This year’s Sadler’s Ultra Challenge has been blessed with the best weather ever….no rain, and only light wind….even tailwinds. Some of the veterans at the event shake their heads as the many newcomers comment that the race is difficult, although not as hard as they thought….”you should have been in Healy last year” commented Scott Davidson to one of the first time racers.
Wednesday mornings’ stage 3 was a new stage, a time trial inside Denali National Park. This is the first time the race has gone through the park since the “new era” of the event that began in 1999 with the inclusion of handcycles. The park did not disappoint as spectular scenery and wildwife were plentiful, and the slightly uphill time trial on beautiful pavement saw some great racing, and even took some racer’s minds off of the pain. “I realized this was a once in a lifetime experience, so I just took it easy and let all of my surroundings soak in.” said first-time racer Mike Sprouse of Rome, GA. Veteran racer, Joe Dowling, not only took in the scenery, but was inspired by it…winning his first-ever stage in the HCC1 category by 10 seconds in front of overall leader, Scott Davidson. “This is my first-ever stage victory at this race, and it means alot!” said Dowling, packing an official copy of the day’s results in to his bag as a keepsake. Wheelchair division leader, Paul Nunnari, wasn’t taking in much scenery on his way to a blazing fast time of 31:42 over the hilly 6 miles….which is very impressive considering it was the 8th fastest time of all 27 racers, including all handcyclists. Also pulling out a good race, was California’s Geoff Erickson, who snuck in for 2nd place in front of James Lilly and showed off a bit of prowess in the shorter-distance stages.
Wednesday’s double feature saw a 28-mile road race in the afternoon, and South Africa’s Ernst Van Dyke (Invacare) seized the opportunity for a stage victory. “I have only been training on my handcycle 50k maximum, so this was the perfect chance for a win!” said Van Dyk following the stage. It was a good way to save face after Van Dyk was completely shelled by Alejandro Albor over the final 6 miles of the previous day’s stage in to Nenana. Albor won by over 6 minutes, thanks to help from Oz Sanchez. “It was a bit frustrating, as I wasn’t clear that Sanchez would be helping Albor since he [Sanchez] and I both receive support from Invacare.” Apparently, blood is thicker than water. Van Dyk broke away early in the day with a big pull from David Lee at the start, and then dropped Lee to carry a lead of +/- one minute thorough mile 25. In the final three miles however, Albor dropped Sanchez and closed the gap quickly…albeit not quickly enough….as he joined Van Dyk a mere 10 meters before the line, too late for the stage victory, which went to Van Dyk but didn’t change the overall standings much.
Also strong in the afternoon finale were Edwin Figueroa and James Lilly, who raced hard all day and crossed the line together (Figueroa was officially 2nd on the stage, Lilly 3rd). Katja Luke of Germany raced well in the women’s division, bouncing back from fatigue and mechanical problems, winning the stage 20 seconds in front of overall women’s handcycle leader, Sherry Schulz of Littleton, CO. Schulz still holds a 25 minute lead (a narrow lead by women’s handcycle category standards), but is not really in danger of losing it over the final 3 stages, which are too fast for a major breakaway.
Detailed results and more info can be found HERE.
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