TAI/Sagebrush Cycling has had a very successful Spring. With Mt. Hood Cycling Classic all wrapped up we are now in the midst of stage race season with Crit season to soon follow. Podium highlights include:
Carl Hoefer – Swan Island Crit – 3rd place Pro 1/2
TJ Paskewich – Sisters Stampede – 1st place Cat 2 field
Spencer Newell and Ryan Ness – Bend Don’t Brake – 1st/2nd – Cat 3
Jess Kaplan – OBRA State Champs – 1st place – Cat 3
Peter Christoff – Worth noting that Pete scored a 6th place overall in the 3 field at Mt. Hood. Impressive!
Upgrades include:
Sara Fletcher – Cat 2
Erik Hofland – Cat 2
Cort Buchholz – Cat 2
We’re just getting started!
Here is a recap of Sisters Stampede from TJ:
So what does one do for an encore after stepping to the top of the podium at their 2nd mt. bike race? Going into my 2nd mountain bike race this season and 3rd ever and coming off a very successful team race at Bend Don’t Brake I was confident, but not overly confident of what was to come at the Sisters Stampede. Racing this course the year before was a painful and distant memory and I was out for revenge. Dirty boy Tim Jones said it clearly about this course, “Get out early off the front and stay there”. So as I lined up on the front of the group of 80+ riders I had one goal in mind and that was to lay the hammer down in the double track and see who wanted to play. As we started there was one guy who got a small jump into the first corner, but when I flew past him I stuck the throttle wide open and put the hammer down. As I hit the tree line I looked back I had a fairly significant gap and was flying. As I was gobbling up the terrain of dirt and rocks it felt a little strange to be off the front, but the great thing and the downside about mt. bike racing is there is always somebody to pass which drives the legs harder and faster even though technically you are not racing against those people. As I came over the top and down the descent I didn’t let up and got caught behind a couple of riders, but they were keeping a pretty decent pace so I stayed with them knowing we were going to hit a gravel road soon. As we hit the road I shifted to the big gear and opened it up again and hit the single track to head back up. Throughout the 2nd lap no matter where I went or how hard I went I just couldn’t get around everybody and hoped it would not cost me. Well I was wrong. My lead of several minutes turned into a lead of nothing as two riders came upon me on the downhill section of the short loop. This did not sit well with me and now I was really pissed off knowing that this should not have happened. Maybe I took for granted the lead I had and could have, should have been more aggressive passing people. So I used my anger to drive me and we hit the final short climb which gave me the opportunity that I needed. I hit the climb with a vengeance passing several riders in front of me knowing that if I put enough time on the other two that barring any unforeseen circumstances the top step was going to be mine. As I came over the top I could see one rider about 30 seconds back and just continued to drive as hard as I could. Going through the final single track heading to the last two miles of double track I just kept driving it looking back occasionally and not seeing anybody close. As I hit the final ¾ of a mile I knew that I should not let up until the end. Crossing the line first in our group was a great feeling. Overall it was a great race and a very good learning experience.
