Our men's category 5 field included Sean Smith who took 3rd place (State Medal), James Lee who took 17th, and Matt Doolan who took 20th. Sean told me after the race that he had ridden back to James and Matt telling them they needed to move forward in the field so as not to get caught out when the pace quickened. They agreed, but instead of moving forward in the field, they took off! Riding a hundred feet off the front! Sean later rode up to them and said "this isn't the right place either - come back". They got an A for aggressiveness.
The ladies' category 3 field had only one of our riders - Erica Haas. She was the only racer without teammates and they made her pay for it. Women from other teams constantly attacked, forcing Erica to chase each break. Their efforts were to no avail as Erica held on to take second overall! Great job!
Jen Smith our ladies ride leader turned out to race the women's category 4. She too was the only racer from Santa Fe Trails in her category. Jen took 11th.
Finally the men's category 4 race saw Spencer Wallace place 5th, Mark Ramsden place 11th and Brendan Sheehan place 14th. Our race featured attacks on the king of the mountains climb that severely reduced the field size. Mark Ramsden, not content with simply whiling away the final miles of the race, went to the front with 6 miles to go. He punished the field attempting to drop most of them. As we closed to 200 meters to go, I saw Mark to my surprise, right beside me. He was surprised too and attacked, dropping me and several others to move forward in the pack.
Great race by everyone. 8 racers participated in a race that was a 2.5 hour drive from Leavenworth. Fired Up! BTW - Carl Fischer stated last week that Olsburg was the place he rode his bicycle the fastest - while I didn't equal Carl Fischer, I did hit 49.8 on a descent!
Thanks to Roger Harrison for promoting another great race! Thanks for the photos and the encouragement as well!
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