Whew - It's Over!

After being in Hood River for just one year, I some how managed to find the courage to race the Mt Hood cycling Classic ( http://www.mthoodcyclingclassic.com/ )

If you have never heard of this race it is a four-day, leg-breaking stage race renowned as much for its incredible difficulty as for its breath-taking beauty.

The first day is a circuit that totals just over 47 miles and over 5100 ft of climbing (My gps data: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8377911 ) I blew up trying to hang with the front group on the first climb but finished strong and rode away from the small group of five I was with most of the day.

The second day was the time trial. For those of you that don't know, this is purely a race against the clock. No drafting, no riding in a peloton. Just you, you bike, a NASTY headwind, 19 miles, and almost 2000 ft of climbing. I rode with aero bars on my bike and did OK despite the amount of guys with full time trial bikes and aero helmets - like my friend/teammate below who beat me by 10 seconds!! Must have been the helmet!! ( http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8383179 )

After the time trial was stage 3 - the BIG day. 92 miles with 10,500 ft of climbing!! A monster of a day. I held on with the lead group and the yellow jersey for about 67 miles but then it turned into a LONG uphill climb to the finish and I fell off. I still feel I did pretty well and am happy to have finished! I finally settled into a group of five guys again and we rode together until the last 5 K and it turned to every man for himself. 2 finished before me and 2 after. Below is the start and finish of the day - Mt Hood Meadows right on the edge of the mountain.
( http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8390138 )

This is what a group of guys looks like after riding this stage. The asphalt was warm and it just felt good to lay there and soak up the heat:

The last stage was the downtown crit. It was FAST - 27 mph avg. Pretty good when you consider it had 2 small climbs and a CRAZY turn that was almost a complete U-turn! I was nervous going into it but actually had my most fun of this whole race with it. I finished with the main group and even moved up 2 spots on GC (General Classification - overall race standings)

Overall, this race was very fun and challenging. I hope to ride it again next year! My performance was not the best but for racing Cat 4 I did OK. Finished 26 out of almost 70 who started. (only 40 some finished) I'm happy to say I finished and had fun doing so!

As always - a quick pick of Cam. He got new biking gloves like daddy!!