Ketchum's Richard Feldman is having quite a year of competition in his individual sports, which have stretched in 2010 to include distance running as well as bicycle racing.
First and foremost, the 41-year-old Feldman is one of the top Masters bike racers in the U.S. He competes under the sponsorship of his own bike shop in Ketchum, Durance Cycleworks, as well as Colnago.
He proved it again Tuesday, Aug. 3 near Louisville, Ky. by winning the Men's 40-44 individual time trial at the 2010 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships.
Feldman placed second in Men's 40-44 in this same USA Cycling time trial last July 1 on the Taylorsville, Ky. course.
This year, he clocked 29:49.25 on the 25.8-kilometer (16-mile) course and won the 22-racer class by six seconds over Christopher Lyman of Napa, Ca., timed in 29:55. Lyman had beaten Feldman by less than a second in last year's race.
It was Feldman's third national time trial victory in five years along with his 2008 and 2006 titles while competing in the Men's 35-39 class.
Also winning her Women's 70-74 class at Taylorsville Tuesday was 71-year-old Patty Puz, another Durance Cycleworks racer, in 42:06 for the 20k or 12.4-mile time trial course. It was her second straight national time trial championship and third overall.
Morning temperatures ranged above 80 degrees as hundreds of Masters (30-and-over) cyclists began their quest for the winning Stars-and-Stripes jerseys on the rolling, out-and-back time trial course.
Feldman has undergone a challenging training regimen in the last month including his fifth-place overall finish in the July 17 Backcountry Run north of Ketchum. His time on the 16.5-mile course was 2.04:57, good for second place in his age class.
Over the weekend of July 24-25, Feldman won three straight bike races in and around Jackson Hole, Wyo.—the Targhee Hill Climb, the Teton Pass Hill Climb and the Teton Pass Mountain Bike Race.
Feldman successfully defended his title in the 12-mile Targhee Hill Climb from Driggs to Grand Targhee July 24 with a time of 36:09, a winner by over four minutes. He added the Teton Pass 4.7-mile Road Race title July 25 in 30:02, fastest by 1:29, and the subsequent Teton Pass Mountain Bike crown in 44:41.
Among Wood River cyclists who also finished the Targhee Hill Climb, according to results published in the July 28 Jackson Hole News weekly, were Jon Holmquist 13th in 47:01, John Swyers 26th in 54:35, John Gladis 32nd in 58:19 and Carol Monteverde 41st in 1.10:52. Swyers also did the Teton Pass Hill Climb in 17th place, 52:00.
New national time trial king Richard Feldman, after his Town to Summit Bicycle Hill Climb victory June 20 in Ketchum. Photo by Willy Cook
