It did not take long for the Northern contingency to make a statement. I was greeted by the following race report in my In Box this morning. Congratulations, Rogue Racing Project 513!
The East Fork OMBC mountain bike race for the Rogue Racing Project 513 was an amazing success. The results exceeded everyone’s expectations considering this was our first race as a team and we embarked on this crazy “throw a team together in time for cx” journey less than a month ago. With every team member participating save one, we had Beginner’s men, Beginner’s women, and Sport men 31-40 all represented.
The biggest kudo’s go out to Butch Farrell who won the Sport Vet (31-40) group with great panache. Crossing the line all alone, victory salute in the air, and setting a course record. Granted, he is the trail steward for East Fork for CORA so he did have just a little home cooking. Butch was also aided with an amazing lead out man who buried himself to gap the field up the climb and along the ¾ miles road section; all the while tucked in on his wheel. Butch entered the singletrack all alone and rode away from there. More on that in a moment…
Butch’s better half returned to competitive racing after taking a well deserved two year maternity break. Heather Farrell, or Hez as she is affectionately referred to by her BFF, stormed to a second place podium finish in the Novice Women (age group withheld ).
After leading out Butch, I had the painful honor and privilege to pull the second group of fast people throughout phase one of the trail system. At this point I was cooked and let the race ride right on by. I settled into a decent tempo and tried to not crash or get caught by the beginner women. Jason Cox crashed pretty hard on lap one and as I passed him as he lay on the hill side he mumbled something which I took as a sign he was ok so I yelled at him to mount up and get chasing. He regained composure and caught me near the end of lap two. We rode in together in misery with much pain and suffering. I was D-U-N with cramps, dehydrated, and very shaky legs. It was worth it to cross the line (ahead of the beginner women mind you) and to have Butch, Matt, and the rest of the Rogues there to high five us and tell me my effort was not for naught as Butch had won!
Jason was not the only person to crash in that spot; while laying in a groggy haze he saw a shiny object. Realizing it was not, in fact, the “light”, he picked up a Garmin someone had lost there. As luck would have it, the owner was at the finish line and very appreciative. Even though Jason has been lusting after a Garmin for quite a while, his Karma accumulation will be worth it!
Matt Stierwalt was riding with the lead group for most of the race until a late fade on the last lap. Still a super strong performance considering Matt has not ridden a competitive MTB race since I was in high school.
Dave Heisman and Barry Hughes had fine introductory races to MTB’ng. Dave had an unfortunate flat near the end of his lap to mar his debut but he was riding strong before that and it was a good way to start his vacation. Barry took the top podium spot in the Novice 50+! Granted, he was the only racer in that division but a win is a win! Look out for Barry in the 45+ come cx season.
Ted Roll attacked the trail with his usual reckless abandon in the Novice 31-40 group and notched a top 5. This was his first ride ever in spandex he said. Ted, you sure looked good out there!
Big props to CORA for the trail conditions, Ryan O’Dell and the OMBC for putting on a first class event, Bio Wheels for sponsoring the race, and CORA race co-director Chris Norris for providing photo’s and my bottle hand up! After the race the CORA/RRP tent was the place to be. ‘Er-buddy was hangin there to cheer and heckle our friends. All in all, it was a perfect coming out party for RRP 513. We showed up, represented the Rogue Nation and brought the Thunderhorse!