Race Report: Tour of Washington County

By Martin • June 23rd, 2009

I don’t think any of us are yet recovered, but the results sure were satisfying at the 2009 Tour of Washington County. District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack won both the Cat 3 and Cat 4 road race; won the Cat 4 crit; and claimed first in the Cat 3 GC and third in the Cat 4 GC. On top of that, we placed all of our Cat 3 guys in the Top 15 and landed four Cat 4 riders in the Top 20. We also fielded racers in the Women’s 4, Men’s 5 and Master’s 40+/50+. It was a banner weekend for the team, not just in results but how well we worked together to get top placings and how much mutual support there was amongst teammates.

In lieu of an extended race report (like I said, I’m barely recovered here, and a report on a full multi-category stage race is like forcing myself to do 2X20′s all night), I’ll just mention these notable weekend moments:

Tim R. won the Cat 3 RR and the Cat 3 GC, even managing a damn good TT time after being laid out with food poisoning on Saturday night.
Tim B. didn’t only take the Cat 4 crit, but he won every single time bonus along the way. His aggressive prime-chasing pushed him from fifth to third in the GC.
Kevin served as the Cat 4 strongman and strategist. He hatched the race plans and made sure they were executed with precision. I’ve never been yelled at so many times to stay out of the wind.
Speaking of staying out of the wind, I rode my teammates’ coattails to a Cat 4 road race win, my first. And though I criticize Tim B. all the time for his weak victory celebrations, I didn’t even get my hands off of my bars. Laaaaame.
Tony A. took the opportunity during the Cat 3 road race to ride into someone’s front lawn, Lance Armstrong-style. But in keeping with Lance’s famous TdF acrobatics, he made a quick turn onto the driveway and safely rode back onto the course.
Lisette got fourth in the Women’s 4 road race and Dennis landed a Top 10 in the Cat 4 GC after doing a bunch of work in the road race and crit. That’s Dutch power right there.
Jonathan actually pushed someone from behind to help him close a gap. Discrete? No. Effective? Absolutely.
After two consecutive weekends of a strange big win/big crash combo for the team, we emerged unscathed from the tour!
Speaking of unscathed, we all collectively avoided the thunderstorm death that was predicted for Saturday afternoon. Phew.
And finally, Tim B. got called out by Joe Jefferson. At the crit. Over the PA. It was amazing. The line? “Hey, Gilligan called, and he wants his shorts back!” (Tim was wearing his lucky homemade jean shorts.)

That’s pretty much all of it. Congrats to everyone else who placed, raced, finished or even just stayed upright. By all indicators the ToWC was a success, so props to the promoters, organizers, sponsors and officials for a great event. And to our newfound friends, rivals and arch-enemies, thanks for the healthy competition and not frame-pumping our wheels mid-race.

Now, off to some much-needed rest and relaxation. Thankfully we don’t have to do this whole racing thing for another, well, five days. Sigh. I’m suddenly jealous of kickballers.

Comments(4) Results

Comments

By chris on June 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 am

can’t say how well y’all did this weekend. great job.

By terribleTerry on June 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Good Job, The men and women of Bike Rack have impressed me. In two years that club has grown tremendously and done it with some classy folks (and good blogging).

By GamJams on June 23rd, 2009 at 1:15 pm

Seriously. You guys were class this weekend.

By Lance Lacy on June 23rd, 2009 at 11:19 pm

yea whatever punks……GREAT JOB GUYS..now that is how a team wins a race

do me a favor and please race like that every weekend