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Donley wins a 'sick' test of stamina

CYCLING: Triathlon victory a day earlier doesn't stop her from fending off road race opponents.

By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com

Published: July 21st, 2008
Last Modified: July 21st, 2008 at 12:48 AM

Shannon Donley can't seem to relax. Or maybe she's just a glutton for punishment.

Less than 24 hours after winning the Hammerman Triathlon at Kincaid Park, Donley saddled up her road bike and pounded hill after hill after hill on Sunday to win the inaugural King of the Mountain road bike race.

"It's fun in kind of a sick way," Donley said. "The course is a little daunting."

The grueling climb up Potter Valley, Clarks Road and Upper Huffman to the Glen Alps parking lot totaled about 2,000 feet of elevation gain, estimated Missy Anderson of the Arctic Bicycle Club. Donley finished in one hour, 12 minutes and 22 seconds to hold off 16-year-old Jessica Yeaton by 44 seconds.

Yeaton's older brother Josh went one better as the only rider among the 29 finishers to dip under an hour. He won the expert men's division in 59:46 to top Matt Jordan by 33 seconds.

"It's a great course, totally awesome," Josh Yeaton said. "They're three of my favorite climbs. It becomes kind of an epic thing when you link them all together."

Yeaton enjoys climbing and regularly trains on all three hills. But even he admitted that portions of the final grunt to the Glen Alps parking lot were "horrible."

"The hardest part is when you make that turn onto Upper Huffman and there's no end in sight."

And while the climbing was tough, the descent was tricky too.

"I've done some out-of-state racing, and Potter is by far the most technical descent I've ever had to do in a race," Yeaton said. "It can be dangerous. It's like a 7 percent (incline) with lots of switchbacks you really have to pay attention to."

Donley was among several racers who pulled off the difficult double -- the Xterra Hammerman Triathlon on Saturday followed by King of the Mountain a day later.

"My legs were a little flat," Donley admitted, as she and Jessica Yeaton rode together up the first two hills. "Each one was a separate race, so to put them all together was kind of an insane course."

But she hopes the Arctic Bicycle Club will bring it back next year. "It was really fun, and the descents were different. Nobody really does too much of that."

That may happen, said race organizer Anderson, who wondered if perhaps the racers were making too much of the hills.

"I rode it in the car, and it seemed easy to me," she said.

NOTES: In a couple of weeks, both Yeatons and several other young Alaska riders are headed to U23 and Junior National Championships of Road Cycling, beginning Aug. 5 in Anaheim, Calif.

King of the Mountain

Sunday at Potter Valley

Expert Men -- 1) Josh Yeaton, 59:46; 2) Matt Jordan, 1:00:19; 3) Daniel Folmar, 1:02:16; 4) Jamie Stull, 1:04:08; 5) Will Ross, 1:04:14; 6) Andy Duenow, 1:04:42; 7) Jason Lamoreaux, 1:05:02; 8) Kevin Donley, 1:07:34; 9) Jens Beck, 1:07:55; 10) Steve Klosiewski, 1:09:21; 11) Marc Lickingteller, 1:10:16.

Expert Women -- 1) Shannon Donley, 1:12:22; 2) Jessica Yeaton, 1:13:06; 3) Gina Taylor, 1:21:17.

Master Men -- 1) Mike Vania, 1:07:38; 2) Will Kimball, 1:10:39; 3) Michael Wheatall, 1:12:22; 4) Peter Van Tuyn, 1:15:08; 5) Jeffrey Thurston, 1:15:34; 6) Tim Gravel, 1:18:56; 7) Tim Kelly, 1:19:40; 8) Freddie Parke, 1:19:49; 9) Jeff Dusenbury, 1:20:13.

Master Women -- 1) Lisa Keller, 1:24:23; 2) Deborah Clayton, 1:30:37.

Sport Men -- 1) James Chester, 1:11:05; 2) Rob Conn, 1:12:12; 3) Steve Nelson, 1:30:05.

Beginner Men -- 1) Sam Flora, 1:40:17.