Cyclepaths/Wild Cherries Racing

Stage 1: Rolling 72 mile road race finishing with a climb to Mt. Bachelor

The only real notable part of the course was thelast 5k which climbed about 1500 feet up to the Bachelor parking area. The race was pretty uneventful with the exception of a few burly potholes and some really sketchy riding from a few random dudes, which including some guy riding up onto Nate then flipping back and onto his hip at about 28 mph; sounded like it hurt pretty bad.

• Jesse: 1st. There was one rider solo off the front when the climb started with about 4-5 miles to go in the race. Once the climb became sustained, the Metromint guys attacked and strung the field out creating a group of about ten on the front. I was feeling pretty good so I threw out a counter attack which stuck. I was able stay away and catch the one guy off the front and put about a minute on the field.
• Justin: 62nd.
• Nick: 74th.
• Conrad: 100th. I hit a huge pothole at mile 30, waited 6 minutes for the support car for new rear wheel then tried to chase back. But...then the front wheel went flat too (presumably from same pothole). I then waited 15 minutes for another support car. My race was obviously finished at this point, so I rode in easy and finished 28 minutes behind Jesse. Oh well

Stage 2: Out uphill and back downhill 16 mile time trial

• Jesse: 5th (22 seconds back). The only real excitement that morning was therealizationthatthe front derailleur on my TT bike was garbage and luckily Conrad was nice enough to let me ride his bike with last minute notice. Also lucky for me Conrad happens to be a master bike fitter so he helped to get the bike dialed about 5minutes before his start. Once out on the course it was your usual sufferfest, a good cross between my legs killing me, searing lung pain, and numbness in my grundle. It was most enjoyable, especially the rough road, I loved it! At the finish I was just stoked to find out I wouldn't give up too much time on the GC.
• Justin: 7th.
• Nick: 44th.
• Conrad: 104th place/last: "I rode my roadbike, no warmup, kept it under 200w, and stopped to take pictures. My goal was to save energy for the crit, and for helping Jesse if he needed it"

Stage 3: 40 minute, 4-corner criterium

The house we rented was in such an optimal place that we were able to ride straight from the house to 3 of the 4 starts. So the crew cruised through downtown Bend warming up the legs before the crit enjoying the cycling atmosphere and hot weather. The course was a smooth and safe half mile loop and since we only raced for 40 minutes the pace was high from the start. Conrad and Nick immediately went to the front to partake in the drilling while Jesse dropped to almost the very back (confirmed by LT) and rode like a little girl. That was pretty much the story for the whole race, fast pace with Nick and Conrad at the front mixing it up.

• Jesse: 28th (same time) With 3 laps to go I decided I would attempt to man up and actually race so I started to move up and before I knew it I was at the very front like a jackass since within about 20 seconds the front 30 guys charged around me with 1 lap to go. Oh well my attempt to actually be productive and help out Nick and Conrad was over. Then I was able to see Nick destroy himself on the front to put Conrad in a good spot which worked well since Conrad was second wheel into the finishing straight but he didn't have quite enough juice to sprint for the podium, damn maybe if hadn't ridden like a little schoolgirl the race would have worked out better. After the race Justin, Nate, and I cooled down in the Deschutes river which was pretty nice.
• Justin: 61st (same time)
• Nick: 81st. Led Conrad out in Herculean effort for 1.5 laps(!) when the leadout plan was botched and the other riders predictably left us out front to fizzle
• Conrad: 8th. I came around the last corner in 2nd behind Nick and couldnt grab another wheel. I was pretty frustrated that I didnt have the sprint legs when it counted, and disappointed that I didnt deliver for my teammates, who worked hard to set me up for the win.

Stage 4: Four lap technical road circuit race

This well known circuit race is composed from 4 laps of a 17 mile rolling circuit with 2 main climbs which were relatively short but significant.

• Jesse: 11th. Finished in the first group For the first two laps I enjoyed the chill pace and great support from my team. We were pretty much all together resting and watching the front to make sure nothing too threatening got away. The third lap is where the real fun started when the Art's Cyclery team put in a good attack and got two of their guys up the road including their GC contender (who also happens to be a really nice guy) but too bad for them CWC was in effect with big Justin, who chased them down and had the pleasure of seeing the disappointed look on their faces of his arrival. Then on the main climb the attacks from team Hot Tubes started; those young strong dudes were legit and we had to follow pretty much every move they made, their top two guys were working well together playing the ol one-two punch game. But nothing really stuck because of my boyz at the front bringing everything back. On the last lap team Hot Tubes gave it one last shot and sent their GC contender up the road on the second to last climb. When he surged by me I was definitely impressed with the pace and couldn't quite close the gap. However, on the long descent and straight leading to the final climb of the race the CWC guys pulled the peloton closer and gave me a sweet sling shot up the bottom part of the climb where I would shortly catch the group and bring the race back together, game over, CWC victory. I pretty much just tried to stay out of danger on the descent into the finish. After the race weregiven complements from several other racerson our strong riding and teamwork.
• Justin: 37th. Domestique roll bringing bottles, covering attacks and drilling it at the front to bring back the breaks. His last big effort took Jesse up the last climb, then he finished in the lead pack
• Nick: 74th. Domestique roll; left it all out on the course culminating in his last big effort on the 3rd lap, then limped to the finish
• Conrad: 65th. Domestique roll; Last big effort was to take Jesse to the bottom of the last climb on the 4th lap, then limped to the finish

Overall GC

• Jesse: 1st (with a 47 second lead over second place). Standing on the podium with the team at a big race like Cascade was definitely satisfying, what an epic weekend! Editor's note: There's a good chance Jesse will have a mandatory upgrade to Cat 1 after this performance...
• Justin: 20th.
• Nick: 72nd.
• Conrad: 87th. Even with my horrible overall result, this was by far one of the most memorable and enjoyable races Ive ever done. What made it so great? The camaraderie of 5 teammates spending the weekend together, the opportunity to sacrifice my own goals to work towards the team goal, and finally seeing two CWC racers in yellow on the last day.

Check out our Flickr photo gallery for more pictures from the weekend!