Photo courtesy, Pat Malach Oregon Cycling Action
Mens CAT 3: by Sage Freeman
This was the last banana of the bunch and Cap Velo was looking to keep Mike Stockton in his 5th place standing in the series. The race for the CAT 3 Men started out fairly casual by ramped up within 1/2 a lap. Breaks began to form what seemed to be early in a 6 lap, 66 mile race. After multiple attacks last week (BB2) and crossing the line with tired legs, I decided to be patient and wait to join breaks later in the race. Unfortunately this early break stayed away the entire race. By lap 3 the break had gained 1 min 50 secs on the field. I sat back in the group patiently waiting for other teams to go to the front and work to bring the break back. On lap 5 the break was pulled back to within 40 secs. On lap 6 heading into the finish the plan was to lead out Kurt who would in turn lead out Mike. Within 1K I could hear Mike telling me it’s time to go. I charged up to the front and hammered down into the final turn on the bridge. Then I saw Mike come around on the small hill to the 200K sign. I yelled out “go…go…go…” and watched Mike rally up the hill. Unfortunately it was still a bit to early for Mike to ramp up his sprint and the field swallowed him up. So life goes… To live and let race another day.
Mens CAT 4/5 40+ : by John Divelbiss
Race lesson learned on Sunday at BB3 with the 4/5 40+: Don’t lead out 17 of your new best friends. Or, don’t start sprinting until you really know where the finish line is. Or, people like to tuck in behind the tall guy who has no clue how to time his big efforts. Bring on the Scott’s Ride Stop Sign Sprints! I need the practice.
Mens CAT 5: by Zachary Jabin
The Cat 5 race was just me this week. There was a crash going on to the damn on lap one but I stayed clear of it. I hung back til lap 3 when i tried to get a break away going but no one seemed interested so I went back to the pack and settled in. With a mile or so to go someone went of the front and stayed away but coming up that last hill towards the finish I took off and held off the field until 30 meters to go when I started getting past up and I ended in 8th place.
