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08-25-09, 09:51 AM
The race was this past weekend. We had a great time. The weather was perfect, the courses was great, and the race was very well run (with one glitch in our case).
Friday started off with a Co-Motion factory tour, and a 30 mile fun ride. The fun ride went through rolling farm country around Eugene. While we were trying not to do too much work the day before the race, the ride got heated up a few times, and blasting through a section of rollers with a number of strong tandem teams at 30-40 mph was an absolute blast.
The race itself is run in 3 divisions, A, B, and C. There were 16 teams in the B race, our division. We were surprised with the strength of the B field with almost all the teams being made up of two strong single bike racers. We knew we were in trouble.
Saturday was the Road Race. 60 miles with two climbs that pretty much defined the race. It was a great course, no traffic, good road surface, and beautiful scenery. There were a few early attacks, but none stuck. The first climb at 27 miles, another attack comes, and unfortunately, we just didn't have it. A few teams, including us get dropped on the climb. We're 45 seconds down at the top, and the peleton is in sight. we chase in futility but never catch back on.
So we spend the next ten miles to the second climb working with another team. At the start of the second climb, they're cooked and we go on ahead. Then disaster strikes, we miss the last turn, ride an extra 16 miles off course, and end up finishing the stage 1:12 down, 15th out of 16 teams.
Sunday morning is the Time trial. 15 miles, starting out into a brutal headwind. We were struggling to maintain 20mph on the way out, but were doing 28mph plus coming back. We end up as the second Mixed masters team in the TT, and 3 minutes down on the first place overall B team. So a little bit more credible performance than the RR.
Sunday afternoon was the Crit. The crit was 25 laps of .7mile 4 corner loop through an industrial park. The corners were very wide, and it was about the safest crit course you could imagine. The crit itself was very smooth, with very little sketchy handling and no incidents. There were a number of early attacks, that ramped the pace, but again nothing stuck. We were content to tailgun, conserving energy not fighting for position. With 3 to go, we started to move up and got to 5th wheel, just where we wanted to be. The first corner of the last lap, the race explodes, and it's clear we're cooked. We slip back several positions, and have nothing left for the sprint. We end up in a pack fininsh, same time as the winner, and second mixed master team.
Overall, it was a great experience, and we would encourage any team with any competive leanings to give it a go.
Friday started off with a Co-Motion factory tour, and a 30 mile fun ride. The fun ride went through rolling farm country around Eugene. While we were trying not to do too much work the day before the race, the ride got heated up a few times, and blasting through a section of rollers with a number of strong tandem teams at 30-40 mph was an absolute blast.
The race itself is run in 3 divisions, A, B, and C. There were 16 teams in the B race, our division. We were surprised with the strength of the B field with almost all the teams being made up of two strong single bike racers. We knew we were in trouble.
Saturday was the Road Race. 60 miles with two climbs that pretty much defined the race. It was a great course, no traffic, good road surface, and beautiful scenery. There were a few early attacks, but none stuck. The first climb at 27 miles, another attack comes, and unfortunately, we just didn't have it. A few teams, including us get dropped on the climb. We're 45 seconds down at the top, and the peleton is in sight. we chase in futility but never catch back on.
So we spend the next ten miles to the second climb working with another team. At the start of the second climb, they're cooked and we go on ahead. Then disaster strikes, we miss the last turn, ride an extra 16 miles off course, and end up finishing the stage 1:12 down, 15th out of 16 teams.
Sunday morning is the Time trial. 15 miles, starting out into a brutal headwind. We were struggling to maintain 20mph on the way out, but were doing 28mph plus coming back. We end up as the second Mixed masters team in the TT, and 3 minutes down on the first place overall B team. So a little bit more credible performance than the RR.
Sunday afternoon was the Crit. The crit was 25 laps of .7mile 4 corner loop through an industrial park. The corners were very wide, and it was about the safest crit course you could imagine. The crit itself was very smooth, with very little sketchy handling and no incidents. There were a number of early attacks, that ramped the pace, but again nothing stuck. We were content to tailgun, conserving energy not fighting for position. With 3 to go, we started to move up and got to 5th wheel, just where we wanted to be. The first corner of the last lap, the race explodes, and it's clear we're cooked. We slip back several positions, and have nothing left for the sprint. We end up in a pack fininsh, same time as the winner, and second mixed master team.
Overall, it was a great experience, and we would encourage any team with any competive leanings to give it a go.