March Madness Garage Racing Style
Garage Racing is speeding through March at a blistering pace. This month's road races and time trials have shown the team's strengths and talents haven't taken a backseat during the winter.
The Mason Lake series spurred road racing into the season. Chris Teufel spent most of Mason Lake #1 in a breakaway where he eventually crossed the line in 2nd place in the Cat 1/2 field. In the Cat 3 field Tom Wick nearly pulled a similar feat, only to get reeled in by the peleton at the finish line. The following week at Mason Lake #2 and again in a break, Tom made well by sticking it to the field and earning a well deserved a 3rd place finish.
Early season time trials showed solid performances: Aaron Berntson came away with second place and Alex Rosenast in 4th place at the Frostbite Time Trial. The following week's Ice Breaker Time Trial featured a double dose of Flavio Rattazzi. Racing first in the Cat 1/2 field Flavio finished 2nd, down a mere 1.7 seconds from the leader over the 10 mile course. A consistent second ride of the day gave the TT machine 2nd in the Masters A/B category.
Apparently nobody told Flavio that Market Street was a road race and not another time trial. Flavio rode away from a large Cat 1/2 pack, finishing in 5th place. Mike Murdin came away with the pack sprint for 9th. Combined with his 6th place at Tour de Dung #1, Mike moves into 2nd place in the Washington Cup standings.
The team is looking forward to top finishes at this weekend's Independence Valley Road Race in Centralia, riding roads visited during training camp.