With nobody taking control of il ultimo chilometro, Donald Reeb(CMG/Alpine Mortgage) easily took the bunch sprint. Nick Skenzick(Hutch's-OIC) had enough kick to come from 20th to 2nd(4th overall) in the final 50 meters. If he's got that much kick shouldn't you guys be helping him go from 5th to 1st? And maybe bring back the break so he has a chance at the win?
The fact that it was also Oregon Cup Race #1 might have confused the tactics also. Were we starting or finishing a series? So the points go top-20 for BB results and bottom-20 in reverse order for riders riding wheelies across the finish for Oregon Cup points, right? DQ's get double points just to keep 'em coming back.
The racing started early, as Donald Reeb (CMG/Alpine Mortgage), Doug Ollerenshaw (HealthNet), and Matt Braun (Team S+M) formed a break on the first lap and stayed away for about 50 of the 77 miles. Oregon Velo was there to get pics of the early going. The peloton chased some but it was fairly disorganized. Surprisingly enough, Hutch's-OIC did nothing to defend Paul Bourcier's point total gained after last week's win. While Donald's total might have been out of reach, slipping Paul into a winning break could have seen him take over 2nd, where Zach ended up. Especially given the fact that Seth Hosmer, CMG's preferable #2 and BB1 main man, was not racing (apparently he had to work.)Unexpectedly, the break did come part around lap 6. Donald would probably tell you he cracked Doug so bad he was asking for his Mama and swearing he'd never race a bike in Oregon again. Doug would probably tell you that he makes his living riding in other bike races and doesn't care to explore the pain cave too deeply at an amateur weekend race series. Anyhoo, their 2.5 minute lead melted away completely as Donald was scooped up at the beginning of the penultimate lap.
The break demonstrating excellent number placement technique.
Bike Gallery had a good showing with Steve Wright leading the charge. Can you guys send me a rundown of who was there? There were a bunch, and you all rode strong.
Jacob Erker from Symmetrics Cycling of scenic British Columbia was in attendance and helping keep the tempo in the bunch up while Doug, Donald and Matt were off ding their thing. I was surprised that he and Tonkin(Team S+M) couldn't get a split for a chase group, no matter how hard they tried.
Steve Holland(Finnegan's Toys/Discover Chiropractic) looks to be coming around.
Mick Walsh(First Rate Mortgage) also stopped by to up the old guy ante? No Kenny though. What gives?
There was some rumblings of discontent in the CMG/Alpine Mortgage camp after the race. I do remember hearing Donald instruct his teammates to keep the race together just minutes before Zach made his final attack. There was also talk that Zach might have been aiding the chase when Doug and Matt returned to the group and Donald was off solo (which probably would have been a sound tactical decision). If these rumblings cause a wave, you will see it here first.
Oh yeah, Mikkel Bossen(CMG/Alpine Mortgage) got bit by the DQ bug for taking off his helmet.
Amber Murray was at the finish to award the most handsome-est rider and haul him back to the Castelli compound for a Saunier-Duval photo shoot. Who'd ya pick Amber?
Special thanks to Amber and ALL the volunteers that made the past threee weeks of racing go so smoothly. And thanks to Shane at Oregon Velo for the pics.
Here's the series points. Figure out where you could have been if you were in better shape.
1 1336 Reeb Donald CMG Racing/Alpine Mortgage 53
2 1337 Winter Zach CMG Racing 38
3 876 Bourcier Paul Hutch's-OIC 24
4 128 Braun Mathew Team S&M/SCR 20
5 101 Hosmer Seth CMG Racing/Alpine Mortgage 16
6 175 Zimbleman Dave 15
7 884 Hamilton chris 13
8 152 Valenta Kyle Hup United 12
9 107 Fischer Andrew Hagens Berman 11
10 149 Buchholz Brant Therapeutic Associates 11
11 166 Oliphant Duncan therapeutic associates 10
12 112 Oliphant David Therapeutic Associates 10
13 114 Skenick Nick Hutch's-OIC 8
14 872 Leonard John Casa Bruno 7
15 132 Ollerenshaw Doug Health Net/Maxxis 6
P.S. Is Russell Stevenson still in the house? He was living in Portland last year, anyone got the scoop?
3 comments:
Not only did he win the race w/ a bold move in the end, but he impressed the peloton w/ two high speed on-the-bike urination breaks, the second of which was on the bumpy/broken descent after the first hill on the last lap, right after the start. I guess that's where cyclocross and mtb gives ya a little bit of an advantage!
Yeah, Tonkin and the Symmetrics guy were throwing down some tough 1-2-3 jabs on the steeper short pitches, but it didn't seem to be enough to stay away on the following descents. Each time we'd arrive at the base of the next roller, it seemed that the pace was very parade-like as it was easy for the out-of-shape folks (like myself) to coast right back up to the first 1/4. Maybe instead of the sharp jabby efforts to break out the remaining few strong riders, the group should have just kept it more strong/steady. Maybe there were more than a handful of riders that were huffing and puffing up the hills in their small chainrings and just trying to finish an early season 77 mile ride? Maybe Tonkin should have forgone focussing his energy on racing at the world class level in Belgium on his cross bike and instead trained specifically for Hagg Lake?
to quote the author:
"... My only question, where's the chase? Hutch's-OIC, Therapeutic associates, Team S+M and Bike Gallery all had quite a bit to gain from bringing those two back, but nobody stepped up. "
Trying to remember, what was there to be gained? Oh yeah, forgot about that lucrative prize list (and the relative value of that list compared to all the deep section carbon wheels that were out there). HA!
It was sure nice to have great weather. Great report. Keep it up blogger.
Kenny stayed home and raced in Wa, was a tad upset at how many times his prize money didn't show up last year!!
Hey blogger,
Are you the guy who got second? It would make sense that you didn't sprint. You know, since you have a man crush on Zach and all.
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