Sunday marked the final stage of the Tour of Willamette stage race and a temporary end to the suffering for the two Oregon club cyclists who competed.
It’s the natural elements as well as the steep, grueling course that makes the Tour one of the toughest stage races in the United States, said Oregon’s Daimeon Shanks, who raced for Hutch’s bike shop team.
“It’s a step up from anything else you can do around here,” Shanks said. “The size and the quality of the field is just a great experience.”
The rain made the narrow roads slick, and marginal race planning at times compromised safety in several stages. During Sunday’s road race, one field of racers descended a large hill that another group was climbing, resulting in two crashes between bicyclists.
Additionally, a section of the race covered a gravel road where racers encountered flat tires and other mechanical problems.
“But you can’t let yourself get knocked around,” said Shanks, who was crashed into by an out-of-control rider. The other rider was leaning on Shanks for several minutes before he finally fell down, leaving Shanks behind the main field for a while as he struggled to keep his balance, stay upright and counter the weight of the other.
Shanks expects the experience from the large, long race to add to his ability to race in other competitions beyond the collegiate level later this season. While he thinks he will always be involved in bicycle racing, he does not anticipate becoming a professional racer.
“To be a professional racer involves incredible amounts of pain, dedication and sacrifice for very little reward,” Shanks said. “This is nothing to get into if you want to be rich and famous.”
Another Oregon rider, Brian Fuentes, finished with the leaders on Friday but had a flat tire in the time trial Saturday.
The second race on Saturday was a criterion in Cottage Grove. The Oregon racers did a decent job, even if the weather showed its true Oregon nature, cutting the races short for all categories and subtracting from the fun, Shanks said.
“The rain made it really hard mentally, and it’s dangerous,” Fuentes said with regards to the weather on Saturday and the crash Thursday that sent one rider to the hospital after a wet, twisty descent forced his bike out of balance at high speed.
On Sunday, Fuentes experienced a computer failure and dropped out of the race to retype his presentation scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
“I wanted to do the race before I graduated,” Fuentes said. “I’m sad I didn’t get to the race Sunday, but I’m here for school first.”
Even though it’s easy to lose perspective after such a large race, the Ducks are heading for a tough collegiate conference race in Bozeman, Mont., next weekend.
“That’s the most hilly race in the collegiate conference,” Shanks said. “And it’s hard to drive up on Friday, race and drive back for school Monday, but I’ll sleep on the ground. I’ll sleep in the van if I have to just to go to races.”
Shanks said they’ll play hard this week and next to peak at the important regional championships in Walla Walla, Wash., in two weeks. Riders get extra points at regionals for any places they take.

Crew
One day earlier the stock market in New York had plummeted. Coach Phil Holmes of the Oregon Club Sports Crew team, who said he makes some money from the stock market, was worried what about what would happen. But at least there was nothing for his team to worry about.
His crew team won four out of its six races at the Covered Bridge Regatta at Dexter Lake. The women finished second and fifth in the women’s open novice eight-person race and light weight four-plus race.
“There wasn’t much of a strategy today,” Holmes said. “It was pretty much ‘row hard.’ I think we were able to do that.”
The Ducks have been competing since the end of fall term in regattas such as the Frost Bite and Husky Invitational, which were both in Seattle. Team coordinator Stephanie Saiz said Saturday’s regatta was useful to see where the team is at in this point of the season.
“I think we are in pretty good shape,” Saiz said. “We did better than last year when we averaged second in this race.”
The more competitive races start on May 6 at the Opening Day in Seattle, which thousands of spectators come to watch. The biggest race for the Ducks is on May 20 when the Pacific Coast Rowing Championship takes place.
Holmes said the current team should do well there. The next regatta for Oregon is the Cascade Sprint on April 29.

Ultimate frisbee
It was a great weekend for the Oregon Club Sports ultimate frisbee team. The Ducks went 7-0 in the Oregon/North California College Section Tournament and won the whole thing.
Everything went well for the Ducks, who were able to rest veteran players, test new players and try out strategies and still beat full-strength teams without much trouble.
Oregon senior Justin Gardner contributed both defensively and offensively with outstanding saves and assists, Joshua Greenough said. The Ducks defense did a fine job blocking 10 shots throughout the weekend, which demoralized opponents’ offenses, Greenough said.
Oregon competes at the regional tournament on April 28 and 29 in Santa Cruz, Calif. The top two teams will head to the nationals on May 26 through 28 in Boise, Idaho.

Men’s lacrosse
Beating the Beavers in a Civil War game is always sweet, but beating them after going winless for almost a month is exceptionally sweet.
The Oregon Club Sports Men’s lacrosse team won 7-3 at Corvallis and went on to win against Whitman College 11-7 the next day at the turf field adjacent to the Recreation Center.
Patrick O’Donnell scored three goals to lead the Ducks in scoring for both games.
“We played the best lacrosse of the season,” Cameron Kossen said. “Our offense played exceptionally well with great passing and shooting, and our defense played their usual tough defense.”