The last few weeks of the racing season have seen a truly remarkable run of victories by the Garage Masters team.  Excellent teamwork, aggressive racing, and raw horsepower have resulted in a string of 5 consecutive wins for the men in red and black.  The Garage Racing juggernaut has shown the rest of the peloton a clean set of rear wheels at the following events:

• Olympic View Road Race: 1st - Aaron Bernston
• Green Valley TT: 1st - Alex Rosenast
• Vance Creek Road Race: 1st - Nikos Mills
• State Warmup TT: 1st - Aaron Bernston
• Ravensdale Road Race: 1st - Aaron Lavin

Adding to the victory tally, the Masters team has yet to lose a race in 8 straight appearances at Pacific Raceways.  With a several tough stage races and crit season coming up, the Garage graybeards are gearing up for some more fun--and hopefully, some more wins.

I didn't expect much from Olympic View.  It's a fun course, but adding an extra lap on top of last year's race combined with the race being a state championship event were sure to make things hard.  With 8 guys in the field, we needed to make sure Garage was in every break.  I think we planning on having someone try to go in early breaks while either Zach or I rested for later attacks, but I forget things as soon as the race starts...

After my typical "start at the back" move, I decided things were going a bit slow and moved up the right side to hang out with the guys up front.  I went in an early attack right as a big crash happened near the middle of the field.  Tubbs bridged up to the break and told us to neutralize since most of the race had either crashed or gotten stuck behind the crash.  We rode slow for 5-10 minutes until folks started saying it was time to race, so I took off solo.  Carson Miller bridged up to me like a freaking rocket, and I swapped a few pulls with him hoping like hell that some other folks would join in since I knew I could hang with him for 100 miles at his pace.  It seems as though Carson was poison to any break, though - we were chased down before we could build a gap larger than ~20 seconds.

Soon after, Jamie Stangeland attacked and rode solo for a few laps.  Nothing much really happened in the field during this time.  I took a couple of turns at the front to keep from being too bored.  Folks would try to go off the front now and then and get shut down pretty quickly.  Oh, it also started raining at some point - mostly just on the back side of the course.  The pack eventually brought Jamie back with about 3 (4?) laps to go.

Breaks formed and were chased down for the next half a lap.  Folks would react very quickly to any break that Carson or Stanko joined, so nothing really got anywhere.  Suddenly, Kyle and I watched (from way back in the field) as a group of 6 guys slowly rolled off the front while the Garage guys near the front mumbled something about "defence winning championships".  Okay, maybe not, but we let a break get away.

Oh crap!  This could be the winning break: Ian Mensher (KR), Jeff Hoover (Audi), Todd Herriott, Rich McClung (HB), Rusty Dodge (Fanatik) and a Team Oregon guy.

After chasing for several miles, we weren't really making time on the break.  I moved out of the rotation for a bit to rest and pout.  That's when Steve Wilssens pulls up next to me and says, "you wanna try to bridge?"  He took off before I could finish saying "sure", and I jumped on his wheel.  Here we go!  We got clear of the field, and I killed myself pulling about half as long on my turns as Wilssens would pull.  I was pretty sure I was destined to get dropped as soon as we made it to the break, but maybe folks wouldn't pick up the pace when two new riders arrived...

We made it up to the break before the feed zone and sat on the back to rest.  When we told the rider at the rear (TH) that we were going to skip a few pulls to recover, I was (not very) surprised to hear, "Fine with me!  I'm just sitting on, too!".  Great, it's going to be one of those days...

As we neared the finish line, the lead car began to slow and then came to a stop.  I then remembered that our follow car had told us that there was an ambulance at the finish line (crash in the masters race), but the guys in the break hadn't gotten that memo.  The lead car said we were stopping, so a few of us took the opportunity to have a bio break.

Our break was given a head start (50 seconds, I think) when the race restarted for the final lap.  We all worked pretty hard to keep the gap going.  About halfway through the lap, we were told there was a chase group of 6 about 50 seconds back with the field another 30 behind them.  Then the lead car began to slow again.  Are you kidding me???  We had 10 more miles to go, and they were stopping the race AGAIN.  It turns out there was another crash requiring an ambulance at the finish line (cat 3 field).  This stop lasted much longer (20 minutes or so).

We all got really cold standing around, and everyone starting making "bad sprint excuses" by talking about how tired they were or how bad they were cramping.  We all agreed that priority #1 is to not require another ambulance appearance.  Our follow car let us know that the chase group was actually 4 guys, but they wouldn't give us any more recon.  Anyways, we got going again eventually and got back to a pretty normal rotation.

Rich created a small gap on the downhill turns leading to the finishing straight.  We all came back together at the 1km sign, and folks started looking at each other.  Someone jumped again with 300-400 meters to go, and the sprint was on.  I ended up on TH's wheel while he followed someone that caught and passed the first person that jumped, but I missed Ian and Jeff when they shot around us on the left side.  I passed the two guys directly in front of me with enough speed to start closing on Jeff, but I ran out of road before the finish line.

So that's the story of how I got third at the state championship road race.

Aaron Bernston won the masters race with Mark Mirante picking up 3rd.

Garage Racing

RESULTS FOR SEQUIM #2 Are up
http://gcracingllc.com/2012Events.aspx
Thanks to all the riders who turned out and congratulations to all the winners!
A great day of racing with races across all categories being won in breakaways showing a high standard of racing. The afternoon saw some tough conditions with the weather turning wet and very cold. It's not often the Men's 1-2 field gets completely torn apart on a relatively flat course.

Thanks again to all our sponsors for the great merchandise prizes.
FSA, SKS, Garage, Golazo, Tutta Bella, Michelin, Manny's and Gerk's Bike hut.

Thanks to all our volunteers, referees and and of course the racers.
We hope to see you all back again next year!



Tour de dung 2012. USAC Permit number 2012-632 and 2012-697.
Garage Racing and the Audi Cycling Team present this years annual Sequim races on Saturday 10th March and 17th March. The races take place in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains just outside Sequim on the peninsula. The course is safe, dry, fast and flat with a few rollers and makes for excellent early season racing and doubling up races with Mason Lake will make you fitter and stronger for stage races and tough races like IVRR.
See link below for course details.
http://connect.garmin.com/course/640230#.Tz2jA_FlDnY.email

Pre-registration:
10th March Races (pre-reg closes at noon PST on 9th March) go to
https://www.usacycling.org/myusac/index.php?pagename=registration&eventid=632&year=2012
17th March Races (pre-reg closes at noon PST on 16th March) go to
https://www.usacycling.org/myusac/index.php?pagename=registration&eventid=697&year=2012

Be careful to register for the correct date!!
Day-off registration is available but PLEASE pre-registration as it will reduce the time you have to spend standing in line.

Prizes
This year we will have Cash Prizes totaling over $2400 for the two races.
Note: Women’s Cat 1-3 race has the same prize money ($499 each race) as the Men’s Cat 1-2 race (as it should be). So Cat1-3 Women please come out and support this event!

Also we have great Merchandise prizes from FSA, SKS, Garage, Golazo, Tutta Bella, Michelin and of course great beer in the form of Growlers from Manny's.

Directions - see flyer for details.
Recommended route is via Edmonds-Kingston ferry for Seattle area racers. Total travel time to race venue from Edmonds (includes ferry) approx 1hr 40 mins, and from Kingston approx 1 hour 5 mins. For Edmonds-Kingston ferry schedule see http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/schedule/ScheduleDetailByRoute.aspx?route=ed-king
From downtown Seattle via Bainbridge Island (travel time approx 2hours) from Bainbridge ferry terminal approx 1hr 25mins. For Seattle-Bainbridge ferry schedule see http://www.wsdot.com/Ferries/Schedule/ScheduleDetailByRoute.aspx?route=sea-bi

Note the race distances for 10th and 17th March are different for some categories. See flyer for details.
http://www.krykisports.com/12_tour_de_dung_flyer.pdf

Garage Racing has been hitting the local MFG and SCX cyclocross series with a vengeance.  Starting with the dry, dusty, and definitely too-warm early September races to the muddy, slop-fests of November, Garage racers have had their suffer-faces on across many of the racing categories.

Cyclocross racing brings the unique combination of speed, obstacles, and challenging terrain to spectator (and family) friendly venues.  When a beer garden and Halloween costumes are added to this mix, the result is some pretty outrageous fun times.  Enthusiastic cheering, merciless heckling, and hand-ups that range from hot dogs to beer to five dollar bills tucked into a guys' unmentionables create a festive atmosphere.

A record number of Garage racers have been flying the Garage colors with distinction this year. Notable results include a hard-won victory by Sean Phillips in the Cat 3 45+ Magnuson Park race.  A string of second placings along with a long-sought-after win in the Cat 1/2 45+ Raceway CX race has Nikos Mills nursing a 9 point lead in the MFG series going into the last race at Woodland Park.

Other Garage racers recently seen sporting the dreaded brown stripe include Dan Labuda, Alex Rosenast, Mike 'the-swedish-sensation' Murdin, Mark Mirante, Dean Rogers, Jeff Hsu, Patrick Raney, and Matt Hill.

As the cross season comes to a cold and wet end, come out to one of the remaining races to cheer, heckle, and have a beer with us.

Garage Racing made a strong showing at Masters Nationals in Bend, Oregon last week and are returning with a number of high placings from many hotly contested races. Nearly a full week in Bend gave ample time to earn stars & stripes for the following individuals:

• Robert Powell: Gnocchi making for the team dinner. Silver to Alex for supporting the local economy with the purchase of the gnocchi paddles.
  
• Mike Burdo: DVD rental choice: Arthur. Have you ever tried white truffle gelato? Silver to Nikos for having the endurance to sit through the whole movie.
  
• John Sindell: Burger flipping with a back two-and-a-half somersault tuck between the grill grate into the ashes. In the next day's burger flipping, Kyle's forward straight dive earned silver.
• Kevin Masterson: Apple pancakes, plain and simple. Nikos's broiled & seasoned potatoes took silver.
  
• Alex Rosenast: sufficiently confusing a waitress while ordering a margarita. The team didn't even have a chance to attack the waitress with "is that organic?" or "can you substitute whole wheat for the corn tortillas?" before Alex put forth his solo attack to take the gold.
  
• Kyle Farrell: Tri-berry smoothies. The claim "the shit that makes you fast" is a misnomer; consumption proved the expletive should be used as a verb and not a noun.
• David & John Hills on synchronized swimming in the feed zone. Unfortunately they were desynchronized on the water bottle handoff.

Really though, the team had some impressive results. Time trials: 7th place for Kyle Farrell and John Sindell 11th in the 35-39 group, Robert Powell 20th in 40-44, and Alex Rosenast 25th in 45-49. Crit results had the team mid-pack. I believe we were all saving it for the primes. Post-race we realized that there weren't any primes.

The road race on the Aubrey Butte Circuit course had solid results, albeit no hardware. Mike Burdo 15th in 55-59, David Hills took 24th in the 50-54 race, Nikos Mills 8th in 45-49, John Sindell 11th in 35-39, and Zach Jones 23rd in 30-34 (after pulling the field around for two laps!). Expect the team to show up to Bend for 2012 Nationals where we're sure to invent a bunch of new categories to medal in.

In local Masters news, Aaron Berntson took the season overall at Marymoor. The Wednesday night track competition was a Godzilla versus Mothra spectacle up til the last race of the omnium between Aaron and Jim Flynn (Keller-Rohrback). Aaron won the final points race, placing second in the night's omnium to teammate Tom Wick, and taking the overall for the season for Wednesday night. (side note: I'm not sure which one is Godzilla or Mothra...just recycling one of many quotes from the crit announcer at Nationals!)

Congrats to Garage Racers on new additions to their families! Chad Marion (Colin, 6/18, 7lb 8 oz), Mike Murdin (Axelle, 7/26, 8 lb 3 oz), Jason Bethel (Sarah, 6/22, 7 lb 14oz), and Kyle Farrell (Sawyer, 7/13, 8 lb 1 oz). Colin is obviously the climber of the new arrivals, though his dad will likely teach him a wicked sprint.

Something about diaper changes (or prep for) have given a bunch of 5th place finishes for the new dads. Chad took 5th at the Ballard Crit just prior to Colin's arrival. Jason Bethel celebrated Sarah's arrival with 5th at Redmond Derby Days. Mike took 5th at the Brad Lewis/Boat Street Crit. Kyle had 5th at the Skagit Flats circuit race.

As summer progresses road races head out of favor to crits and shorter circuit races. The past couple weeks Garage Racing was out at the Brad Lewis Crit in Seattle's U-District and made a good dent in the Keller Rohrback Road Race in Eatonville.

On paper the Brad Lewis Crit (ie- Boat Street Crit) is straightforward, but it's deceptively technical and challenging. An incline on the backstretch, some tough cornering, and a small field leave no place to hide. The threat of weather with some raindrops made many leery about the race. At the start line it was 25 racers in the 1-2 field, with Garage having Mike Murdin, Alex Rosenast, and Kyle Farrell up on the line. Seventy five minutes later half the field DNF's, Kyle takes a solo flyer for the wrong 15 minutes of the race, and Murdin rolls across the line 5th. A good day considering the sprinters in the field and the number of DNFs on the day.

Yesterday the team was in the rural and welcoming community of Eatonville for the KR Road Race. Advertised as a relatively flat circuit race, the course was anything but. Again it was 25 racers in the 1-2 field (though not exactly the same as Boat Street), with the addition of the seven racers from the Masters field. Kyle and Zach Jones rode 1-2 with Alex and Neil Casserly in the same field representing for Masters. An early break went without Garage, and without much organized chasing by the pack. Despite numerous attempts to attack and get a bridge group going, the pack pulled up every time. With over three of five 11-mile laps completed, Zach had enough and went for a solo ride off the front. At this point most teams were down to single riders (except for Bikesale, who had about 20). Great move by Zach, with that composite in the pack nobody was going to chase. Zach finished 5th for the day, with Kyle in 7th. Neil took 1st in the Masters field, finishing incognito to the other racers riding Masters.

Earlier in the day Aaron Lavin took 1st in the cat 3's. We've yet to hear his race report. The silence leads the team to assume Aaron was whisked away to put ink to a pro contract and is busy with celebrity fame.