It's been a busy spring campaign for Garage Racing...so busy in fact, that we haven't had time to update the blog.  Garage riders have been tearing it up in many of the categories, and the Ravensdale Road Race was no exception.  The Cat 3 team showed up in force and after some aggressive riding, ended up with Chris, Jack, and Zac taking 9th, 10th, and 11th.  In the Pro1/2 field, Sean showed some great sprinting skills with a fine 5th place finish.  And in the Old Geezers 1/2/3 field, Doug and Nikos converted an all day breakaway into a 1st and 3rd.

Look for the Garage gang at the Enumclaw Stage Race next weekend.

Tour de Dung 2014. USA Cycling Permit numbers 2014-1026 and 2014-1059.

Many thanks to all who came out to race at Sequim this year!

RESULTS for March 15th

RESULTS for March 8th
Garage Racing and the Audi Cycling Team present this year’s annual Sequim races on Saturday 8^th March and 15^th March. The races take place in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains just outside Sequim on the peninsula. The course is same as previous years and is dry, fast and mostly flat with a few rollers and makes for excellent early season racing.

This year we have moved the finish to the end of roller on Lotzgesell Road to improve safety at the finish.
See link below for course details.
Race Course
Parking: TIM’S CUSTOM CABINETS have generously loaned us the parking lot for the event, it’s at the corner of Kitchen Dick and Lotzgesell Road (NOT same as last year).
Please be very careful and respect the property.
                                    !NO PARKING AT THE FINISH!
NO littering, NO tire-spinning, NO overnight parking etc.
There will on onsite COFFEE, SPRITZERS + WATER AND SNACKS provided by
MOM'S FOOD TRUCK.

Pre-registration:
Be careful to register for the correct date!!
For the 8^th March Race pre-reg closes at 9pm PST on 5th March go to
Sequim #1 8th March

For the 15^th March race Pre-reg closes at 9pm PST on the 13th March go to
Sequim #2 15th March
Day-of registration is available, but pre-registration is recommended as it’s just more convenient for you.

PRIZES
This year we will have CASH PRIZES totaling OVER $2400 for the two races.
Merchandise Prizes Update:
We have over $2500 in merchandize prizes to give away for EACH weekend of racing, including: 2 GoPro helmet cams (1 for this week and 1 for next week), 2 bike fits from Footworks (1 for this week and 1 for next week), Smith sunglasses, SKS (pumps, race blades), Castelli, Camelback, Light n Motion, FSA, Cratoni, Garage Billiards, Tutta Bella, and, as always, Growlers from Georgetown Brewing!  See link below
Merchandize prizes
NOTE: Women’s Cat 1-3 race has the same prize money ($499 each race, 5 Deep) as the Men’s Cat 1-2 race (as it should be). So Cat 1-3 Women please come out and support this event!

Note the Women’s Cat 4A and B races will be combined and will be at 10.05am.

Race distances for 8^th and 15^th March are different for some categories.
See flyers below
March 8th Flyer                       March 15th Flyer

Directions – for more details see flyer.
Recommended route is via Edmonds-Kingston ferry for Seattle area racers. Total travel time to race venue from Edmonds (includes ferry) approx 1hr 50 mins, and from Kingston approx 1 hour 5 mins.
Edmonds-Kingston ferry schedule

From downtown Seattle via Bainbridge Island (travel time approx 2hours) from Bainbridge ferry terminal approx 1hr 25mins.
Seattle-Bainbridge ferry schedule

For 2014 Garage Racing is looking to add motivated Cat 1-5 racers to our squad.  Started in 2003, Garage is built on a foundation of teamwork and camaraderie.  With an experienced masters team, we are currently adding category-focused racers who want to improve and learn from some of the most experienced racers in the Northwest.  Our development program will include focused winter training under the direction of national-championship-winning coach Matthew Hill and group training rides to prepare for events throughout WA and the PNW region.

Team ride starts at Pert's Deli /Starbucks area in Leschi on Saturday 9/14.  Meet up a bit after 9am, socialize, and we roll at 9:30.

Over the weekend Of June 28^th and 29^th I represented Garage Racing in the National Track Calendar event at Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, California.  The event consisted of two days of national level racing in Sprint and Endurance Track racing.  I decided to test my skills against the best to west coast had to offer in the world of Endurance Track Racing.

Hellyer is a 335 meter long track with 23 degrees of banking in the turns.  It is quite a unique track with such shallow turns for its length; but nowhere near as radical as tracks Like Alpenrose or Burnaby. 

The Races:

Points race:  11x6  66 laps with sprints for points going 4 deep every 6 laps.

The race started out very slow except for one guy who was given a huge leash.  I never go for the first sprint, but I found myself in perfect position so I went for it.  I took second to the guy who was now 1/2 a lap up and got myself onto the point board.  Ended up sitting in for the next sprint as that took more out of me than I thought it would.   The solo guy lapped us (gaining 20 points) as we came into sprint number 3.  I was able to pick up 4^th in that sprint adding another point to my total.  Then Zak Kovalcik (National Omnium Champion) attacked and the field shattered.  I was gassed from the sprint and could not follow.  I got caught in no-man’s-land solo as Kovalcik and a few others made contact to the back of the main field, lapping them.  After at least 10 laps solo, Five guys caught me and we made it back onto the main field (consisting of the break and a bunch of guys now a lap down) with 12 to go.  The pace was insane.  I could hear the Announcer yelling out splits of 34 and 35 miles per hour.  My legs were a blur.  IT was all I could do to maintain contact to the lead pack.  Attacking and sprinting for points was the last thing on my mind.  My 4 points that I earned early on were only good for 11^th place.

Scratch: 30 laps  

I had pushed a very hard gear in the points race and had a hard time accelerating it when the jumps went so I geared down for this one.  The race went hard from the gun, we were strung out in a pace line and I could hardly get that little gear turning fast enough to hang on.  There were 3 premes: 2x$50 and a $20.  At 25 to go they rang the bell and I was right at the front of the pace line with a guy 1/3 of a lap up.  Everyone pulled up track and I was left solo in the lane.  I figured it was as good a time as any to get away since I would have a partner.  So I attacked caught the guy right after the line and we started trading pulls but we were only 1/4 lap up on the field.  We kept it up but he was not pulling as hard as I was we could not get into a 1/2 lap rhythm.  They rang the bell for a $50 preme and I took off; had no problem accelerating the smaller gear and ended up $50 richer for the effort.  At this point the pack got restless and Kovalcik tried to bridge, the pack responded and we got caught with 16 to go.  Kenny Williams yelled at me as we got caught to stay up front so I gave it a dig and only floated back a few wheels.  As we came around with 14 to go I heard a bang behind me and I realized why Kenny said to stay up front; there was a massive pileup and then ended up having to call the race.

Scratch: 20 laps

To make up for the 30 lap scratch race being stopped they decided to run a 20 lap scratch the next day.  It started out fast but not aggressive. Nobody attacked; we were in a single file paceline taking half lap pulls.  The pace was too quick for me to attempt an attack, it would go nowhere. With 4 laps to go, the pace increased even further.  With 2 to go I was 5 wheels back in the second column from the bottom. Two guys pulled off together and lingered mid track, I had to go over them.  When I got back down I was about 10th wheel back.  This was too much ground to make up and I missed the move; I ended up 9th.  I spent too much time taking pulls at the front trying to make sure I was there if a move went. Had I been able to shoot the gap between the two guys I would have made top 5. This race, though it was short, taught me a lot about how to position and how important it is to be ready for anything.

Win n out: 20 laps then 3 pull laps where the winner of each lap is awarded the next placing.

It was just a fast pace line.  I never made it further than 4 wheels back trying to stay to the front incase an attack went off.  This ended up being my downfall as no attack ever came and with about 4 laps to go the pace quickened and the guys who had been sitting in and were still fresh brought the pace up to the high 30’s.  I was able to hang on for 6^th place but the amount of work I did in the being at that pace just cooked me. 

Miss n out: Every lap the last guy across the line is out.

Only 9 guys lined up in the 104 degree heat of the afternoon sun.  I did not know what to expect from a field of that size in a miss-n-out.  I did what I try to do every miss-n-out and went straight to the front a drilled it.  I was the first guy across for lap 1.  I felt pretty safe but was going pretty hard. As we came around for the second lap I saw the wave start to come over top and figured I would be fine.  I would jump into the line and roll through.  The announcer was very excited in saying “Here comes the wave over the top at 38 mph.” A little too quick, somehow I went form first wheel to out in the second lap. 

This was a wonderful experience racing at this caliber and will do wonders for getting me ready for nationals this year.  It has shown me just what I am up against and what speeds and tactics to expect at a national level even.  I would sincerely like to thank Garage Racing for helping out financially to help realize my goals of being a competitive force on the national calendar this year.

Zach Jones

The Garage team made it down to Baker City, Oregon for the 3-day, 4 stage Baker City Cycling Classic.  This was a targeted race for the team, so we sent our best and put them up .  The weekend best described pictorially by events at the Oregon Trail Motel.

Joe Baum demonstrates how our stage one recovery beverages were consumed with feet dunked in the Powder River, located just behind the motel.  Healing for the feet & soul.  Joe's recovery treated him well the next morning, finishing 11th in the morning's time trial and 3rd in the evening criterium.  Nice!

After the stage 2 time trial I decided to demonstrate how to eat a massive amount of beats.  My strategy was to bring my A-game with B-equipment.  Saddle failure on stage one, loose cassette lockring on stage 2, tire blowout on stage 3, and rear derailleur explosion on stage 4.  Doh!

Champs of the race chose to onboard calories at the motel's adjacent diner.  Stay at the hotel includes a coupon for breakfast.  Hot debate was which breakfast option would be the best fuel for the day.  I need to figure out what Jason ordered for stage 4.  Whatever it was got Jason into the break of the day and 5th for the day up Dooley Mountain.

Meanwhile Lang followed my lead of odd mechanicals by managing to have a rear brake pad fall out during the rollout of stage 4.  That didn't hinder anything when the roads turned uphill, Lang took 9th on the day and 6th for the weekend.

Fantastic job by the team, two top tens on stage 4 and two top tens for the weekend!

Sponsor of Garage Racing since day one, Georgetown Brewery hosted the team for a social night of beer sampling last Wednesday.  Roger was kind enough to give the team the lowdown on Georgetown Brewery's history and how the brewery started by making one beer well.  Very well.

The one trick pony days of Manny's Pale Ale are long gone.  Garage Racing got a sampling of the breadth of beers that are now always flowing out of Georgetown such as Lucille & Chopper's Red. The thirsty crowd also got in on some not-always-flowing beers such as Lucy, an imperial IPA aged in oak barrels.  Wow.

Thanks Georgetown Brewing!

Several teammates got out for a training ride on the beautiful first day of June - check out our new Catlike helmets, from our sponsor Footworks Cycles!