I recently traveled to Cedar City Utah to watch stage one of the Tour of Utah. I’m a long time road cyclist so when an opportunity comes along to watch the pros, I take advantage of it.

Like with any other sport, seeing the pros up close is quite thrilling for amateur wannabes. There was a nice crowd on hand and the energy of the competition was exhilarating. I set up at the finish line on the Southern Utah University campus where I could be just a few feet of the riders. As the riders passed by I could here the whoosh of the bikes as they peddled at an all out sprint to the finish.

Stage One Description (from Tour website)

Stage 1 gets down to business quickly. After the first sprint line of the race at 25 miles in the town of Parowan, the race will hit its first climb– and it’s a big one. The Category 1 climb up Parowan Canyon through the ski resort town of Brian Head into Cedar Breaks National Monument climbs 4500 ft in 15 miles with some pitches hitting 15%. This will also be the highest climb of the week topping out at 10,600’. The riders will traverse the Markagunt Plateau and serpentine through the Mammoth Creek lava flows. After turning west in the town of Duck Creek the riders will face a long mellow climb up to the Bristlecone KOM. Then it’s all downhill from there into the college town of Cedar City. The riders will complete 3 circuits around Cedar City and Southern Utah University before the finish in front of the new Southern Utah Museum of Art.