03-04-06 Mason Lake Road Race #1

Congratulations to Hahn Rossman for tallying his first Cat 3 victory and the first Alki|Rubicon victory of the year!!!  Here are excerpts of his race report:

 “After rolling along up the three minor climbs we picked up the pace approaching the loop. Joe from first rate flatted before even seeing the gravel. He actually expressed some relief as he shot out the back. James and I moved into position...The gravel section was just as terrible as I remembered it being with the addition of a cross headwind. Cyclocrossers felt at home, and roadies started to question what they were doing out there.  The backstretch had a delightful cross tailwind, which encouraged some numbskulls to attack every lap. The temperature dropped noticeably as a prelude to the driving rain that started to blow sideways. I started to consider the gravel section like a climb and tried to keep the pressure on in that section, and recover on the tailwind section while suckers attacked. By lap five the constant pace and attacks from Chris Hill of recycled and those guys from Portland (half fast velo) were starting to take there toll. Chris and I launched into the gravel section with those guys from Portland and managed to establish a break. The next time through the gravel, James Birkenbuel (Alki|Rubicon), and a rider from first rate and Broadmark were able to bridge to the leading pack demoralizing what was left of the field. We continued to crush laps with minor faints but no major attacks. Then, finally, off the circuit and back towards the finish!  I was frozen solid. I realized that I had been shifting with my right hand periodically throughout the race, but never with the left (big ring baby!) and now my left hand was like a big flipper. I couldn't use my thumb to downshift into the inner ring. Soon the first steep section on the way back I stood up and gunned it. Chris hill went with me and most of the group managed to hold on over the top. James realized that he wasn't going to have a good pop at the end and started calculating what to do. As we approached the 1k sign James told me "it's all about you now," and I gladly got on his wheel. Chris Hill attacked and tried to open up an advantage just before the left hand turn onto the finish stretch. He managed to get several bike lengths ahead and the Portland fellas started to ramp it up behind him. The Portland guys were 3 bike lengths ahead of James, and Hill was an equal distance in front of them. I spun it up, shifted up, took a slightly aggressive line between the Portlanders and passed Chris with about 20 meters to go for the victory!

04-8-06 and 04-09 06 Vance Creek and the Boat Street Criterium

No race report today as our thoughts and prayers go out to the wife and family of Brad Lewis of the Recycled Cycles Racing family, who passed away while racing in the Boat Street Criterium.

04-15-06 Tahuya-Seabeck-Tahuya

What to wear?  That was the question as the temperature hovered around 40 degrees and a steady rain fell on Tahuya Saturday morning.  Hahn joked with some of last week’s competitors about ‘neutral to Seabeck’ for the first half of the race.  But that would not be the case.  A small break formed right out of Tahuya on the first climb. With a teammate in the break,  Broadmark did a good job of controlling the pace out to Seabeck,  which  at times seemed like a casual team ride.  For many it would be, almost immediately Cat 1/2 riders started to appear heading back to the start the short way.  At one hour into the race most were soaked to the bone and many were starting to shake uncontrollably on the long descent into Seabeck.  The climb out of Seabeck was a welcome sight bringing with it a chance to warm up.  Any body temperature that was gained was short lived.  The rain that had been falling constantly now turned to large snowflakes.  For some this would be to much for their body to endure and at the feed zone on Holly Hill, 45 miles into the race they were done.  Our own Hahn Rossman, to the astonishment of his teammates, would be one the casualties.  Fortunately teammates Craig Fowler and John Stanbaugh, having volunteered to work the feed zone, rushed Hahn into the team van.  At this point Hahn appeared pail and was incapable of anything other than shaking almost as if he was having an epileptic attack.  Hahn would later confess, as a result of being so cold, that he moved to the back of the peleton as it made the descent to Holly Hill for fear of crashing and taking down half the pack with him.  Clark Rider and James Birkenbuel made the summit on Holly Hill together.  They were unable to close in on a chase group that made a move on Holly, and fought their way to the final climb at Dewatto.  Several more were shelled and the last of the 75+ racers who started made the final descent back into Seabeck.  Clark worked hard to lead James out in what could be described as a slow motion sprint, James taking 15^th, Clark 19^th.  Only 20 racers would finish.

04-30-06 Seward Park Spring Classic

Location: Home away from Home, AKA Seward Park.

There is nothing better that a leisurely Sunday ride out to Seward Park, an hour of hard racing on our home course, and a celebratory beer afterwards. Aaron started off the day strong by taking a prime and 5th overall in the Cat 4s (Congrats to Aaron on the upgrade to the 3's!) The addition of Aaron will be a huge bonus for the other Cat 3 men who also had a strong day of racing. The pre-race game plan was simple: Go for all primes, Gabe to push the pace in the final laps, Hahn and James set up Clark for the finish. The game-plan worked to perfection when an excellent pull by James, then Hahn, catapulted Clark up the final hill to the front of the pack. Clark was able to hold off all challengers through the hairpin turn and the descent to the finish line, for second place overall. Had it not been for a perfectly timed escape by a lone rider with 2 laps to go, followed by a crash at the head of the pack, we may have seen a first place finish.

05-06-06 State Cha mpionship Road Race, Vance Creek, Elma W A.

Vance creek is a great race for the “all-rounder,” the rider who can get up the hills quickly, can power over the chip-seal pavement of the farm roads, and has enough to handle the rollers prior to the hill top finish.  For the Alki|Rubicon men racing in the Cat 3 field, (scheduled to cover 5.5 laps, and over 60 miles) Hahn and James were to be the All-rounders.  The game plan was to rotate at the front third of the pack and cover all breaks, and to ratchet up the pace on the final lap in hopes of getting James and Hahn to the base of the final climb in the front group.  All went as planned leading up to the final lap, when a crash from another category brought the race to a 5 minute halt.  The plan remained unchanged for the final half lap, but due to the crash, and the chance for everyone to reassemble, it was a full pack going into the final climb.  Two young bucks from Western Washington ’s cycling team made the rest of the pack feel old as they quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the contenders.  James was initially boxed in, but was able to hold his position with the rest of the top climbers and finished a very strong 8^th place.

05-13 and 05-14, Wenatchee State Omnium

Thanks have to be given first for the hospitality of Drew and Mo, who opened their house and arms to more than their Alki|Rubicon teammates, but also one Mobile Money racer, one Recycled racer, a Mom, a Sister, a Brother-in-law, a chiropractor, 3 dogs, a stray cat, three kids, too many bikes, etc, etc, and all of it on Mother’s day weekend……..THANK YOU!!

(Drew Novikoff & Rodney Trepass in the Crit)

The Cat 3 Men were happy to share the limelight with Drew and Rodney, both out for their first master road races of the year.  Nice work fellas.  The cat 3 crew showed that they are still a crit focused group by leading out Aaron for a 3^rd place overall, with Clark and Hahn rounding out the top ten.  The road race, which combined tons of climbing (I heard of 6,000 feet over the two laps) with 85 degree weather. That combination wilted our boys.  Right off the bat the the race took a tough turn when Clark flatted just before the first climb and had to immediately expend precious energy trying to chase down the pack. Up the road, the top climbers were putting the screws to the rest of the team. The Cat 3 pack was quickly wittled down as many racers threw in the towel by the end of lap one. THose who survived were treat to a fabulous descent with speeds reaching into the 50s. On lap two, Clark was able to finally catch up with Hahn at the feed zone, and the two paired up to finish the race strong in a pack of 6 Cat 3 riders (16-21^th places).  Aaron had another gutsy performance, and finished just back of Hahn and Clark. Overall, it was a great team building weekend with some good riding mixed in!!! (Was it really snowing at TST a month ago?...so hot!!!)

07-01 Olympia Criterium, State Championships