Garage Racing has been hitting the local MFG and SCX cyclocross series with a vengeance.  Starting with the dry, dusty, and definitely too-warm early September races to the muddy, slop-fests of November, Garage racers have had their suffer-faces on across many of the racing categories.

Cyclocross racing brings the unique combination of speed, obstacles, and challenging terrain to spectator (and family) friendly venues.  When a beer garden and Halloween costumes are added to this mix, the result is some pretty outrageous fun times.  Enthusiastic cheering, merciless heckling, and hand-ups that range from hot dogs to beer to five dollar bills tucked into a guys' unmentionables create a festive atmosphere.

A record number of Garage racers have been flying the Garage colors with distinction this year. Notable results include a hard-won victory by Sean Phillips in the Cat 3 45+ Magnuson Park race.  A string of second placings along with a long-sought-after win in the Cat 1/2 45+ Raceway CX race has Nikos Mills nursing a 9 point lead in the MFG series going into the last race at Woodland Park.

Other Garage racers recently seen sporting the dreaded brown stripe include Dan Labuda, Alex Rosenast, Mike 'the-swedish-sensation' Murdin, Mark Mirante, Dean Rogers, Jeff Hsu, Patrick Raney, and Matt Hill.

As the cross season comes to a cold and wet end, come out to one of the remaining races to cheer, heckle, and have a beer with us.

Garage Racing made a strong showing at Masters Nationals in Bend, Oregon last week and are returning with a number of high placings from many hotly contested races. Nearly a full week in Bend gave ample time to earn stars & stripes for the following individuals:

• Robert Powell: Gnocchi making for the team dinner. Silver to Alex for supporting the local economy with the purchase of the gnocchi paddles.
  
• Mike Burdo: DVD rental choice: Arthur. Have you ever tried white truffle gelato? Silver to Nikos for having the endurance to sit through the whole movie.
  
• John Sindell: Burger flipping with a back two-and-a-half somersault tuck between the grill grate into the ashes. In the next day's burger flipping, Kyle's forward straight dive earned silver.
• Kevin Masterson: Apple pancakes, plain and simple. Nikos's broiled & seasoned potatoes took silver.
  
• Alex Rosenast: sufficiently confusing a waitress while ordering a margarita. The team didn't even have a chance to attack the waitress with "is that organic?" or "can you substitute whole wheat for the corn tortillas?" before Alex put forth his solo attack to take the gold.
  
• Kyle Farrell: Tri-berry smoothies. The claim "the shit that makes you fast" is a misnomer; consumption proved the expletive should be used as a verb and not a noun.
• David & John Hills on synchronized swimming in the feed zone. Unfortunately they were desynchronized on the water bottle handoff.

Really though, the team had some impressive results. Time trials: 7th place for Kyle Farrell and John Sindell 11th in the 35-39 group, Robert Powell 20th in 40-44, and Alex Rosenast 25th in 45-49. Crit results had the team mid-pack. I believe we were all saving it for the primes. Post-race we realized that there weren't any primes.

The road race on the Aubrey Butte Circuit course had solid results, albeit no hardware. Mike Burdo 15th in 55-59, David Hills took 24th in the 50-54 race, Nikos Mills 8th in 45-49, John Sindell 11th in 35-39, and Zach Jones 23rd in 30-34 (after pulling the field around for two laps!). Expect the team to show up to Bend for 2012 Nationals where we're sure to invent a bunch of new categories to medal in.

In local Masters news, Aaron Berntson took the season overall at Marymoor. The Wednesday night track competition was a Godzilla versus Mothra spectacle up til the last race of the omnium between Aaron and Jim Flynn (Keller-Rohrback). Aaron won the final points race, placing second in the night's omnium to teammate Tom Wick, and taking the overall for the season for Wednesday night. (side note: I'm not sure which one is Godzilla or Mothra...just recycling one of many quotes from the crit announcer at Nationals!)

Congrats to Garage Racers on new additions to their families! Chad Marion (Colin, 6/18, 7lb 8 oz), Mike Murdin (Axelle, 7/26, 8 lb 3 oz), Jason Bethel (Sarah, 6/22, 7 lb 14oz), and Kyle Farrell (Sawyer, 7/13, 8 lb 1 oz). Colin is obviously the climber of the new arrivals, though his dad will likely teach him a wicked sprint.

Something about diaper changes (or prep for) have given a bunch of 5th place finishes for the new dads. Chad took 5th at the Ballard Crit just prior to Colin's arrival. Jason Bethel celebrated Sarah's arrival with 5th at Redmond Derby Days. Mike took 5th at the Brad Lewis/Boat Street Crit. Kyle had 5th at the Skagit Flats circuit race.

As summer progresses road races head out of favor to crits and shorter circuit races. The past couple weeks Garage Racing was out at the Brad Lewis Crit in Seattle's U-District and made a good dent in the Keller Rohrback Road Race in Eatonville.

On paper the Brad Lewis Crit (ie- Boat Street Crit) is straightforward, but it's deceptively technical and challenging. An incline on the backstretch, some tough cornering, and a small field leave no place to hide. The threat of weather with some raindrops made many leery about the race. At the start line it was 25 racers in the 1-2 field, with Garage having Mike Murdin, Alex Rosenast, and Kyle Farrell up on the line. Seventy five minutes later half the field DNF's, Kyle takes a solo flyer for the wrong 15 minutes of the race, and Murdin rolls across the line 5th. A good day considering the sprinters in the field and the number of DNFs on the day.

Yesterday the team was in the rural and welcoming community of Eatonville for the KR Road Race. Advertised as a relatively flat circuit race, the course was anything but. Again it was 25 racers in the 1-2 field (though not exactly the same as Boat Street), with the addition of the seven racers from the Masters field. Kyle and Zach Jones rode 1-2 with Alex and Neil Casserly in the same field representing for Masters. An early break went without Garage, and without much organized chasing by the pack. Despite numerous attempts to attack and get a bridge group going, the pack pulled up every time. With over three of five 11-mile laps completed, Zach had enough and went for a solo ride off the front. At this point most teams were down to single riders (except for Bikesale, who had about 20). Great move by Zach, with that composite in the pack nobody was going to chase. Zach finished 5th for the day, with Kyle in 7th. Neil took 1st in the Masters field, finishing incognito to the other racers riding Masters.

Earlier in the day Aaron Lavin took 1st in the cat 3's. We've yet to hear his race report. The silence leads the team to assume Aaron was whisked away to put ink to a pro contract and is busy with celebrity fame.

After the throttling that was, Mt Hood Cycling Classic I opted out of racing the next weekend, and instead decided it would be better to get a little climbing in the legs. So Phil and I went out and rode Hurricane Ridge.

Phil and I had a great ride. The climb was a lot of fun, and went by quickly for how long it was. The descent was a bit of a let down - ha! get it? - but can't complain about a ride where you start riding along the ocean with a sea breeze and then climb up into a mountain range over 5k high!

If your interested in lengthy descriptions or power assessments click here. Otherwise, here's a route profile and a couple pictures.

Fast roads, slippery corners, and a well-earned feed zone describe Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.

Day 1 was a 6.5 mile TT. No wind, no rain, no sun. Perfect for 6.5 miles of suffering. MOE’s TT course is tricky; long enough to allow plenty of opportunity to blow up, but so short that you’ll lose precious seconds if you hold back. This year’s course was fast, as several riders broke 13 minutes. In the 1-2 field Andrew Bates, Kyle Farrel, Brian Hitchcock (Hitch), Joe Baum, and Zach Jones represented. Andrew came in at 13:11 for 18th , with the rest of the gang not far behind.

Masters was well represented with Tom Wick, Alex Rosenast, Keven Ruff, Kevin Masterson, Neil Casserly, and Mike Burdo. Alex tore it up for 11th at 13:46. In the 3s, Morgan Coleman rode a 13:27 for 3^rd place.

Crit was fast and twisty, and evening rain only added to the excitement. Andrew took 6^th place in the 1-2. Alex rode strong for 8^th in Masters 30+, while Mike Burdo hammered down for 5^th in the Masters 40+ field.

The final stage proved tough for riders in every field. The only real climb of the day was Mud Mtn. Damn Road. While not long enough to ensure any breaks in the pack, the steep punchy hill dropped riders with each lap. The feedzone at the top was a sight for sore legs. Garage pulled through for the finish. With a strong leadout from Kevin and Neil, Tom crossed the line in 8^th place. Morgan rode in with the lead group of 25 to secure his GC place in 3rd. Mike rolled in for 6^th in GC.

I started out the 2011 season in a new city and unemployed. This situation offered both positives and negatives for training. The positives were that I had ample freedom and time (around interviews) to train. The negatives were that I didn’t have a team, had no idea where to ride, and it was January in Seattle.

The positives outweighed the negatives and I was able to stick to a solid training plan, and put it a lot of very wet and cold base miles. I was feeling fit and strong in February when I first made contact with a Garage rider, and by March when I joined the team I was as strong (minus high-end intensity) as I was at the end of the previous season.

Totally off the back!

That’s when race season started, and my eyes were re-opened to the stark differences between training strong and racing strong.

1. You just can’t race like an idiot doper unless you are one (Independence Valley RR).

2. It also doesn’t help to race like a pissed off teenager (Sequim RR #2).
After relearning both of those lessons I then had to relearn a third

3. You can’t race at the front of an 80 mile race when you haven’t been able to do 80+ mile training rides. (this one is less my “fault” and the blame can be placed on that job I had to go and get)

All three of these lessons I’m pretty sure I learned my first season racing. I’m pretty sure I learned them again my second season. I’m pretty surprised that I’ve needed to learn them again this season. Maybe this time around (third time is a charm right?) I will actually learn and develop a bit better racing sense.

So far the racing season has not gone as I planned, but I guess that’s bike racing. It’s a good thing we do this because we love riding our bikes, otherwise it would just be to dam much.