American Mountain Classic Stage 2 Report and Photos; Brian Head Utah

Writing and Photos by: Greg Gibson

Today's stage began with an easy neutral start up the highway en route to the Sydney peaks trail that sits at around 10,000 feet. Don't let the easy start fool you however, it is my opinion that today's race would be the most grueling of the entire race. Despite the tranquility of the terrain, the wide open roads and long gradual climbs gave little rest to the racers, as many riders fell off the pace and ended up "going backwards" (including myself).

At the low point of the stage racers where directed on a short out and back where we could see who was closely in front and behind us. As the race returned up to the peaks, directors sent us on a detour to Brianhead peak some 11,000 feet high. The route then dropped down the ski mountain on the NCS super-d course before finishing at the base where we started.



I noticed Ryan Trebon (Kona) taking control and leading out the race on the initial climb, and at the out and back he continued to lead at the front. At some point en route to the peak it was Jeremiah Bishop (Trek/VW) and JHK (Subaru/Gary Fisher) in usual fashion taking control of the race. As usual it was Jeremiah nudging out JHK for the stage win and the cash prize for today. In the GC Jeremiah leads JHK by only six seconds. Ben Sonntag (3D Racing) had another strong day and now sits about a minute back, While Colin Cares (USA U23) sits around 3 minutes behind the leaders. The dark horse Manuel Prado (Sho-Sir) sits around 13 minutes back after today's stage.

In the women's race it was Pua (Ellsworth) again crushing the competition putting more than 15 minutes into second place finisher Heather IrmingeVW) finished close behind Heather; the interesting GC race will be for second and third tomorrow.

Today I was very impressed with the race organizers out on the course going the exrta mile and giving back to the racer's. The neutral support has been so good I have relied soley on the neutral feeds for my nourishment, Race organizer Tom Spiegel personally peeled a banana and feed it to me on the course. This race has been top notch so far. I am looking forward to tomorrow's technical Dark Hollow descent and the carnage it will bring.