on my computer, we had quite a bit to go before the descent to Cedar City. There was about 31 miles to our next turn at the bottom of the hill in Cedar City so I knew immediately when looking at my mileage, that we had a long climb to the summit near the Cedar Breaks area.

Up we went for what seemed like an endless climb. There were many false summits.

Almost to the summit

 So far in the event I had no problem with my breathing and the altitude. I am not sure why but on all my Hoodoo races I have not had a problem with any sort of altitude sickness. This year my only ride at altitude was a 146-mile ride from home to Big Bear Lake with a summit at Onyx summit of 8,400 feet before spending the night at 7,000 at my sisters in Big Bear. Then a ride home the next day.
I may be able to attribute my handling of altitude to growing up flying with my dad in non-pressurized private planes. Not sure if that could be it but I have never had a problem with altitude and riding a bike. My body seems to acclimatize very quickly.

After a very long time, we finally made the summit which was just shy of 10,000 feet. The highest point on the Hoodoo 500.

SUMMIT!

We passed the spot where the old course came down from the state park.
 After doing that section, I so much wished we had still been able to do the old course. So much more open and traffic-free.

Down down down we went toward Cedar City. At the speed we were going we had hardly any traffic. We were able to descend faster than the traffic and only had a few vehicles pass us until we reached a traffic signal for construction where the road was one-way.
We stopped as all the traffic backed up.
Vic and I decided to stay back in the line and let the traffic go so we could follow behind and not have all the cars behind us. That plan backfired as the light changed faster than the 8 minutes advertised. We got stuck again. This time we rolled up to the light and waited so we would not miss the light. The light was the advertised 8 minutes this time so we ended up waiting at least 15 minutes I think overall.

On the way down it was starting to get really warm but not as bad as I thought it would be. There was a cooling headwind for a little bit. My feet were not bothering me much yet so I felt really good. I actually felt like the loss of altitude was really helping me recover my strength.

It was really hot at the time station. We took too long of a rest there but we needed it.

Now under 100 miles to the finish and we started out feeling pretty good.

On the stage race, you are allowed to draft other riders. Vic and I decided to take turns drafting on the flat and slightly uphill section leaving Cedar City into the hot headwind. We made up some time doing that but once we got on to the long gradual climb out of the valley toward Newcastle, we backed off and paced ourselves up to the summit which seemed to take forever in the heat. This was the first drafting I had done during the race.

After that, we got a big reward, a really nice descent down to Newcastle and our turn toward St. George. Only one more major climb to negotiate and then the rest of the course was just rollers to the finish.
After the turn, hot headwinds were standard again until we reached Enterprise.

 We now started the climb. Before starting, we took a break. Kevin made me an ice sock to put around my neck for this very hot climb. Vic had his crew (his son Evan), make him one too.
That ice sock really helped me on this climb. Steady pace and ice-cold water saturating my jersey. It was absolutely fantastic. I wish I had done it sooner, especially on day two leavening Koosharem.

Summit above Cedar City

Heading through Newcastle toward Enterprise.

Finally a nice descent. We are over the final long climb and I am "smelling the barn"!!

I was feeling amazingly strong in the legs since leaving Cedar City and I really smelled the barn once reaching this summit. My feet hurt some but even that seemed a little better. I felt like I could have pushed much harder but I didn't care. I wasn't sure how much warmer it was going to get so I didn't want to overcook myself.

Other than our 2016 race, my friend Vic was on my crew for my solo 508 in 2016.  Vic was my crew chief on my first Hoodoo back in 2014 with my two daughters crewing with him. An amazing experience for all of us. (Where we first learned how addicted to Mountain Dew Vic is...LOL....some have heard the story)
 He was also my team-mate on Race Across the West in 2014 and my team-mate on 2018 RAAM. He is also a 508 Hall of Fame inductee. Lots of ultra experience in those legs!

Our crews stopped at Veyo Pies to pick up pie for the race director as we did the final kicker before the Snow Canyon time station.

We both stopped at the time station as our crew checked in and prepared one last ice-sock for us as we were now descending into some blazing late afternoon heat. It was 108F in St. George.
This final 14 or so miles is unsupported. The crew must go to the finish on the main highway as we descend through the national park and into town. The ice socks really helped and we were prepared for flat tires with what we might need just in case.

New Ice-sock. Ready for the blast furnace of St. George 

Vic getting iced down by Evan

It was nice to once again see Snow Canyon in daylight.

Down we went into town for a short bit and to the finish.

Rolling in together

Photos by Kevin Walsh unless otherwise stated.

All the Photos available for viewing here: 

Thank you to Deb, Brian and the entire staff of volunteers at Planet Ultra for another epic race. Did I mention I love this race.

A gigantic thanks to my crew Kevin Walsh. 
Kevin, you did an amazing job and were invaluable. It was a great and fun weekend together and I had a blast. So anxious to see you back racing again soon!!

Congrats to all the solo racers and their crews no matter what the outcome!!

 A huge congrats to my solo or solo stage race friends, (and I had a lot of them doing this race), Victor Cooper, Humberto Mancilla, Rick Jacobson, Shelby Weber, Robyn Stein, Jon Shellenbarger, Mark Skarpohl, Seana Hogan, Jen Orr, Robert Mann, Chris Davies, Ron Iseri and Margaret Howell. 

An extra shout-out to my friend and sometimes training partner Margaret. With 15 miles to go and plenty of time to finish her first solo Hoodoo, she crashed on the descent to the final checkpoint. I was just heartbroken to hear this as we trained so hard in the final weeks before the race. As far as I am concerned, she finished the race. Amazing job girl!!!

Thanks to ICAN Wheels. The "Fast and Light" wheels performed flawlessly on the flats and climbing terrain. Especially well on the descents.

Last but not least......thanks to my amazing family for supporting me doing these tough events which require so much time in training and time out of town for the events.
 I could not do this without the support of my wife Ginny and my two daughters Cherisse and Nicole. 
Having not done my first real ultra-race until I was over 60, I hope to keep doing this as long as I can. Not sure how much more my legs and body will allow but I will keep it up as long as I can. (with more recovery rest of course.)

Congrats Vic and Rick!