Deer Trail has become a classic spring road race for Colorado. It is held in the small town of Deer Trail, about an hour east of Denver. The race usually offers lots of small hills and massive amounts of wind. This year edition was no different and as much as it was sunny and warmer, the winds were still howling. Both the 35's and 45 plus guys brought large squads to the race and had high expectations.
The 35 Plus race is held on a longer course and on the way out of town there was a lot of nervous energy in the cross winds. The team rode at the front and covered all the moves, with our big diesel LT doing a lot of work. Nothing really happened until the feed hill and then it was like someone detonated a bomb in the field. The race blew apart on the feed hill into 5 different groups, thanks to the massive cross wind, and the winning break of 8 went at that point. Cagey veteran Josh was the only team member to make the break. Back in the other echelons Matt S., Matt. G, and Pete comfortably made it into the second pack, with CJ and LT eventually making it up there too. Matt S. was not content in missing the move and went after it with one other rider. In a feat that was hard to believe Matt S. chased for over half a lap and caught up to the 8 man break. Even the riders in the break were surprised to see him. Very impressive Matt.
The run in to the finish is really the worst part of the course, with by far the hardest hills. Unfortunately all the work in the break caught up to Josh and he got dropped. Or as Josh said "you could hear the sonic boom as I exploded out of the break". Matt S. held firm to take 5th place. Matt G. got away from the second pack as they too explode on the run in and took 9th. Pete won the "field sprint" from what was left of the pack for 13th. All in all a solid day for the boys in Red, but some room for improvement.
The 45 Plus race reported is provided thanks to Jeff Ofsanko and the photo at the top is the 45 Plus guys after the race: our field took advantage of the usual Deer Trail winds from the gun, after the 35 plus guys warned us, and the winning break formed within the first two miles of racing. Despite undoubtedly having tired legs from yesterday’s stellar performance at Sunshine, Bill S attacked on the first of the days numerous rollers. When the defending champ (Michael Williams) bridged up to Bill, Jeff decided to jump from the peloton to tilt the scales back in favor of Mix 1. Bill kept the screws turned at the front and then Williams took a pull before Jeff shot up along the gutter taking Williams with him.
When the dust had settled, six got away including Jeff and Peter. Six turned into five and then four at about mile 30 when Peter lost contact with the group. When it came time to sprint, Jeff, Derrick Nichols, and Michael Williams were all that remained from the initial group. Jeff played his cards well in the sprint but was just plain outgunned by Derrick. Nichols won, Jeff second, Williams third. Peter hung onto the first chase group and together with Jimi and Matt V placed three more Mix 1 riders in the top 10. A good team effort for sure. Our pre-race plan was to make sure all moves had at least two Mix 1 riders present so we accomplished that. Also hats off to Bill S. Bill’s pace on the day’s first roller definitely helped set up the winning move in which 2 teammates were present. A very commendable move considering his efforts on the steep, muddy, foggy slopes of “Sunshine” yesterday.
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