May 23rd, 2010
written by: Alister Ratcliff
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/mt-hood-cycling-classic-ne/stage-5/results
Riders: Alister Ratcliff, Shannon Morgan
Shannon and I took the start line at Mt Hood cycling classic this year excited and ready to race our bikes. Unfortunately the race was full of bad luck, and some “could have” been situations. But after thinking back upon the race and the trip, I am truly happy I made the travel. My teammate brought to my attention that no matter how much bad luck you go through racing your bike, just remember that you are racing a bike and how bad can it be?
The prologue was in a torrential downpour and a course full of puddles. I derailed my chain on the startline and we chose not to take any risks for the rest of the week on such a short prologue. The first criterium day I was in a short breakaway for the first half of the race. Only for Paul Mach to bridge across to it by himself, the field quickly shut my opportunity down. I was in another group off the front with one lap to go but the field chased that down as well for a bunch sprint.
The first big road stage was fairly uneventful until the last climb of the day. A small break was up the road and the field started going super fast. The field was diminished to 30 guys and I was smart enough to make the front group. We caught the break near the finish and I tried to get away but the group of 30 guys was destined to be a sprint.
The Time Trial I thought was going to go a lot better than it did, unfortunately I didn’t feel the greatest and had some trouble with my shifters throughout the timed event. I did the best I could and improved my G.C to 15th going into the queen stage of the race.
The queen stage was my best opportunity to get a result and I certainly gave it my all. I tried to get in an early break after the first KOM but the field was keeping a close eye on who went up the road and they never let any significant group get anywhere until about 25k to go. I was in a group of 7 that had 2 of the top 5 G.C contenders in it. They blatantly started picking their noses and looked at one another, letting the other guys in the break ride clear of them. I got caught out behind them and when I tried to jump across they followed my wheel. Eventually I got caught in the middle and couldn’t pull myself back across to the leaders. I was caught and passed by what was left of the field. I remained in 15th on G.C but came away from the day saying, “that’s bike racing!”
We went round and around in circles the final day with tons of fantastic riders crashing in dramatic fashion on a very slick course around Hood River. I was smart enough to avoid all the carnage and safely finished in the bunch and remained in 15th on G.C for the stage race.
