Here he is passed out in a shopping cart with mom shopping. Don't be afraid she did prop him up with some soda water right after this and he slept the rest of the time.
First race of the season is the standard Tour de Dung or better known as Sequim #1 and my 2nd year with SCCA/Starbucks Cycling Team.
Sequim #1 Cat 3
I was really disappointed after the race but the more I thought about what we did as a team the more my mind changed. We really did everything we set out to do. Aaron G was off forever it seemed (2.5 laps). Then we had several counters to try to build another break. Once the winning break was established and Richie came back to the pack we never could get the full squad to the front at one time. There were always 2-3 of us up there and we would pull off and the other 2-3 would make their way up. We could improve on getting to the front all at once as we did at Vance Creek but I think for the first race we really did set the tone. We all did work and worked hard too so it was a good showing. Not all plans work out 100% but I would say 80% of our plan worked. We got in breaks and we attacked, we just missed it by a little bit in the end. It would be too easy if we dominated every race we entered. That is the condensed report.
Mason #1 Masters 35+ 3/4/5
If you look under up the words in the dictionary, domination (might not yeild work safe results) or dynasty and team, it might have our names there, ok maybe the urban cycling of Washington dictionary but still. Everyone knows we don't mess around in ANY category and the results from this day prove it. I was going to do the Cat 3 race but in the end the time didn't work out and I wanted to race with the team and help some of the 4's work to get points and to be honest I wanted to race with them. They combined us and the Masters 50+ 1-5 as our fields weren't big enough. We had about 30(?) I believe. My legs were not feeling so hot and I got like 2 miles of warm up which for me isn't normal. The idea of spinning on a trainer to warm up didn't sound too good based on what my legs told me so I took the risk of warming up in the race. Not a preferred method. First lap was ok and Kenton and Anthony went off to enjoy the scenery at a higher pace. They were off for a while and when they came back, I went to the front and got the heart rate up with a couple digs. I forget who all attacked because it was ALL THE TIME and by US! This day I think we all felt the confidence that we were going to make it hurt. At one point the pace slowed and I moved up several positions and decided I would take a stab at attacking to see what happened. I felt like I put in a nice dig for 15-20 seconds. Not all out but a nice 600+ watt go at it (look at me, i get a power meter and I am all watt talk. thanks Alex). I sat down and kept the pace a little high and took a quick look behind me and the pack was there. I sat up and Kenton came up to me and said "I don't think the field wants you to get away". Little do they know I am not a break away artist just a pretender to these guys on the team. Todd was away for a lap, and it was a nice effort as he attacked at the exact right time in the middle of the climb, he actually did this twice during the race so I couldn't be confused. We all sat on the front and didn't interrupt the attempts by the solo guys to bring Todd back but just sat there and watched and covered moves. It was strange or maybe not but no team work was put together by the other teams to do any chasing. NONE. So Todd came back and the pace slowed down considerably coming into lap 3 (?) and after t-1 up the rise Kenton slowly rode off. It looked like an old western where the cowboy slowly disappears into the sunset on his horse. Then the next time I looked up he was gone. Still no amount of chasing done by teams and Kentons gap continued to increase. I got up to Aaron and told him to sit on my wheel on the last lap and that I would sprint like normal but wanted him to follow me up to the line and come around. The idea was Kenton would still be gone and we would be shooting for a podium spot. Last lap and I had great hopes that Kenton could stay away after that long in the front with the wind and the effort it takes. He really deserved to be the victor. The pack saw blood (lead car with Kenton following) though a couple miles from the finish and they turned up the pace. I slowed and got next to Aaron and told him my plan of staying close to the yellow line and preventing anyone from coming up that side until we got the 200 meter sign and the full road. This would allow us an out if the guy in front blew up. However the other fear is that those guys in front of us keep the pace high and don't pop. A total bummer but we caught Kenton with about 2k to go. There was no bumping or anything at all during the whole race and from here on out it was chaotic with guys going all over the place jockeying for position. One dude thought it was better and just rode around 3 of use on the other side of the yellow line in the other lane, then proceeded to get in front of us. DQ for you my friend and get the he_ _hockey sticks out of the way. I held tight with my friend the yellow line and as we hit the 200 meter sign the feeling of being claustrophobic disappeared. I moved to the left a little and a Cucina Fresca guy opened up his sprint right at 200m or 300m or 350m depending on the race promoter’s preference of where to put the sign, so I did the sprint creep behind him but saw a guy from Blue Rooster get a good gap on us. I moved around Cucina and went all in and had a good surge but I think I waited too long to start my sprint as I think I could have got him but could only close the gap by a couple bike lengths at the line. As is normal for me I always do a bike throw a couple feet before the finish no matter what. I am thankful I did because as I threw and looked right I saw one of the no teammates guy right there (Woodinville bike). I was happy with 2nd or 3rd and a podium for the team as the finish I thought was that close. When I spoke to Aaron, he lost my wheel in the chaos the last 500 meters. To his credit though the last 500 meters was probably the easier part compared to the derby fest leading up to that so it was great to know he made it as far as he did. Unless you have a team lead out its hard to stay on the same wheel for as long as he did. Great job man. As I was cooling down on a borrowed trainer (thank you to the trainer next to Sarah's) I saw our Cat 5 victor Kyle who had won earlier coming over with a sly bearded smile. He then broke out that I had won! It was not a win on the rode but in the Masters 3/4/5 field so since they combined the fields I had beat everyone in my field. It was great to see his excitement and our fellow teammates were there on the side of the road cheering us on the whole race, what can be better? Oh wait Vanessa won in the afternoon. HAHA. I love this team.
