Perry and Sherwin Win 2014 Desert Rampage Intermountain Cup Race

St. George, Utah, March 1, 2014 – The 2014 Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Race Series season opened today with Desert Rampage in St. George, Utah. After rains threatened to make for miserable conditions on race day, the storms subsided in the early morning hours and by the start of the race the conditions were perfect for racing.  It was a little muddy getting into the venue but once you were there the course was perfect!

In the Pro Men’s race there was a great turnout with a bunch of new faces joining the Pro ranks from  the Expert Categories.  Take note all you Experts finishing at the top of your races.  It was so awesome to see the young guys stepping up into the pro ranks even when they knew it would be hard.  This will help these guys become even tougher then they already are.

[Race photos will be available March 2, 2014 by early afternoon at the latest at http://crawlingspider.com ]

The Pro men were the first off in the afternoon race and as the race began, Bryson Perry (DNA Cycling) went to the front and set a solid pace. The field stayed together pretty well in the breezy conditions for the first 8-10 minutes of the race and then it started to separate a little at the top of the first climb.  As they headed into the second climb Bart Gillespie (Gear Rush) and Bryson began to start slowly pulling away from the field. At the top of the second climb Bryson pushed the pace a little more when he saw that the two of them had a gap and as they crested the top of the climb Bryson and Bart had built a small lead on a small chase group of 3-4 riders.  At the bottom of the downhill, Bryson had a small advantage over Bart and kept pushing the pace, opening the gap slowly on the second lap to a max of about 40 seconds.  Behind Chris Holley (Kuhl) was moving up through a few riders and was chasing to catch onto Bart’s wheel.  As they finished the second lap. Bryson held onto a tenuous lead with Bart with Chris chasing hard behind.

Part way through the third lap, Chris made contact with Bart and the two of them began to slowly reel in Bryson.  As the neared the top of the final climb on the 3rd lap Chris and Bart were about 30 seconds back from Bryson.  On the downhill, Bart got a small advantage over Chris and as they headed out onto the final lap Bryson had lost a little more of his lead down to approximately 25 seconds.  Bart moved ahead chipping away at Bryson’s lead and looked to be making a big move to close the gap when on the road leading to Keyhole wash, he flatted.  He tried to get it aired up but after it failed again in the wash, Bart’s day was finished.  Chris kept charging on and closing in on a suffering Bryson but as they neared the top of the last climb Bryson had been able to hold onto a 25-30 second advantage.  Bryson Perry finished in 1:45:49 with Chris Holley finished strong in second place at 1:46:27 just 38 seconds back. Cary Smith of Jackson, WY raced strong throughout the race and moved up through the field to finish 3rd in 1:48:33.  Youngsters Landen Beckner (Rad Racing), and Anders Johnson (Kuhl Devo) rounded out the podium with great results in 4th and 5th.

In the Women’s Race Kathy Sherwin (Stans No- Tubes) was out just living, loving, and enjoying life again.  After a whirlwind of events over the recent months, she was just happy to be at the race this weekend.  After sitting on the wheels for the first few minutes, she made an effort part way into the first lap and kept it on for the rest of the day.  As she rode thinking about life, Chris and all that she had, she was propelled to a great victory with a time of 1:32:48.  Back behind, Utah High School MTB league Director Lori Harward (Plan 7) and KC Holley battled it out in a close race finishing in 1:41:59 and 1:42:24 respectively just 25 seconds apart.

Kathy had this to say after the race, “I haven’t been on the Intermountain Cup circuit since 2012 due to my husband’s cancer.  Coming out here today under what turned out to be sunny skies and winning was quite unexpected.  I lost my husband (Chris Sherwin) to kidney cancer 3 months ago and my only goal today was to just race because I CAN.  That’s what life and Chris has taught me.  You do things because you can. You seize the opportunity and moment because you are able.

When the gun went off I hid from the wind until the first uphill pitch when I jumped in front and started to put myself in the pain cave because suddenly my goal changed.  I now wanted to WIN and it soon became a race against myself and my lap times.  I was happy and somewhat surprised with the victory given life’s circumstances.  It was nice to ask myself “What would Chris do?” and set my mind to just simply race but then to walk away with a win was icing on the cake!  My Cannondale Scalpel was absolutely awesome both uphill and downhill with me using the lockout features to slowly ride away from the field.  My Garmin read 35 mph on the downhill and it is the low pressure I can run in my Kenda tires on my Stan’s NoTubes rims that allowed for taking my Scalpel around corners at such a high speed.  Thanks to all my sponsors for allowing me to continue living the dream!”

The next Intermountain Cup will be held on April 5, 2014 in St. George. For details, visit IntermountainCup.com

(Report by Bryson Perry, DNA Cycling)

2014 Desert Rampage Results: