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Henry, Isom take Camp Hale HUP

Nate Peterson
Vail Daily/Shane Macomber Jay Henry cruses down the last mile with a huge lead over the rest of the competitors Wednesday during the Camp Hale Hup mountain bike race on Tennesee Pass.
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Don’t like the weather in the Vail Recreation District Beaver Creek and Vail Mountain Challenge?Just wait five minutes. Such was the case Wednesday night at the Camp Hale Hup on Tennessee Pass – the third race in the summer series. At around 5:45 p.m., when the first wave of racers went out, a slanting downpour whipped down on the field of shivering competitors bunched together at the start line. When the last wave left a few minutes later, the rain had stopped, and the clouds overhead opened up to reveal a soft, blue sky. An hour and some-odd-change later, as the field of two-lap racers finished up what was the last of 23 miles, the former 10th Mountain Division training ground had turned into a midsummer night’s dream. The waning glow from the last few drops of sun left in the horizon spread over the field of onlookers and finishers evenly, creating the perfect closing scene to a race that had started out with an ominous leadoff.

The finish was even sweeter for Elite winners, Jay Henry and Lisa Isom. Henry picked up his first win in the series, while Isom made it two in a row after picking up the win at Davo’s Dash.”The rain kept the dust down,” Henry said. “It definitely didn’t affect it in a bad way at all. It ended up to be beautiful. The worst part was just standing at the start line getting rained on.”Henry was excited to get his first race of the series in after being out of town for the previous two. The local pro won easily, finishing in 1 hour, 19 minutes and 20 seconds, almost three minutes ahead of second-place finisher Mike Kloser (1:22:04). Josiah Middaugh finished in third at 1:23:02.”I really wanted to do Davo’s, but I was out of town,” Henry said. “This one is one of my favorites, too. It’s been around for so long.

“It’s different because it’s long, but it’s really fast. It’s so flat that you can draft a lot and tactics play a lot bigger role. In the beginning, Josiah and I were together for that first long straight away, and that was great. To be working together with somebody is a big help on just these dead pan flat roads.”Kloser was able to catch Middaugh in the later part of the race after losing time with a few bad tactical decisions as well as dealing with a hole in his front tire.”I screwed up,” Kloser said. “You just got to pace yourself. I figured I’d have more later if I go steady and don’t blow trying to close the gap. Josiah kind of came back to me. I was happy to catch him, and when I did, I thought, ‘I’ve got a little more experience Hopefully I can use that down the road.'” Luckily, Kloser never had to patch up his tire, either, since it sealed itself back up. He did have to do a quick pump job, but managed not to waste too much time as to let Middaugh catch back up to him.



A win for DadIsom said that her win on Wednesday was an early birthday present for her father, who turns 62 today. “I love this course,” Isom said. “You have to have some road legs under you and there is a little bit of technical. It’s perfect. I live up the hill about five miles and I just kept telling myself, ‘I’m still riding lower than I sleep.'”

Isom finished in 1:36:29 to beat out Sari Chwalk and Kelly Anthony.”I was riding this race for my dad,” she said. “He comes to all my races and he’s wonderful.”Contact Nate Peterson at 949-0555, ext. 608, or via e-mail at npeterson@vaildaily.com


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