2018 Tour of Utah

I enjoy watching sports games like baseball, football, and basketball, but I don't really follow them the way others do. However, I do love bicycle races. And each year the Tour of Utah is one race I can watch live. Earlier this year, my right knee kept swelling like a water balloon. Follow along; this does get back to the Tour of Utah. Dr. Eric Heiden (look him up; he won six gold medals in the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980 and is now an orthopedic surgeon in Park City and a really nice guy) removed the bursa. (He also cleaned up the meniscus and removed a .22-caliber bullet from my left knee 10 years ago.) I've been going in for follow-up appointments to check the recovery progress. My knee hasn't been cooperating too well, so I've had several follow-up visits. Now we get back to the Tour of Utah. Dr. Heiden is also the team doctor for the BMC road bike team in North America. A couple weeks ago, he suggested my next visit be before the start of one of the Tour of Utah stages. So, today I drove out to Antelope Island, the beginning of the third stage of "The Toughest Stage Race in America."

I arrive about 9:15 for the race, which is to begin at 11 a.m. The race starts at the Fielding Garr Ranch, about 10 miles down the southeast side of Antelope Island from the visitor center. The team buses park in the tiered visitor parking lots. 

The teams arrive in buses, cars, and vans. 

The team mechanics set up the bikes along the side of the buses and make sure everything is adjusted just so. 

I wait outside the BMC bus for Dr. Heiden and notice it has these winner's jersey stickers on its side. 

Dr. Heiden looks at my knee and gives me the clearance to stop wearing the compression bandage and start my regular biking and other activities. He says my knee isn't likely to heal any more than it has. If it continues to swell, I'll go into his office and get it drained and shot with cortisone again, but we both hope this is the last time we see each other as doctor and patient. He also gives me a BMC hat. 

I'm not sure what arm of the military this is, but I assume National Guard. They're sticking down Utah Sports Commission signs. 

I'd like to come back in a week or so and see if these signs are still stuck here. 

There's really a lot of activity around the starting point of the race: 17 teams with busses, support cars, coaches, doctors, and mechanics; police; volunteers managing parking, food, water, and other details; an Air Force Honor Guard; Park rangers; several official vehicles with marshals and other dignitaries; Coke trucks; and a host of other support people and vehicles. 

Sepp Kuss is the current rider in the Yellow Jersey. That means he has the best overall time so far, after a time trial prologue and two stages. I love that he rides a beautiful Celeste color Bianchi. The teams ride several brands of bikes, from BMCs and Bianchis to S-works, Scott, Canondale, Diamondback, and a bunch of others. I asked Dr. Heiden if there's really a difference among all the bikes. He said they're all pretty similar. One of his riders overheard us and said that the BMCs are made with more love. Anyway, I think the Bianchi's are the best-looking bikes in the race. 

The racers are very competitive, but many of them from different teams are also friends. 

And I discover the key to owning the Yellow Jersey is always having a banana in your pocket. 

The race begins right at 11 a.m.

We fast-forward to the end in Layton, 115 miles and 4-1/2 hours later. This stage of the race ends at the Layton Commons Park after going through Bountiful and around Hill Air Force Base. There are all kinds of activities for spectators, from vendor booths giving away cow bells and selling T-shirts to a drum team and children's races. Some of these kids are in this race just for fun. Others were super serious, with their legs pumping at what looked like at least 120 times a minute. Really. The pros pump at 85 or so most of the time. 

This is the peloton passing the bleachers where I'm standing. They circle past here five times. 

This is what it looks like when the peloton zooms by. 

The finish. United Healthcare's Travis McCabe sprints in first. He also won the first stage of the Tour of Utah in Cedar City. Team Lotto NL Jumbo's Sepp Kuss still wears the Yellow Jersey. Lotto NL Jumbo's Neilsen Powless is currently in second place. And BMC's Tejay Van Garderen, who is the only cyclist in the Tour of Utah who also raced in the Tour de France a couple weeks ago, is in third. These three are from the United Sates, although there are racers from all over the world, and their teams are based in the Netherlands and Switzerland, respectively.