A headwind from Galena Summit into Ketchum probably prevented the Kristin Armstrong Cycling Academy foursome from setting a new course record in the fourth annual Lyle Pearson 200 bicycle race from Boise to Ketchum June 6.
It helped that Armstrong, 35, the 2008 Olympic road cycling individual time trial gold medalist, was a member of the winning team in a gross time of eight hours and nine minutes, which translated into a first-place handicap finish of 7.54:32.
Armstrong, a strong 5-8, 128-pound University of Idaho graduate, and her husband Joe Savola of Boise joined Boise's Mike Cooley and Ketchum's Men's Category 4 racer Jon Engen on the top team. They earned the first-place $500 prize out of the total $1,000 purse.
The 200-mile course started at Kessler's Café in Boise and had four major climbs along S.H. 21 into Stanley before turning onto S.H. 75 and pushing over Galena Summit and down into Ketchum. There was a little rain, but not much, and the wind wasn't a factor until the final stretch, Cooley said.
Cooley and Savola were the only two returning from last year's "Old Guns" foursome that set a course record with a gross time of 7.59:57. George's Cycles organizer Cooley ventured to guess that the headwind from Galena Summit to Ketchum was responsible for his team being eight minutes slower than last year's time.
Still, the event had a record turnout of 68 teams and 272 cyclists, quite an increase from last year's 57 teams and 228 riders, and a big boost from the 35 teams that event director Cooley started with in 2006. He said, "It's one of those things you dream up and it works."
The scenery and riding challenge combines with the team aspect of the one-day event to make the Lyle Pearson "a great time," according to Cooley.
After the age handicaps were figured into the total Team Challenge times for 200 miles, the three-rider Razzignators pros earned the second-place $300 prize in 8.03:10 handicap, ahead of the Smith Sport Optics foursome that captured third in 8.07:00 for $200.
On the third-place Smith team were Greg Randolph, Billy Olson, Scott Robinson and Joshua Berry. The Ketchum-based Smith Sport Optics also fielded a 17th-place team in 8.40:03, and Sawtooth Velo had a 10th-place team in 8.26:54.
The Lyle Pearson occurred about three weeks after Armstrong and USA Cycling announced the launch of the Kristin Armstrong Cycling Academy, a junior development camp this summer for women of racing age 15-18.
Sponsored by USA Cycling, the innovative camp will be held in Boise, Idaho from July 14--19. It will provide licensed riders with the additional opportunity to race alongside three-time national champion Armstrong before a crowd of thousands at the 23rd annual Twilight Criterium in Boise.
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