Mt Hood Cycling Classic

Whew! What a tough, yet fun weekend of racing up at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic stage race! The 4 stages spread out over 3 days definitely put the hurt on my (Shane's) legs, but boy was it worth it!

Beautiful views were aplenty on the drive up.

Kai was my co-pilot on Friday.

The weekend started out on Friday, with Stage 1 starting at the edge of The Dalles, OR. The course included some parts of the first stage of Cherry Blossom last year, so I knew the climbing would be fast and painful! Going into the race, I was feeling pretty good, but the super dark clouds in the horizon were making me a bit nervous. With the race underway, our field settled into a really comfy pace, which was awesome, as I was really enjoying the scenery. The road we were on, wound through the rolling hills of grass fields which were accompanied by rich and dense foliage in the valleys between the hills. Add to this the nice hum of bikes and it was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, this niceness went away after about a half hour, as the rain began to come down. While rain is tough to deal with on a bike, it was bearable as we were cruising along the flats and going up the climb due to the body heat being generated. When we hit the downhill though, oh boy did it get cold! I got a rough shiver that reverberated throughout my entire body as we descended. Thankfully the rain subsided and the shiver went away, but sadly the race ended up being a good bit tougher than expected. With the extra grit, I was able to finish a respectable 19th out of 28, about 4 minutes back from the winner. 
Afterwards, I gathered my soaked self and headed back to Redmond to pick up my cheerleader/supporter extraordinaire Sam so she could help me bounce back for the rest of the weekend.

At the TT Starting Gate.

After a wonderful nights sleep, Sam and I headed up north where Stage 2, The Scenic Gorge Time Trial (TT), was starting from the west side of The Dalles. As we arrived, I noticed a bit of wind, coming from the direction I would be riding for the next 18+ miles, uh oh! Being a TT, and with the wind howling, I got some good hearted heckling from the starter as I my 8:22:30 AM ticked closer and closer. We began joking about how my Focus MaresCX 2 cross frame was going to give me a huge advantage by being SO aerodynamic. To put this in perspective and make the joke funny for those that aren't complete bike nerds (that's a good thing to not be), the Focus Izalco Chrono is an actual TT bike who's complete focus is on aerodynamics. So after the laughs, it was time to rock!
The course went along the Columbia River on the Historic Columbia River Highway (built 1913-1920), which has to be one of the most stunningly beautiful roads I have been on. I found myself staring off towards the views and then checking myself with a 'Hey bud, you're racing!' to get back to focusing on making the pedals go round. Thankfully, one of the most scenic portions, Rowena Crest, was at a bit of a grade so I was able to sit up and enjoy the panoramic view out over the Columbia Gorge. The other big highlight was the tunnel, that's right, the course went flying downhill through one of the original tunnels! It was so awesome, of course I let out a loud yell as I flew through it! Racewise, I went at this stage with a different approach than races prior and it ended up turning out to be my best personal performance I've ever put out in a TT. I was able to finish 16th out of 27 racers!

A portion of the TT course, near Rowena Crest.
Photo: Black Watch Sasquatch

Warming up before the crit.

After the successful TT, it was time to recuperate and get ready for the Criterium later in the afternoon. We headed into Hood River (which was where the TT had finished) to check out the nice downtown area and grab some grub. We happened upon a fantastic cafe called Doppio Coffee + Lounge which had great gluten & dairy free options for Sam and a delicious grilled panini for myself. After the great food, it was nap time, so we found a quiet parking lot and let the afternoon slip away with eyes closed.

Once the alarm went off, we headed back to downtown and setup shop to get ready for the early evening crit. I got the Blackburn Trainer setup, put some good music in my ears and got the blood flowing back into my legs so they'd be prepared for some high intensity racing!

I headed down to the course where I got some good insider advice from Bill Warburton about the crazy U-Turn style corner that was a part of the course. Once the course had cleared, we all went out and got lined up at the start for our briefing from the race officials.

Heading into the tough U-Turn corner.
Photo: Dave Roth

After the quick talk, the gun went off and it was time to race! We all clipped in, bunched up and began flying around the course. I really enjoyed this course, as it was fast but had a good amount of turns to keep it fun and interesting.

Course layout.

Coming around onto the
Start/Finish section
Photo: Dave Roth

Right after the slight uphill Start/Finish section, the road swept downhill to the right into that U-Turn corner I was chatting with Bill about. After that technical turn, it was a fast and relatively straight section along the back of the Full Sail Brewery until the second corner, which was a right hander into a one block uphill that definitely made the legs burn a bit. At the top of the uphill, corner three was a righty to another one block section that was uphill but not as steep as the first. The fourth corner turned right into a one block downhill before the last, left hand corner to the finishing straighaway. The racing went along very smoothly, aside from a single rider crashing on the U-Turn about a quarter of the way into the race. There were a couple surges, but no real threats to a breakaway getting away from the peleton.

As it progressed, my legs began to open up and felt strong, being able to match the surges without being too uncomfortable. This had me feeling confident for the finish, so when we got down to about 5 laps to go, I made sure to move up towards the front. With 3 laps to go, one of the racers went hard at the front, so I sat in second wheel as he pulled the field around. On the last lap, the majority of the group was strung out in a single file going into corner 2, but at the top of the hill at corner 3, everything kind of blew up and open. I knew this would be my best chance to make a go for it, so I squeaked through the opening and rode hard into the last two corners. I had felt very confident about the last, left hand corner, so as I hit that, I went into my sprint. Thankfully, everything played out perfectly as I was able to keep the lead and win the stage for my first road win ever!

Victory!
Photo: Dave Roth

Following a fantastic day of racing, it was time to re-fuel, so we headed back to The Dalles where I had a coupon from the 2011 Cherry Blossom Classic, for a free dinner at the Casa El Mirador restaurant. The huge meal I got, definitely hit the spot, it was a steak burrito with peppers, onions, sour cream and guacamole. This deliciousness, paired with the endless amounts of chips and salsa, had us completely stuffed to the point where Sam and I both waddled out of the restaurant to the car. To help the digestion process, we walked around the downtown area of The Dalles. Being one of the older cities in Oregon, there are several buildings that were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The architecture from back then is really quite amazing and beautiful.

Sam dancing under the super cool bridge lights.

Trinity Bikes Cycling Team's Subaru RV.

After our walk, we got back in the car and headed out to the woods to find a good quiet spot to setup the Subaru sleeping quarters. We happened across a great little spot right along Highway 35 next to the Hood River. After a long day of racing, sleep came quickly with the sound of flowing water in the background.

When Sunday morning rolled around, we packed the car up and headed out to Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, which was the starting point for the fourth and final stage of the race. I was thankful we only had two major climbs in the last race, the faster categories had three, especially after having already ridden three other stages.

View from staging area of Stage 4.

The course is quite epic, it started by descending for about 30 minutes followed by some flat/rolling sections before you head out into the forest onto a single lane Forest Service road to start the first climb. The pace was comfortable throughout the first portion, but once the peleton hit the incline, there were a couple attacks that drove the pace up putting all of us into the pain cave. I was able to match most of these surges, until about halfway, when I just couldn't quite hang with the lead group. About 15 riders broke away into two groups as they rode up and away. I knew that this would now become a mental battle for myself to keep the hammer down, as it is tough to do when you have been dropped by the lead group. Thankfully, I was able to stay really focused and push hard as I climbed up and up. After about an hour total of climbing, I saw a welcoming sight, the KOM (King of the Mountain) sign! This was the beginning of the most technical descent I have ever encountered on a road bike. With the road being steep, speed was easily achieved, so I had to be very aware of my speed due to the twisty, blind cornered road. For the most part, I was able to ride that fine line between being out of control and holding the maximum safe speed, but there was one corner that scared the heck out of me. This particular corner was a long right hand turn, but in the middle of it, the radius become much sharper. Due to the lack of visibility, I didn't realize this change until I was in it and suddenly saw that my trajectory had me heading into the woods. I put on the brakes and to my dismay, the rear brake locked up into a skid and I was NOT slowing down fast enough. With this happening, I began my quick scan of where I was going to try and aim myself shooting off the road (missing trees was top priority). As I frantically searched for safe landing zones, I suddenly noticed another rider who mis-judged the corner and was completely sprawled out, in very apparent pain, on his back in the bushes. As my brain processed this new information, I had somehow shifted my weight properly and my bike suddenly had all kinds of traction and I was able to safely make the corner! I hollered out to make sure the rider was okay but got no response. As I finished composing myself through this scary corner I noticed a car had stopped so they were going to be taking care of the fallen rider. This little incident definitely had my heart beating, but I had to put it behind me and continue riding harder! The fast descent continued for another 15 minutes or so before it dumped us back out onto the flat/rolly section that we had started on. I noticed that my legs were beginning to fade so I made sure to drink and eat as much as I could to prevent the oncoming energy crash. Even with my intake, my body was still screaming at me as I began the last slog of a climb back to the finishing area. About halfway up, I came across one of the best signs you can see if you are losing energy during a road race "Illegal Feed Zone".

Menu for Illegal Feed Zone.

It is exactly as named, an unsanctioned feed zone headed up by an awesome dude named Andy! He offers several options, that's right, he gives you a choice during a bike race!! I was in dire need of fluid and calories, so I opted for the Gatorade. I surprised myself with the short amount of time it took me to chug the bottle, but it hit the spot so perfectly, and gave me a second wind to finish the tough climb to the top.

The last part of the race was up a short section of road that got pretty steep, especially after the miles that had been logged on the legs over the weekend. Thankfully, Sam had posted herself near the top and gave me much needed encouragement as my legs burned and screamed at me! I was able to give it a strong push for a solid finish, taking 14th out of 26 for the day. I headed back down to the car with Sam where I took in much needed calories in the form of Max Muscle ARM.

With recovery in the system, it was time to head home after a fun, successful weekend of racing and building fitness! Mt Hood Cycling Classic will definitely now be on my annual racing calendar, as it is quite an epic stage race!

-Shane Johnson