Enumclaw Omnium Stage Race, May 30-31, 2009
Master A/B

First of all: Omnium or Stage Race? What? Both? How does that work? Really? Really?

Okay, now on to the report...

TT, Saturday morning

We were successful for the TT. Especially in parking for the race, as we got the prime spaces in the lot. However, it was a comedy of errors for the race itself. Alex was able to turn in our best time of the day, despite being dropped by the holder at the start line with 10 seconds to go, good enough for 7th place. Brian pulled out 8th place after MISSING HIS START TIME. Mike was just out of the points, and then Aaron L, Nikos, Aaron B, Robert, Tom, John M, Jay, Brad, and John M (#2) spread across the rest of the field (in no particular order). We had numbers, though: Garage was around 20% of the field.

Crit, Saturday afternoon

We were all concerned about being able to ride this 8-corner crit in dry weather, as this has not been the case for the past several years. But things worked out: it was a healthy and fun (and short! 35 minutes!) race. At the start, Tom showed off his ability to clip into his pedals faster than the average racer and hit turn #1 in lead position and in a near-full sprint. He proceeded to lead for the next several laps, never hitting his brakes and never getting much below 28mph. But the pack wasn't going to let this go, so eventually things settled. Shortly thereafter Mike ended up away in a break that looked nice and healthy: Lenovo, HB, and maybe one other team represented. Tom and Nikos and Alex spent some time swapping around and disrupting things at the front. When this break came back (after Mike had won a prime) Nikos found himself away and won another prime. Alex, too, spent some time off the front. At the end of the race Tom ended up rolling off the front with just over two to go where he won a prime and then tried to stay away solo for the final two laps. Not gonna happen. When Tom was caught with half a lap to go, the sprinters Brian and Aaron B and Nikos were rolling things well. Brian got 3rd, Nikos 7th and Aaron 8th. Tom held on to 15th for the final point in the race. (Alex afterwards wondered if he was supposed to sprint also...)

Road Race, Sunday afternoon

We went into this race with Brian 3rd place in GC, and we wanted to hang onto that. Alex planned to make some moves early, and he ended up away in three different breaks before the first time we hit the climb. Shortly after that, a break containing Mike and Aaron B got up the road, and proceeded to make TONS of time on the field. Racing was spirited. The temperature was warm. In the feed zone, John M was awesome, providing water bottles and super-soaker squirts to everyone on the team who wanted them: he was essential for the team! With just under a lap to go, Mike fell out of the break but he said Aaron was doing well and looking strong up there. (His quote afterwards was something like, "Yeah, Aaron was going places he wasn't comfortable going, but he was doing fine up there. He'll be going back there again, I'm sure.) In the pack, Nikos and Aaron L were especially strong on the hill each time. On the final climb Aaron L went off the front with a group that eventually caught the lead break just before the finish. The A[aron] Team placed 3rd (Lavin) and 7th (Berntson), and then Brian placed 14th after a lined-out leadout snafu by Tom.

In the final GC, we did very well. Aaron L placed 4th, Brian 7th, Aaron B 12th and Nikos 13th. Garage had a great weekend, and racing was a blast.