Rockwell Relay Pamperfest

Finally, the relay I signed up for months ago had arrived. I had 3 out of 4 of my original riders who signed up with me and had been blessed to find a replacement for the rider who dropped out at the last minute.

Relay start line. L-R: Sherry, Cyndie, Marsha & Paula.

Wow! I am awe struck at how well my teammates did on this relay. Originally when I found this bike relay I thought - this looks so fun, I want to do it! Well, this event was not organized for beginner cyclists like me. I need to get better at looking at elevations and really understanding what type of climbing is involved. Many of the legs on this relay had serious, hard core climbs in them, others had solid climbs and the rest moderate climbing. I guess when you tour from Snow Basin to Provo you're going to climb.

Support vehicle for team Kicking Asphalt.

So, who did I get to do the climbing I hadn't trained to do? Let me introduce you to my team #33 Kicking Asphalt:


Cyclist 1: Cyndie Nell - Legs 1 & 5
Cyclist 2: Paula Jacobs - Legs 2 & 6
Cyclist 3: Sherry Christensen - Legs 3 & 7
Cyclist 4: Marsha Monson - Legs 4 & 8

What a fun day. It started out early, we met in a Riverton parking lot at 4:45am. We arrived at Snow Basin, the start line at 6am. We picked up our race numbers & got our shirts. We then ate a free pancake breakfast provided by Rockwell. We attached our race number to the van, and then went to the team instruction meeting where a prayer was offered for our safety. We all were safe, our team had no flats!

Cyndie, ready to rock Leg 1 on her Felt.

Cyndie was riding our Leg 1. She rode from Snow Basin to Huntsville, on her ride she went past the Pineview Reservoir. Her leg was 21.3 miles which she rode in 1:10:34! She had some climbing right off, and she had a quite a downhill section which she rocked. At one point she was going 43.4 MPH! Riding safely downhill is a real skill at that speed. She even got boxed in and had to put on her brakes and go slower than she wanted to ride. In her own words:


"I rocked this race. This is the fastest I have ever gone over a 22 mile course. I really pushed hard on this race. I'm so glad that I did this race. It was a beautiful course. At one point in the race a lady said she really wanted to catch up to me. I told her she could draft off me if she wanted. I was going so fast she could not even stay up with me to draft. After words she told me I had stronger legs then she did and she was 20 year younger than me. It was a really great feeling."

Paula, ready to ride on her Specialized Dolce.

Paula, another hero of my team, rode Leg  2. This leg had the most difficult climb, about 1100 feet over 4.3 miles. Paula took our team from Huntsville to Morgan, a distance of 24 miles. She did an amazing job. Her husband Steve drove up from Sandy and brought his bike and climbed with her. Paula even took the time and practiced this climb the week before with her dad who is 72!

Sherry, ready to ride Leg 3. She rode a
Specialized Ruby Comp.

Sherry had the next leg, also with some very very difficult climbing, including a hill they call "The Wall." I bet you can guess how it got that name. This was a very tiring leg also and the sun was shining bright. Steve and Paula followed and watched over her on this leg, Steve even getting on his bike and riding along. It helps to have support like that.  At the end of her ride she had a 5 mile downhill section. Sherry's leg went past East Canyon Reservoir and took our team from Morgan to Henefer, a distance of 21.9 miles.
I rode the next leg. I tried to ride fast but I had a headwind that really hampered my efforts to be fast. My leg was the easiest and flattest of the first four, a leg with rolling hills and a distance of 14.8 miles. I took the team from Henefer past Echo Reservoir and into Coalsville where they were they had blocked off Main Street and were having a car show. I rode through the middle of the car show and then into Hoytsville. My time was 1:07:42.
When I came in Cyndie was ready to rock Leg 5. This was a difficult leg, and now we were into the afternoon where the traffic was increasing. Her ride this time was 16.4 miles, with an ascent of 1073 feet. She rode by the Rockport Reservoir where the week before we did the triathlon. Cyndie took the team to Oakley with a time for this leg of 1:18:50.

On again was Paula for Leg 6. This part of the ride was an out and back, where she was to ride up to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir and back to Oakley. Steve decided to ride along again, and he was able to help Paula and a couple of other riders with some drafting on the way down the hill. That headwind again. Hard to believe that a downhill could be difficult, but that was how strong the wind was. This leg was 23.6 miles. While we were at this exchange station we got a bit of pampering, mini manicure, shoulder massage - and they also had a chocolate fountain. 

Pink nails, a little pampering during the bike race.

Baton exchange between Paula and Sherry.

Baton exchange between Sherry and I.

Ready for her last ride, Sherry had another hard leg ahead of her. Going from Oakley through Kamas and Francis, all the way to Midway, she had a distance of 24.7 miles. She had another difficult assent, 778 feet in the heat of the afternoon. We checked in with her and cheered a couple of times on this leg, making sure she was ok. The fun part was her decent, and she is a downhill girl. She rocked this. In fact, I didn't even have my shoes on when she came rolling into the exchange - she did an awesome job. On her leg she rode past the Jordanelle Reservoir, although the route took her below it. 
Last leg to take us to the finish line was mine. This would be my longer and harder ride for the day.

Chillin' in the van before my leg.

There was 615 feet of climbing during my trip down Provo Canyon. I had forgotten how many hills the canyon really has. Evening was approaching, the sky had clouded up so at least I did not have the heat for this ride. But the one thing I had on this section was heavy, fast traffic. It felt like I was riding on the freeway. Tired people heading home from a busy Saturday boating, etc. This was not fun. Sometimes the shoulder was narrow, or littered with junk or rocks.
It was fun seeing all the paint markers from the Utah Valley Marathon and half marathon. It brought back some good memories of running down the canyon with Alicia, having half the road blocked off, thinking to myself that was much safer, but slower.
When I was part way down the canyon the rain started. As a sprinkle at first and then a steady rain. I have never ridden in the rain. Added to the fast traffic screaming by and it was very intimidating. I just kept riding. My support vehicle checked in a couple of times and Cyndie made sure I was ok. I made it to the finish line. My stats for this leg 22.6 miles, time of 1:25:41.

Crossing the finish line for team Kicking Asphalt.

We could have all crossed the finish line together and shared the "glory", but I think everyone was tired and didn't want to unload all the bikes again. The finisher "medal" was a titanium Rockwell Relay ring on a pink ribbon.

We celebrated our completing the relay with a nice dinner at Marley's, a restaurant that had delicious salads, gourmet sliders, yummy skinny french fries and onion rings! We deserved every calorie.

Happy to be over the finish line,
my bike shorts were like a sponge in the rain.

The results are in, so here is how Kicking Asphalt did overall. We finished. First major hurdle. Yeah. We were in Division 4C, which meant our ages combined were 200+.


1 - BBC Ladies  10:07:47
2 - Who's Who  10:22:25
3 - Simply Mac  10:40:23
4 - Queen Bees  10:47:13
5 - Kicking Asphalt  12:11:46
6 - Flat-Tireds  12:24:56

Kicking Asphalt

There were a total of 69 teams entered, 68 teams finished, and overall we came in #61. I am so proud of our team, and we had FuN! Exactly why we came out to play.