Bannock Crit, a Great Day with 2 Wins

Jeff Oksanko taking a close sprint in the 45 Plus race and his first victory of the year.

CJ Gauss taking the win in the 35 Plus race, as he cleanly out sprinted the 6 man break, just as they got caught by the field.

The team had possibly one of our best days ever at Bannock this past week, but also it worst days ever for rider injuries.  We had guys racing in the 35's, the 45's, and the 55's, and from those 3 fields we went 1st, 1st, and 2nd.  Not too bad.  Unfortunately we lost 3 guys for the year in frustrating crashes.  We say frustrating as Bannock is pretty wide open and safe, so you would think there would not be much crashing, let alone losing 3 guys for the year.  In the 45 plus race both Larry and Henrik we taken out in turn one, Larry ended up with 2 broken ribs and a broken collar bone, and Henrik ended up with a hole in his face that required a lot of stitches in his face and inside his mouth.  In the 35 plus race there was a crash right at the front of the field with 1 to go and Pete and Josh got real unlucky and went down.  Pete will live to race another day, but Josh broke both his wrists and is done for the season.  So good luck to our 3 team mates, glad it was not worse, but get better and we will see you soon


55 Plus Race report from Bill Kellagher:

The story of the 55+ team continues.  Steve and I got up dark and early for the Bannock Street Crit. I guess they figure old folks don't sleep that well anyway, so they started the combined 55/65 field at 7:50.  That meant a 4:30 wake-up call for me.  Ugh.  But knowing that there were BAR points on the line and my competition for the BAR would not be at this race, I knew it was an opportunity not to be missed, So Steve and I dragged our butts down there to start our 30th race of the season. 

So there we were, warming up for our crit, enjoying yet another fine breakfast of Cliff bars and Rockstar, as the sun is cracking over the tall buildings in downtown Denver, Steve asks what I was thinking of for tactics, offering to do anything he could to help my chances.  I was just blank.  Thinking that there were lots of Vic's guys who were all good sprinters, and there was a huge target on my back.  Then as I rolled up to the line, I noticed that there were only 3 Vic's guys and the rest of the field wasn't looking super strong.  That's when the light came on and I thought, "just drill it!"  They blew the whistle and bang, I was off going as hard as I could down and through the first turn, out of the saddle down to the second turn.  Head down and going as hard as I could down the back stretch, I heard a voice behind me, Steve Matouse saying that he was with me and willing to work.  Pushed it up a gear and kept pounding.  By the time we were through the 3rd turn, two Vic's guys had bridge up and when it appeared they were willing to work, I knew we were gone.  Meahwhile back in the field, Steve was doing yeoman's work, spreading mayhem and confusion.  Chasing down anything that moved and clogging up the turns.  Steve said it only took about 4 laps and we were out of sight and out of mind, the break was gone for good, wire to wire. 

For the most part, everyone in the break worked hard and we didn't even sprint for the primes.  Seemed like everyone got a chance to roll through on the front to pick up some extra cash.  I even won a prime for a case of Mix1!  With about 7 or 8 laps to go, the Vic's sprinter Steve Worley started to sit on while the rest of us continued to work hard.  But when the field came into sight up ahead, the rest of us started to ease up as we didn't want to lap them and then get caught up in confusion of the field for the final sprint.  With 5 to go, with Worley still sitting on, Steve M and I stopped working.  Since there were two Vic's guys, we forced the other one to tow us around for the last 5 laps with the rest of us holding position.  On the final lap I had good position and timed the sprint well, but Worley was just too fast for me and pulled away, while I managed to hold off the rest of the break.  Steve B continued defending the break, and then even got 4th in the field sprint for 8th place. Vic's got the win, but I got 23 unanswered points for the BAR. 

45 Plus Race Report from Jeff Ofsanko:

The pace was fast from the gun with attacks seeming to come and go throughout the 50 minute event. However, the squad was up for the challenge with Mix1 riders either getting in the key moves or working to bring them back. In the end the race come down to a bunch sprint with Jeff Ofsanko getting his first win of the season.

The squad designated Jeff as the team’s sprinter for the day while Peter x 2 (Pete Lucke and Peter Ismert) were to play the roles of attacking and controlling the race…which they did to perfection. Throughout the race Peter x 2 covered all the key moves and started many breaks themselves. Occasionally, when a move would go and Peter x 2 were out of position to cover it, Jeff would make an effort to keep the break in check.

With 5 laps to go the field was all together when Peter Lucke slipped off the front while Peter Ismert and Jeff sat towards the front of the field disrupting the efforts of the chase. Lucke stayed away until the bell lap. With one lap to go, as Lucke was getting reeled in, Jeff latched onto the back wheel of Ismert and with half a lap to go Ismert took control of the front of the race. Ismert led Jeff through the course’s final 6 corners and just before the finishing straight, Jeff made his jump and held the field off down the 200 meter stretch to take the win.

While Jeff got the honors of crossing the line first, it was the work of Peter x 2 that made the win possible. They controlled the race, Lucke put the pressure on the other teams with his late attack, and Ismert brought Jeff to the final straightaway in perfect position. This race was one of best displays of teamwork for the squad all season. Congrats guys.

 Jeff on the top podium with Adam Asnes from Vittamin Cottage

35 Plus Race Report:

Bannock is an important race for us, as we have been riding very well in crits of late (winning 4 of the last 5) and we came so close last year with 2nd and 3rd.  So this year we looked to do better.  We started 8 guys and had one of the larger teams, with everyone having a job to do, with the only goal in mind getting a win for one of our riders.  Team sprinter Dan Schmatz got going right away and went off the front early with Michael Gibson from Westside.  It was an odd move as they are both 2 of the stronger riders in the field.  Eventually under pressure from other teams they came back and the counter attacking started for real.  From the fray Matt Gates got away with another Westside rider and dropped him.  Matt was not bothered by this and just went on solo, collecting a bunch of primes.


Back in the field Westside went to the front and brought it back, then launched their strong man Jeff Hartman, but CJ was on his wheel as he waited for the counter move.  Things continued like this for a while, but no group could form a real gap, with Dan, CJ, Josh, Matt, and Matt continuing to try to get away.  With 5 laps to go it looked like a field sprint and the guys decided to work for Josh as he was feeling good.  Literally 30 seconds later time trial stud Jon Heidleman, Westside, went to the front and pulled a small group away.  CJ reacted and covered the move for mix1.  

In the end 6 riders got away, but only had a small lead with 4 laps to go.  CJ did not think the break had any chance, but was smart enough to sit on, with the 2 best sprinters back in the field in Dan & Josh.  Of the 6 riders only 3 were working, with 2 of them being strong TT guys, and the third having more to lose if the break did not work.  CJ's tactics made sense and allowed him an easy ride in the break.  At one lap to go it appeared the break had a chance, but it was small chance.  They there was the big crash in the field, which occurred close to the front, took out a bunch of the best guys, and probably allowed the break to stay away to the line.   CJ moved up and was 2nd wheel with 2 corners to go, his only job was to beat the break, and if they got caught at the line, his team mates hopefully had it under control.  Dan D from 8 Sixteen Racing jumped first and CJ locked on his wheel coming out of the final turn.  CJ let Dan go for a little while and then jumped about 300 metres out for a clean win.   It was perfect tactics for the guys again and the team's 5th crit win in a row, with 4 different riders.

As always it was a total team win, with all 8 guys working for the team, and not too concerned who got the win.  Of the 10 guys on the 35 plus squad, 8 of them have won a race this year . That is a stat we are very proud of.