The team at Stampede. UPDATED with Slayer Dan's recount of the Action !

Well, we had a great turnout for the Stampede Road Race today. The Crankmasters run this unique event every year where it is split up into age categories instead of ability categories. However, racers have the option to enter the 'Elite' race if you are Cat1/2 or 3 regardless of age. For the Elite race, our team consisted of Dallas, Alex, Frank, Thomas, Keith, Trev. For the Master's A race the team was Simon, Harley, Slayer Dan, Ale, Darcy, and Chris Hooper. For Master B we had Darryl and Rick. For Masters C we had Mike G and Mike H. For women we had Amanda and Kailee.

I can talk about the Elite race, and hopefully someone will pipe up with accounts of the others.

Elite Race Report: The Short: Team Awesomeness

The Long: We went in with a plan. The plan was to get Dallas into a break in the latter half of the race, and since Brian Robinson was the next strongest guy, it would be good if he was in it too. The rest of us would be super aggressive and wear people down until that time. Then we'd cover for Dallas. The plan was laid to perfection, which almost never happens, so it was ultra cool to be part of it! Frank started things off at about kilometer 2 with an attack on the uphill section about 10min after the neutral flag was dropped. As soon as he came back our team just attacked and attacked and attacked. How fun is that?? !! Frank was absolutely amazing!! It was his massive break on lap 3 that created the decisive move. As soon as Frank came back, Dallas got away with Brian and with the help of Bow Cycle (Brian's team) we shut things down. We let two riders go once we knew Dallas and Brian had the win locked up thinking they would come back, however they put in a monster effort and caught up to the guys and contributed to the breakaway's success. So we just locked everything down knowing that Dallas can handle himself in a sprint !! Alex and I had done our jobs and were smiling when we dropped off the shredded chase group. We stopped at the finish line to watch the sprint and screamed like crazy when Dallas took the sprint !!

Good work to Brian for almost defending his Stampede title. That guy is getting stronger and stronger and I am looking forward to watching him progress.

The Lantern Rouge Post from the Masters A Group

Everyone,

Wow, what a tough race yesterday! At the start, Simon and I were discussing some of the points of the course and the types of climbs they were and positioning within the peloton. Our goal was to be in the leading positions at the first sharp corner leaving Dog Pound and then get at the climbs.

The first lap was uneventful, checking out the road conditions and observing the group. The winds were testy and it was good to see the best lines on the road.

Lap 2, Simon, Alejandro and Harley broke away with a group of riders and I could not join them. They all looked super strong and climbed away from me. I was able to bridge up to a single rider that got dropped and we worked together to pick up another 2 riders. Within half a lap, we had an excellent echelon going that had 8 riders and we could see the leaders. We were working fairly well together and making some time back. I have mentioned in the past in race reports regarding the lack of riding skills and basic techniques of wind riding and positioning. Once again I find myself as the "Paceline Coach" telling riders where they should go, how long they should pull for, and why it doesn't make sense tactically to ride solo, when a group of 8 could make serious time gains.

Well on Lap 3 my hard effort of organizing the 8 riders went bust. Team Bicisport attacked on the north section, splitting the chase group apart. I was at my limits trying to match the surges and at the hard east corner, I started suffering. As I made the climb, the group surged ahead again, by Bicisport and I was done. When the elastic snaps, it really snaps. I was laying in the ditch like I had just been hit in the face by a bungy chord!

I was able to ride back to the golf course with Thomas. I was hoping that my well mannered jokes and witty remarks would motivate him to continue riding with me. He went straight (chicken!) and I turned for the start of my completely solo, no water, no nutrition final two laps.

I suffered, boy did I suffer. It was fun to continue though and focus on spinning and building some endurance. On my last two laps I saw only two riders moving forward. One of the guys from the High River club and Harley's girlfriend. Can't remember her name (sorry). My family came out on the course and saw me on some the sections. It is always cool to hear the encouragement from your kids. I'm not sure if they could tell how much the daddy was suffering though. "Mommy mommy, is daddy's face supposed to be purple like that?"

In all, very tough race, and those short steep climbs really took in out of me. I'm not sure if riding the course 1 full lap as a warm up was a good idea. Sometimes I don't deal with peer pressure well. Thanks Mr. Healy!

Also, next year, I'm not going to drive Dallas to the race. The last 2 laps I kept thinking to myself, "How can I drop out of this race with a healthy DNF and drive the guy that just won Ride Across the West home, he's going to think I'm a tool!"

Good job to all that raced. Everyone looked really strong and fit. Simon and Dallas, you guys are freakin awesome!

Slayer Dan