Mt Hood, OR. - The Trek Red Truck Racing Team presented by Mosaic Homes took part as one of only 4 amateur teams in the 2008 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. The team consisted of: Rob Britton, Dave Brooks, Nathan MacDonald, Kevin Noiles, Jamie Sparling, Tyler Trace and Dave Vukets and along on the trip to assist me in every capacity was Fred Herrmann. The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic is a Category 2.1 ranked NRC event that is the biggest NRC tour in the US. It had a prologue and five stages that consisted of 2 Criteriums, 2 Road Races, and 1 Individual Time Trial. The race had over 22,000 feet of climbing and some of the best North American teams were present including, Bissell, Health Net, Toyota-United, and Rock Racing. The week began with a long 9hr drive down to Mt. Hood, Oregon. The next morning was cool and rainy for most of the morning, but by the evening when the downtown Portland prologue was underway the skies cleared and set the stage for a unique downtown 3km prologue (time trial). All of our team completed the stage within 30 sec. The next day was the Mt. Tabour Criteruim that made the riders go over 4000 feet of combined climbing (from data that was recorded on one of the rider’s computers). All our riders made the time cut and proceeded to the next stage. The Cooper Spur Circuit Race was the second stage that covered 85 miles. This was on an 18 mile circuit that the riders completed 4.5 times. The temperatures were well over 30*C and was virtually only climbing or descending. Unfortunately this stage saw our first casualty with Nathan not making the time cut by just over 3 minutes, but for Rob it was an opportunity to be at the front with the best until the last 2 km where he succumbed some time, but held it to under 1.5 minutes to the leader. The Scenic Gorge Time Trial was a fast and challenging course that followed the Mt. Hood River west and covered 18 miles of rising and falling terrain. For our riders it was a day to minimize their time loss on GC or use it as a recovery stage for one of the hardest stages to come. The fourth and last road stage Wy’East Road Race was a 101 mile race that had over 11,000 feet of climbing. Jamie made the split that saw 9 riders establish the longest lasting break that took him to the base of the final climb up Mt. Hood. The break was away for a better part of 3hrs that at one point had 4 minutes on the chasing field. The final 10km was the deciding factor with no more than 5-10 riders finishing together. The finals stage was the Downtown Hood River Criterium. This was a 75 minute race that only saw 95 of the original 135 starters begin. Health Net set tempo all day and allowing a group of around 9 riders escape off the front for the stage win, but they kept Rory Sutherland in the lead for the GC win.

Mark Ernsting