Locals Ride It Out In The Salt to Saint Race

By NICK YAMASHITA

The Progress

Several residents of Moapa Valley took a long road trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Saint George, Utah, earlier this fall. But they didn’t travel by car. They went the 240 miles by bicycle, competing in the annual Salt to Saint Relay event, one of the biggest events in the sport of cycling within the Western United States.

Logandale resident Mark Witsken talked to The Progress about the rigorous cycling race this year. Witsken rode in a 4-man team with Moapa Valley residents Don Whipple, Hans Whipple, and Mesquite resident Brian Rebman as Team Bike Access. They took second overall in the relay.

Other Moapa Valley-ians included Willie Frehner who was part of Double F Woodshop Cycling competing on an 8-man team with family members. Evan James also competed in a 4-man team with his family while John Lamping did the race with some buddies in another 4-man team.

“It is always a rigorous event,” said Witsken. “However this year, It was a perfect year for weather; the temperatures were mostly between 65-85 except for the nighttime when it got down to the high 30’s. We had clear skies the entire ride.”

The nice weather was different from the past two years when rain and even sleet occurred with sub-freezing temperatures.
“In years past I’ve ridden for hours in the rain and seen low temps in the tens,” Witsken said. “We also had favorable winds this year with a light tailwind most of the 426 miles.”

The relay consists of solo riders, 4 man teams, or 8 man teams. The race starts near the historical monument of “This is the Place” of Salt Lake City and heads down following Hwy 89.

The race is divided into 24 legs. In between each leg, riders are allowed to switch riders if it is in their planned strategy to switch there or for solo riders to keep going. Legs vary in distance but average about 17 miles.

The trade-off consists of the rider who just rode approaching the new rider and passing off a GPS device and any other equipment needed at transition points. The new rider will instantly take off.
Witsken said most of the legs were taken solo, but at times they rode them together to push each other to complete the leg at a quicker pace.

Team Bike Access had their Support and Gear (SAG) Vehicle following with Reagan Whipple, Jocelyn Witsken, and Lisa Rebman following the riders.

Mark Witsken laid out the team strategy that gave them the 2nd place finish. “My team was amazing!” he said. “We assigned legs based on who we felt was best suited for that leg. We didn’t stick to a strict rotation and this put our lightest and strongest climber (Hans Whipple) on the big hills, our fastest guys (Don Whipple & Brian Rebman) on the mostly flat legs and our best all-around guy (Witsken) on the rolling hills.”

Witsken expressed thanks to his team, especially the three women in the SAG, as well as congratulations to the other members within the community who competed and finished the relay race.
“We really couldn’t have done this without so much support from everyone,” said Witsken. “It is so neat that we have so many from our small community that are good examples of the talent we have.”

Team Bike Access finished 1st in the 4-man team Category and 2nd Overall with a time of 20:50:40. They were behind a mixed 8-man team, Team Not Getting Any Younger who finished in 20:44:46 for the Overall Results. 3rd in Overall went to Team Zia, a Men’s 4-Man Team. Willie Frehner’s team finished 6th place in the 8-man team with a time of 23:47:14.