In the melee of the mass start of the Belgian Waffle Ride Cedar City, Keegan Swenson had his front brake lever snapped off when he tangled bars with another rider. He went on to ride in the elite front group for the next 120 miles of often technical gravel and won the two-up sprint with Pete Stetina to win the day. Alexey Vermeulen was third.
Bermuda had two competitors in the event, both Triathletes Tyler Butterfield and Erica Hawley took to the course.
Butterfield competing in the Men’s 35 – 44 Age Group Division finished 14th out of 98 competitors, Butterfield clocked a time of 6:57:47.
Butterfield said, “I take three things from this experience:
1stly, I highly recommend doing a Belgian Waffle Ride if you’re into cycling and endurance events. That was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
2ndly, Gravel racing is gnarly! And awesome!!!
3rdly, I learned so much while having a blast, and you should have someone hand out bottles and nutrition and not try carrying 5lbs of gels and food.
Hawley would stand on top of the podium in the Women’s 20 – 24 Age Group Division with a time of 8:55:35.
Hawley speaking to www.islandstats.com after the event said, “This was one of the hardest races ever! So physically and mentally demanding. But I had so much fun and it felt good to do a race again.”
“I was nervous for like 2 days in advance as it had been so long since I have been racing and it was an event that I’ve never done anything similar to before! I borrowed a friend’s bike and wheels and was so out of my comfort zone but I would definitely do something like that again,” concluded Hawley.
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