Photo courtesy of Pat Malach, Oregon Cycling Action
Mens CAT 3 : by Sage Freeman
It was another great race for Kings Valley this year. I have yet to be disappointed with the weather conditions or toughness of this race in the past three years I have attended. The race pace shot up quickly from the start with several guys popping off the back on the early rollers (so I heard). I positioned myself at the front of the race, cautiously marking all the known leaders. Word-RCB had two strong riders (Bedford & Hansen) with Hansen breaking off the field early. I decided to mark Bedford’s wheel not knowing exactly what to do. Spahr from Ironclad also made some early efforts to break but was heavily marked by the field. Things settled down a bit once we pulled the early break back. Lap 2 Mitch Lee from Portland Velo broke away but his attempt was futile since he had one Team Oregon rider with him and they were not working together. Climbing the finishing hill on lap 2, I noticed Kurt Haas and James Shingleton up on the front looking very strong. On the final lap, I noticed my legs beginning to cramp. I tried everything in this race to avoid cramps, eating and drinking often, popping electrolyte caps every lap, but once you start to feel cramps it’s often too late. Adam Edgerton from Team O broke away on the rollers in lap 3. I mistakenly thought it was another rider. Spahr on Ironclad broke off not long after with Hansen (Word-RCB) and Boswell (Hot Tubes) chasing. I knew that was the winning break and didn’t have the legs to follow. On the finishing climb I went backwards in the field watching my team mates (Haas, Shingleton, Stockton) finish strong.
Masters 40+/50+: by Jim Henry
Hello Fellow “Velo” I hope that those of you that saw the OBRA result page for Kings Valley realize that I was NOT disqualified for a yellow line violation! As any one who rode the old guys race can attest to, “it was freakin hairy” by that I mean the brake -skid-pedal-sprint movement of the peloton put all riders at great risk ( there was indeed a crash 4 or 5 guys, one broken collar bone ) and I chose to ride in the extreme left on one or two occasions ( ask Rick Kercheski, we rode side by side for a bit ) instead of slamming in to the rear of the guys in front of me. I tried explaining that to the guy in the follow car, (” look man I did not advance- all I did was avoid skidding “ ) but those pleas fell on deaf ears. I raced for two laps and reality kicked in at the first little hill on lap 3. No blood – no foul. A big thank you to John Divelbiss who towed me back more than once and to ageless Phil who rode like a champion the few times I made it to the front to watch how these “skinny fast guys ride.” I picked up a personal sponsor Saturday ( D. airy Q ueen ) who allows me free ice cream after every race so if you see d.q. by name name you now know why.Really though, we had a big Capital Velo turnout, it really was a huge kick to “bench race”afterwards with the team. It is sunny n dry so get out n enjoy today.
Mens CAT 4/5: by Matt Jones
The 4/5′s race was one big surging machine that hadn’t settled in by the time I got dropped heading up the finishing hill on the first lap. Warren did a great job working his way up towards the front! I don’t know how he did it, but it must have been some great skill, or pure lady luck. Every time I tried to move forward the pack got sketchy and bunched up and then spring forward again. Brake! Sprint! Brake! Sprint! Smelled like hot brakes on aluminum back where I was. There was a break in the tail heading into Airlie Road and I used up a bunch of gas getting on to the pack again. I had just started to recover going into the climb (still surging!) up to the finish where I went OTB. I had a nice smooth relaxing race, er, ride, after that, chatted with several folks who also were enjoying the scenery and the weather couldn’t have been better. Learned the same lesson as I did at last weeks Capitol Crit; Get in the front eight to ten riders and stay there! I’ll figure it out one of these days!
PS- Though this is a tough course I loved it for some reason so a big thank you to everyone who makes it possible year after year!
