Mt Hood 2013

Welp, the supposedly final Mt Hood Cycling Classic is over. Also, it's getting increasingly easier to find pictures of myself racing now that I'm in the Pro-1-2 field.

As mentioned before I was on the fence about whether or not to do this race, but once I learned that it will be the last ever and with the consistent urging of my coach I gave in and signed up.  I'm glad I did.

Columbia Hills

Drove out there and was not really expecting the race to start like it did which was going from the gun.  We were going at full steam the entire first lap.  I was getting cramps because I hadn't warmed up at all.  I was just trying to hang on.  A few times up the hill I'd fall back to some chase groups and then fight with the others against the wind to catch up again.  By the downhills I'd be in the pack again.

There always seemed to be some kind of break up the road with some kind of Cal Giant contingent although not necessarily initiated by Cal Giant.  And then Hagens did us all a favor by making sure all those breaks didn't stay too far up the road.  That was def the toughest road race I had done so far this year.  I placed 51st in the main group (out of 111 starters) which was all I was hoping for.  In fact I was very excited when I finally saw the break continue to the finish on our 5th lap from the chase group because I was out of food and water.

Scenic Gorge Time Trial

It was a bit harder to figure out how fast I ought to go this year because unlike last year there was much less wind so the times would be faster.  I was going to shoot for sub-50, but hoping for around 45.  I think I coulda gone up Rowena just a little harder and also rode the final trail section with a little more intensity.  I only got passed by one person who ended up getting somewhere in the top 10 (Adrien from Garmin-Chipotle) so that was fine with me.  I ended up with 46:04 which again was good enough for 51st place (out of 105 starters).

Hood River Crit

In this race I knew that my goal was to hang out with the lead group for the long 75 minute crit.  I tried with very poor skill to get a good starting point by being ready to get on the course immediately after the women were done, but so was every single other rider and at the start line instead of corner 1 where I was.  So I went around and did a lap and lined up at the back.  Crap.

Well, the crit went well for me and I managed to move up to about halfway up the field after 10 minutes or so.  Then I managed to cut between two riders who had crashed on the corkscrew and quickly catch back up to the lead group.  Shortly thereafter I was at the back of the field and knew my fate was sealed for a pack finish.  The pace was fairly hot the duration of the race and I really couldn't tell you much about what was going on at the front except that I heard Steve Fisher's name being called out a bunch and I may have caught a glimpse of Cal Giant at the front a few times.

The last few laps the pace kicked up a notch, but I was able to hang on all the way to the same time finish, so I was very happy.  That's only the second time I've not been pulled from a crit this year and it was also in the toughest field I've rode with yet so that's great for me.  I ended up 60th (out of 101 starters).

Three Four Summits

I don't have many pictures for this one since I knew I was definitely going to get dropped on one of these climbs.  Sure enough, on the first climb I was just so slightly off the back and was going to count on my descending skills to catch up, but was getting passed on the descents.  I was able to catch back on shortly after the descent was over, but figured this was probably it.  Next time we hit the steeps all I remember is seeing a blur of Cal Giant red charging up the hill and that was that.  I descended down with two other people and we all climbed the next one together.  At the top I was feeling good and rode off on my own.  Eventually one of the other riders (another Evan) caught up to me and dropped me on the descent.  Then it was up the final hill and I was hoping I wasn't too far behind that I'd get the time cut.

I got passed by the masters field shortly after I got a beer from the Illegal Feed Zone (might be the last time I can get a beer from them at this race, so I figured I'd celebrate).  When I got to the turn-off to the ski area I saw all the contenders Cal Giant riders coming back down so I figured I wasn't massively far behind.  At the end I wasn't far back at all and actually was only 29:45 back (lol, not many races where you can be happy with that result).  My final result was 53rd on the day out of 93 starters and 66 total racers that crossed the finish line for a GC finish of 49th place.  Not bad.








And after that race I was super tired for numerous days.  Hopefully this family vacation will give me time to rest a bit without losing fitness.