If Downhill Road Riding was a Sport....

Cadel Evans might just be the King. This clip is from the Tour of Utah this past weekend, Stage 7 ending in Park City. He trailed by 30 seconds over the last climb, caught the 4 leaders on a very steep twisty downhill, sat off their backs awhile and then did this....

[video=youtube;he8VgJVt_Ps]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he8VgJVt_Ps[/video]

(If you want the long version ~13 minutes in HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-6Bu4w5GyQ )

Somehow my wife and I happened to be in Park City for a wedding the previous day and drove (the car) up and then, later, down the section where Cadel made his move. It's crazy steep and some serious tight switchbacks.

Anyways, I'm not a big road racing fan, but I'd watch a sport called "Downhill Road Biking".

A Pic I got at the start line of Cadel (on Right), Chris Horner (42 and he took 2nd GC with a chest cold!), couple guys I don't recognize and Tom Danielson in the yellow jersey on the left who took the overall win.


It was a great time hanging out in Park City Sunday with the start and finish there for stage 7. Great fans and excitement, big biking community there. Tons of Mountainbikes and trails. Me, didn't take my bike. Next time for sure!

 

Downhill road racing is a sport, at least for red bull!

[video=youtube;gbIfrn5IpJ4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbIfrn5IpJ4[/video]

 

Turnbull Canyon to Beverly, Glendora Mountain Road, Latigo Canyon (Malibu), Ortega Highway both directions, Onyx Summit to Mentone, Townes Pass into Panamint Valley, all eastern Sierra roads from Cottonwood Pass to Tioga.. these are some of my favorite "downhill" road biking descents. Oh, and did I mention Grossglockner Pass from Austria to Italy?

Props to Cadel for showing everyone how it's done.

 

Thanks for the post!

Were you able to sneak away and get in some riding at park city?

 

No, really only had the day Sunday and spent it downtown watching the pre-race festivities, race start at noon and end around 3:45. And wife doesn't ride so there's that.

Funny, though, didn't see hardly any "big" bikes (i.e. DH/doublecrown fork type). There were quite a few bikers taking the lifts up, but obviously allot of people were pedaling. Maybe that "enduro" thing is catching on I heard there is an area a few miles north called Canyons that has a bike park more like a SS/Whistler type of thing for big bikes. But honestly, between Park City and Deer Valley a few miles away there's probably weeks worth of natural trails (more my thing), lift assisted if you want. Already considering a bike trip for next year :beer: Such a beautiful area.
Oh yeah, 11 hours drive door to door from OC.

 

That's awesome! Those windy turns can get super hairy at high speeds. All the G's feel sick!

 

I thought Nibali was king! I remember a couple or few years back, Cadel was close in the standings of one of the major tours (I'm thinking the Giro). Nibali destroyed him on a late stage descent and put Cadel our of contention.

 

Wish I had my Go Pro when I made this GMR video. I used a Flip recorder and a shabby mount on the hb's. I felt like I was going fast, I can't imagine at tour rider speed!

[video=youtube_share;B6jBSRAO4qY]http://youtu.be/B6jBSRAO4qY[/video]

 

Why bother with pedals?

 

I went there this past winter for a week of snowboarding - amazing place. I swore to come back during the summer - looks like IMBA rated it #1 destination for mountain biking! Dave your right - there are trails everywhere up there. Bike season is a bit short though since I was told that even May and into June can be wet and slushy up top

 

Getting back to Cadel Evans, I watched that on the TV as it happened and it blew me and my hates-to-watch-bike-races b.f away.

Remember, Cadel Evans was originally a mountain biker.

You might just be the next one....

 

Was just going to make the same point that Cadel is a former MTB World Cup champ and MTB Olympian.
You can often tell who the MTB guys are in the peloton; their descending skills are great and their styles are sometimes visually different. I remember watching when Landis won the tour, and his descending style and aggresion were very evocative of MTB.