Mason #3, Dung #2

Mason Lake #3

For the third week of Mason lake the weather was great. A bit on the cool side, but that’s the way I like it. We had a bit smaller crew, Myself, Colin, Jamie, Dux and John. Both Colin and Dux admitted that they were not feeling great but they would make a difference in the race. Jamie is an ox and thus always a good bet.
Our strategy was the same as usual: keep moving through the pack and cover but don’t burn yourself out. From the gun the race was very aggressive. Big players were throwing down, but everybody wanted to bridge, chase and counter. Much like the first Tour de dung, it felt like a 60 mile crit (except this one was 72 miles).
Later in the race, some weird dynamics started. People were attacking but not aggressively. Instead of a hard attack and maybe a hard counter that would string the pack out and pop guys off the back they were little surges that took energy to cover but did not string out the pack. A bunch of us got stuck in the much of the pack while three guys got off the front: David Fleshour (Herriott), Chris Tuefel (Garage) and some one else. Interestingly enough, even though Hagens and Lenovo had missed the break, neither wanted to chase. With my race brain went to the front to do some work assuming Hagens and Lenovo would send a couple of guys as well. They didn’t. After about three miles pulling all by myself I realized that maybe I shouldn’t be wasting myself to pull up the entire pack. I pulled off and Jamie scolded me appropriately.
Because no body wanted to chase those three stayed away for the podium. In the field sprint Jamie had some race brain as he decided to go on Richter’s wheel as he sprinted from 500 meters out. Somebody else won the field sprint. We finished the race feeling a bit grumpy but met up and had a quick chat about how we would do better next time.

Sunday: Tour de Dung#3

On Sunday we had the same crew minus Dux. That means four guys to cover the whole pack. Keeping in mind what happened on Saturday and the fact that this course can be windy, we decided to tweak the plan. We would be less aggressive in going with every attack but would keep all four of us in the front third of the pack the entire race. This way, we could let moves go and just follow the flow of the pack without having to burn a ton of matches to cover, but if something dangerous went, we were all ready to bridge.
Whether it was “the plan” or just each rider reading the race and measuring efforts, we seemed to be fairly effective in controlling the race this way. One lap in a group got away with Tubs, Emde, Stanko, Fleshour and our Dr. Strangelove. This looked to be a great move: all big teams represented, all strong guys and a long day off the front is Jamie’s specialty. Surprisingly enough, after about two and a half laps, the break would be pulled back by a very well organized chase by Wines of Washington. Just as they break was getting pulled back, Stanko would attack again for a solo effort off the front.
Then it was back to attack and cover for the next few laps while Stanko remained dangling off the front. Again, the team rode an excellent race. Every good move had a strong cover by a Gin rider. I wish I could list every counter every move that we covered, but suffice to say, I was honored to be riding among such teammates.
At about a lap and a half to go, two guys were able to roll away off the front, Kyle (Garage) and a Lenovo rider I did not recognize. They seemed to hover about 300 meters off the front and nobody felt inclined to go after them. JOD must have smelled the packs hesitation to chase because he moved up the left side and bridged across to what would be the winning break. These three would catch Patrick Stanko, the man of the day, who would then take the group sprint for the win. Bravo Stanko! John, who later kicked himself for not attacking the break would still podium for third.
Back in the field, Colin and I set up a leadout for Jamie. But the last few miles got sketchy and dangerous and our lead out was broken up at about a mile and a half from the finish. Fortunately, though it was broken up, we were mostly at the front. At about 800 meters to go, Jamie was boxed in on the left side and I was free and open in about tenth palace. At 500 meteres to go I was in sixth place as the speed really started ramping up. I saw a big red Ian Tubs out of the corner of my left eye, moving up fast. I moved left and accelerated to get on his wheel when I heard “No, mine” and recognized Jamie’s voice. I pulled right as Jamie stuck Ian’s wheel barreling towards the finish line and pulled around Ian just in time to win the field sprint by a tire’s width.
At the end of the day, with only a four man team, we had two guys in the top 5. Way to go Gininjas!