Most years, the Baker City Cycling Classic is the hardest race of the season. But this year’s BCCC might have been the most challenging test of stamina I’ve ever endured. We loaded up the van Thursday night with the intention of driving halfway to the race that evening and making a rest stop in Pendleton. There wasn’t much going on in Pendleton, but the hotel was clean and the beds were soft. That’s all we asked for because on Friday morning we had to get up bright and early to make the rest of the drive to Baker City and start our race at noon. The late race start was great because it allowed us to take the five hour drive in two chunks, but it also meant we would be racing through the hottest part of the day. Also, Friday’s course was 85 miles with over 7,000 ft. of elevation gain.

By about three o’clock, it was 106 degrees and we were on our way back of the out-and-back course, climbing up a mountain pass out of Prairie City. This was the moment that would decide the race and the decision I made was to get dropped. Emmet Culp decided to stick with the field like a badass and pushed on through the rest of the rolling hills and heat to eventually finish 7th on the day. Meanwhile, in the Elite field, Cameron Clark and John Crandall were breaking legs and nabbed 5th and 7th respectively out of a very intense break. Meanwhile, I rode pretty much by myself pretty much feeling as terrible as I pretty much ever had. At the finish, my boy Keegan bought me a root beer float and it pulled me back from the brink.

After the race we went to go check-in at our hotel in Baker City, the fabulous Knight’s Inn. It actually was a great hotel, except that they were so great they had booked all of the rooms and Keegan and I had to stay in a smoking room (remember it was 106 degrees); it smelled just like Stephen Lockwood’s Grandpa (his words), which might have been nostalgic for Lockwood but was more like nauseating for Keegs and myself. Anyway, we didn’t really have any other options so we decided to air out the room and make it work. Which it did. We were so exhausted we probably could have fallen asleep in a Disco Club.

**Feasts: the stages between the stages that really make the difference**

Saturday featured a morning time trial and an afternoon crit. Fortunately, I had decided not to bring my TT bike, so I was free to shamelessly soft pedal that TT. Got last place. I won the recovery competition. John Crandall did the opposite and somehow pushed his buck-fifteen body to pedal 9th place on a pancake flat course. John Crandall is impressive at riding bikes.

Between the TT and the crit, Keegan and I hung out in our hotel room and remarked on how little down time there was in this race. For real though, like it was non-stop compared to most of our other stage race adventures. Before we knew it, it was time to kit up and hit the road again.

The crit race ended up being my favorite race of the weekend because I could really work the field (yeah, it was a pretty slow field) and help position Emmet to defend his increasingly solid GC position. Working together, he won the field sprint for 3rd place and I was able to slot in behind him for 8th – my only top 10 of the weekend. In the Pro/1/2 field, Eric Gushurst spent most of his time worrying about our GC dude, Crandall. Despite nearly having a stress induced pulmonary embolism, Gusherder held on and even sprinted to 8th place.

Entering the final day of racing, we were positioned well in both the Cat 3 and the Elite Men’s fields, but on a challenging course that finished with a 10-mile 3,500 ft. climb we knew anything could happen. Gushurst, Lockwood, Keegan, Tym Lang (guest riding for us this race) and I all played the same role in our respective races: keep things under control and protect our GC guys. I rode a hard day, doing as much work as I could up to the base of the climb where Emmet took over and headed off towards the top. Like a boss, he kept on the pedals and finished 4th on the day to take 4th overall in the GC. Amazingly, Crandall did the exact same thing in his field taking 4th on the stage and 4th overall. Cameron Clark pushed just as hard to take another of the top-10 positions: 7th overall.

It was a perfect set of results for the team, putting two of our riders in as high of a placing as possible without us having to wait around for the podium after the race. This way we were able to get on the road early and were already halfway back to Portland by the time someone saw an Instagram photo and realized they were doing 5-man podiums. The Tech Guide said they wouldn’t mail prizes, but Lockwood offered to make John a macaroni sculpture as a stand-in for his foregone medal. If you see Lockwood, express your interest that he make good on this offer.

Thanks to our post-haste departure, we were back in Portland with daylight to spare. Another great weekend of racing was accomplished, probably the most challenging many of us had ever faced. Until next year.

Baked in Baker

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