The 2010 season so far

Garage is two months into the 2010 season, and we have produced some outstanding results!

The season started back in February with the Frostbite TT, on a nice and dry and not even particularly cold day in Snohomish. Alex Rosenast chalked up Garage Racing’s first win of the year, with a stellar Cat 3 time. Kyle Farrell placed 5th in the Pro-1-2 category, Chad Marion was 7th, and John Sindell was 10th. Jason Bethel was 6th in Masters. Our season was underway!

The next weekend was the Icebreaker TT in Auburn, and Alex Rosenast dominated the Cat 3s again, with another win! Jason Bethel placed 8th in Masters, and Kyle Farrell placed 8th in the Pro-1-2.

Mason Lake 1 was the next day, the first Sunday in March. The weather was again surprisingly nice, and results flowed. David Hills placed 8th in a very fast Masters 2-3 race. In the Cat 3 race, Aaron Berntson spent most of the day off the front, and he was only caught 1km before the finish. After a pretty harrowing crash around 500m that removed Morgan Coleman, Aaron Lavin, and much of the rest of the field, Tom Wick sprinted for 3rd place. In the Pro-1-2 race, Brian Hitchcock was active and off the front for the end of the race, and he ended up placing 4th.

Garage Racing and Kryki Sports co-promoted the Sequim Road Race #1 the next Satuday. We had record numbers, with just shy of 500 racers! People loved coming out and racing on the peninsula and getting more good dry weather racing in. We all volunteered to help the event run smoothly and we didn’t end up in any results from the day.

The next day was Mason Lake 2, and “Mr. Consistent” David Hills chalked up a 9th place in the Masters 2-3 race. Michael Wasserman was 10th in the Cat 3 race.

The next weekend was Garage Racing/Kryki Sports’s Sequim 2. Again we had huge numbers of racers, thanks to the good weather and the well-promoted race! David Hills was 7th in the Masters event, which proved to be our only result of the day. (Way to go, David!)

Mason Lake 3 followed, and Kyle Farrell was good enough for 8th in the Pro-1-2 race. Michael Wasserman turned in a 7th place in the Cat 3s.

The Independence Valley Road Race, on Garage Racing’s “home course” was a mixed bag. In the morning races, Michael Murdin placed 7th in the Masters race. We had no Cat 3 or Pro-1-2 results, unfortunately: many of the Cat 3s were victims to various problems (crashes and mechanicals, mostly).

The Ravensdale-Cumberland Road Race was the next day, and though we didn’t bring a huge Garage contingent, our Brians still did well. Brian Estocapio was 3rd in the Masters race after spending most of the day off the front in a break. Brian Hitchcock placed 10th in the Pro-1-2. Hitch spent a large part of this rainy day off the front with a few others. And (non-Brian!) Michael Wasserman placed 5th as Garage Racing’s lone rider in the Cat 3 race! Nice!

The first weekend in April saw a race on the east side of the state, the Frozen Flatlands Omnium near Spokane. Two Garage riders made it over there: Chris Broyles raced Cat 4, and Brian Hitchcock raced Pro-1-2. Brian placed 9th in the first day’s (cold!) time trial and then he won the first day’s (cold!) road race. The next day, Brian placed 4th in the second road race, enough to WIN the overall Pro-1-2 omnium! Congratulations to Brian for his first Pro-1-2 win!

The Volunteer Park Criterium was the next Saturday, and Nikos Mills placed 5th in the Masters 1-3 race. Michael Wasserman placed 8th in the Cat 3s. Chad Marion placed 9th in the super fast Pro-1-2 race.

The next day, Olympic View Road Race near Elma was a new race for the calendar. Several Garage riders went to this race. In the Masters 1-3 race, Jason Bethel placed 4th, Aaron Lavin placed 6th, and David Hills placed 9th. In the 90-mile Pro-1-2 race, Kyle Farrell spent more than 50 miles off the front with a few others, and he ended up placing 2nd. Brian Hitchcock placed 9th.

The first Washington stage race of the year was next: the Tour of Walla Walla stage race. Garage Racing brought several racers to the event. The Pro-1-2 and the Cat 3 events started with a road race on Friday evening. Brian Hitchcock placed 9th in the Pro-1-2 category. In the Cat 3s, Matt Heck and Christian Kittleson stayed with the front group. Saturday was a TT and then a criterium. In the Masters TT, Alex Rosenast placed 7th. Matt Heck was 7th in the Cat 3 TT (with what I think was his first time on a TT bike!) In the Masters criterium, Nikos Mills and Dan Hazzard picked up some primes, and Tom Wick finished 7th. In the Cat 3 criterium, Matt Heck and Michael Wasserman gained some time on some of their competitors by staying with the front group in the blistering-fast race. Sunday was the road race. The Masters race ended up coming down to the final 3km climb, and Kevin Masterson stayed with the front group and placed 7th, gaining lots of time on most of his competition. Alex Rosenast was near the front as well, also solidifying his general-classification standing. At the end of the event, Alex placed 7th in the Masters GC! In the Cat 3 race, Matt Heck stayed in contact with the front group, and ended up taking 7th place in GC. Nice job, all! (And thanks for arranging the team house, Steve Z!)

Garage Racing has started the season with lots of high placings, a few victories, and a lot of great teamwork and comraderie. Here’s to more of the same!

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