Tiff wins Tour of Utah Park City Crit

Everyone has been hearing about Tour of Utah lately.  It has been an awesome race for the men.  We have had a lot of fun with such a big event in our hometown.  On Saturday before the men's crit, there was a women's race.  While the competition and money were a far cry from the men's race, many strong local women lined up to test their mettle on the challenging "crit" course (100 ft of climbing per lap is still a crit?).

After crashing on the 1st lap, I jumped back in (thanks to Matt--teammate Kat's boyfriend--who hooked me up with a wheel in the pit).  I got thrown back into the fire.  When mountain biker Kelsey Bingham sprinted for a prime (which I couldn't sprint for as you can't sprint for prime after you take a free lap!), I chased back up to her and then it was just 2 of us.  We worked together putting time into the exploded field behind us.

While the finish wasn't at the TOP of the hill, it was about midway up--not ideal for me.  I was also dealing with some shifting funkiness, probably from the crash.  I survived the last time up the climb on Kelsey's wheel and then attacked with everything I had to gain a little gap on the descent.  I had enough of a gap (that was quickly closing) when I came around the last corner and managed to hold her off in the 250m uphill sprint!

It was a GREAT event--really hard course, awesome crowds and a decent purse for the women.  Hopefully the women get some sort of national level counterpart to Tour of Utah next year.  Even if it was just one or 2 races, there would be nothing better than to have the best men AND women in the 801 for some awesome racing!