BC riders Shawn Goulet, Garrett McLeod, Cyrus Kangarloo, Marcel Aarden and Zack Garland hit the road Friday to race the two day, three stage Wenatchee Race in Washington. The race consisted of a 15km time trial, hour long twilight crit and a grueling 110km road race that featured close to 40km of climbing.
First up was the 15km time trial. At 15km it was relatively short but deceptively hard. The course was an out and back on a road that closely followed the Columbia River. The pavement was rough as can be; moreover, the course was full of false flat sections and a little bit of wind which made getting into a rhythm really hard. Cyrus rode to a solid 10th place on the day. Zack had some bad luck with a flat. He was not the only one to suffer such fate as many riders came back with deflated tires.
The crit was a standard four corner course in the downtown area of Wenatchee. From the gun Zack was off the front solo with a good 15 second gap. After a few laps a few riders bridged up to him. The pack realized the danger of this move and chased them down. This was a super aggressive race with H&R Block-Kona riders at the front and in all cases. After thing settled down, Marcel was off the front for the race break. Coming into the final 15 minutes, Marcel's break was caught and Zack launched another solo attack. After a few more laps he was back in the pack and things was setting up for a bunch sprint. All riders finished safely in the pack with Cyrus coming home in 14th place.
Sign in for the crit. Relaxed.
Marcel representing in one of the crit's many breaks.
The next morning, after a bountiful breakfast at the Value Inn, the five Kona Block brothers suited up for the road race.
View from the break:
From the start a break of about 8 went with Shawn in it. The break gained about 2min on the flats before the climb. Once the break hit the climb it split with Shawn in the lead group of three. At some point on the first climb the lead break had about 4 minutes on the group. The lead group of three rode well together staying away for the first lap. The second time up the climb the three were caught and passed by a select group of 5 (Routley, Britton, McKissick, Vukets and HRBKs own Aarden). Shawn tried to jump on but could only hold their pace for about 10min before having to settle back into something more manageable. Just before the top of the second climb two riders from the group bridged up to the second group of three making it a 5 man chase.
View from the bunch:
With Shawn up ahead in the days break, the rest HRBK crew kept a keen eye on things in the chase group, never too far away from the front. Once the climb began, the pace has high and guys were getting shelled from the pack in droves. Fifteen minutes into the climb, it was Ian McKissick (who just came back from a European campaign where he finished Paris-Roubaix) setting a torrid pace with Marcel right on his wheel. Midway up the beast of an ascent, on the steepest pitch, Marcel put in an acceleration that tore the legs off of everyone in the group save for an ultra elite group of four. That guy can climb!
The group was now completely shattered and it was Garrett and Zack who proved to be the next strongest riders, dragging Cyrus (barely) up over the summit in hot pursuit of the lead chase group. Shawn was still off the front which was amazing, considering the pace the climb was attacked. Shawn surely brought his climbing legs to Wenatchee!
With one more daunting ascent remaining, the chase settled down and things regrouped after the crazy fast drop into the valley. Finally some info made its way to the pack and Shawn was two minutes in front (!) of a group of eight chasing which included Marcel and five minutes in front of the pack. The second ascent began and this time up Cyrus' legs came around and he set a tempo which discouraged attacks. Not many guys were left at this point as the ascent and the 34 degree weather were taking their toll on the group. Those remaining were the cream of the crop and the entire team came through, of course.
On the way back down, Zack just lost contact with Garrett and Cyrus while Marcel was way ahead fighting it out with the leaders. Marcel ended up in fifth for an excellent showing against an elite field. Shawn, who had essentially been off the front the whole race was just passed by the leaders near the top of the climb, valiantly made it across the line in 9th. Cyrus and Garrett rolled across shortly after in 13th and 14th respectively, soon followed by Zack.
Big thanks go out to Cyrus' wife Ginette and Jeff Ain from Devo for their excellent job supporting the team in the feed zone. Considering it was 34 degrees out there, grabbing fresh water bottles was a matter of survival!
The race in Wenatchee was an excellent showing for the entire crew on a course that is very different that what is normally encountered. Two long loops with a climb worthy of a queen stage in a grand tour, Team H&R Block-Kona rode strong and confidently. They look forward to the next set of races in Surrey (BC Crew) and Pigeon Lake (AB Crew).
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