Hello,
Elkhorn Stage race in Baker, OR was on June 18-20 and here is my experience of the race.
Day 1
Elkhorn stage race starts in Baker City, OR right between two mountain ranges the Blue mountains to the east and the Elkhorn mountains to the west. The first stage was a 75 mile road race with the first 23 miles was on rolling hills with one short climb of about 400 feet tall, this first part was fairly uneventful, then we came to the largest climb in the stage at mile 35 it was a 15 mile long inconsistent grade that climbed almost 2,000 feet vertical; this climb was were the race began. As the pace began to pick up I was doing well and not having to work too hard to keep up. Others were not doing so well, by the time the front group had crested there were 28 racers in a field that started with almost 70. I had made the selection and was able to make the final psuh over the top of the climb and stay on to the front group. Next was an uniterupted descent of about 4 miles then we hit some rollers, there were 2 rollers on that descent that would make an M shape on an elevation profile the first climbed 200 feet then dropped 75 and came back up to about the same level. Aparently there was someone who was not tired as the pace was being driven very hard over them, I hung on and there was another descent of about 7 miles then another roller similar to the earlier and we came to the lowest point in the course at mile 65 and the base of a rolling climb that summited 1,100 feet higher than the base. This climb was tough, the pace was very high and to give you a good idea of how high it was we were going 31 mph over the summit of the climb. 31 mph going up a 3% grade is fast. After the blistering summit there was a short descent and we came to the run in to the finish 2 flat, fast miles in to the end. I went for an early sprint in an attempt to get away from the pack at 1 km to go. I got about 25 feet away but was caught and hung in for the field sprint which I finished 14th in the front group of 23 out of almost 70 starters, I was dead equal with the winners time as there were no time bonuses.
Day 2
The second day of the race had a time trial in the morning and a criterium in the afternoon. The TT was a short climb going out and then coming back and the same way and going 1.5 miles past the start on fairly flat ground. Total climbing for the course was about 500 feet vertical, pretty well suited for my 6′ 7″ not too light build. During the TT I was able to catch 7 racers who started ahead of me at 30 second intervals. I was caught by my 30 second man just before the turn-around and was able to keep him in my sight for the remainder of the time trial. He was the winner and he finsihed 51 seconds ahead of me putting me in a very strong 9th for the day with the same GC placing for the stage. That afternoon there was a Criterium. the course was fast, flat, wet and dangerously slick, and the officials opted to cancel the Criterium for my category. I do not like it when a race is canceled but this was probably a good idea because the officials decided to continue with the pro 1/2 cirt an hour later and over one-half the feild had crashed by the end of that stage.
Day 3
The final stage of the Elkhorn Classic was a 102 mile race with 7,075 vertical feet of climbing finishing on the top of Mount Dooley whose summit is at 5,500 feet above sea level. It was cold at 42 degrees F and wet a light rain persisted throughout the day. There was an attack at mile 12 which I opted not to follow and the pack was realativly calm for until mile 80 there were a few sporadic attacks that quickly fizzled while the first attack stayed away and gained as much as 6 minutes on the main group. I stayed with the peloton for that time with exception of a stop at mile 57 to relive myself; I was alone and 40 seconds back from the pack at the base of the third signiicant climb. I was feeling much better after my stop and caught the pack going up the 800 foot climb and was near the front once more by the summit. The pack had been whittled down to about 45 of the original 7o. Many people did not want to race in the rain and a few fast Juniors decided to save their legs for Road Nationals as such I had moved up to forth overall. the pace picked up at mile 80 and we were moving around the mid-30 mph range on the gently rolling run to Mt Dooley during which we caught the group that had gotten away aaround mile 12. We hit the final climb at mile 93; Mt Dooley climbed 2,000 feet vertical to finish. During the climb I was doing well. People were dropping like flies off the back and I suvived the selection down to 25 racers until I came off the back along with 2 other people one of whom was soon dropped. I stayed with the other guy until the final two km during which I dropped him and by the finish I was 2:07 back from the winner and I finished in 22nd place for the stage with a GC finish of 7th. At the top of the mountain it was cold 36 degrees F and still raining most people were suffering from hypothermia to some extent and we had to descend the other side mountain and ride the 18 miles back to the start some people decided to wait for the bus that was supposed to pick the racers up at the base but it was not there when I arrived and I rode back to Baker City alone. Overall Elkhorn was a great experience and the long cranks on my Zinn bicycle were a big help to me on the climbs. Last year’s racing on shorter cranks I was dropped on almost every big climb.
Thanks for reading,
Jacob Ashton
