April 07, 2009
Hone and Idding place at Cherry Blossom Classic while Shawn Ongers ends up in Hospital
The Dalles, OR - The Cat 1/2 Squad went to Cherry Blossom Classic at the Dalles in Oregon. This first year event was amazing. Some of the stages were ridden on the same course as Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. It was put on by the same promoter as Mt. Hood Classic. The 3 day, 4 stages race was going to be a tough one. Loads of climbing on the first day, followed by a TT, a crit and then a epic road race on Sunday with a 7 mile climb.
STAGE 1 – Road Race - 82 miles
Mike Hone, Shawn Ongers, Ian Tubbs made the first decisive move on Stage 1. The Bissel Pro Team was there as well as some of the best teams in Washington and Oregon. So the competition was strong. Tubbs flatted out of the 15 strong lead group while Ongers and Hone hung on first the first 2 laps of the 4 lap road race. A small break went off and the Lenovo team missed it. Shawn Ongers tried his heart out to make it across and dangled just 6 bike lengths of the break for nearly 10 minutes. He never made it across. The winds were strong and blowing hard on Friday and when we hit the climb, both Hone and Ongers were not able to keep up with the lead group. 8 riders went off while Hone, Ongers and a couple others followed. 3 riders fell out of the lead break later in the race and with 22 miles to go, Mike Hone road off solo from the chase group thinking the peleton was going to catch the slower moving riders. Mike Hone managed to stay away for the end of the race to place 6th in the finish. Though now 10 minutes down from the leaders and 1 minute up from the peleton.
STAGE 2 – Time Trial - 8 miles
The morning TT was on a beautiful canyon with an uphill rise on a winding road. It was very scenic and definitely hard after the previous stage. Ian Tubbs was the best finisher for the Lenovo guys with 11 place, Hone placed 18th, 12 seconds back from Ian and Ongers was back in the top 30. Still Mike Hone was the highest place rider and moved into 8th place in the Overall GC.
STAGE 3 – Criterium – 30 minutes
The evening crit had to be shortened for the PRO/1/2 field since there was a nasty crash in the womens race where a rider was airlifted to Portland Hospital with broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerations to the liver. We believe she is doing well and healing up which is always good to hear. The crit was hard and fast for the 30 minutes we raced. We were not too sure when the final lap would be called and Ian Tubbs, Shawn Ongers, Mike Hone and Jeff Goodwin were the main Lenovo guys making moves throughout the race. Finally with one lap to go Ian was the best placed rider. Unfortunately he was riding on the outside of the final corner and was pushed off and crashed in the same place as the woman in the previous race. He was luckily unscathed and got back up and finished at the back of the pack. Jeff Goodwin placed 11th in the crit.
STAGE 4 – Road Race – 80 miles
This stage was going to be a tough one, Mike Hone was still in 8th place in the Overall GC. With a 7 mile climb followed by a very fast descent and another climb up to the Discovery Look out, this race was going to show the who was the strongest of the climbers. Mike Hone, Shawn Ongers and Ryan Iddings had made the lead group as the race went up the 7 mile climb on the first hill. Unfortunately Mike Hone had a rider get into his front wheel and soon was off the back with wheel troubles. He ended up retiring from the race. Meanwhile, Shawn Ongers and Ryan Iddings were climbing with the top riders. Three times up the 7 mile climb was going to be tough. On the third time up the climb both Shawn and Ryan drifted back to the 3rd chase group with only 7 riders in the lead.
After reaching the top of the descent, the riders hit speeds of up to 50 miles an hour down the descent. Unfortunately, a rider was doing a silly move and trying to pass Shawn Ongers with very little room to move. They tangled in the handlebars and Shawn crashed very heavily at over 40 miles an hour. He slammed into the ditch on the descent and went flying. He came to an abrupt stop hitting a solid reflector post on his back. Ryan Iddings said it was the scariest crash he has ever seen and actually was really worried that Shawn was in deep trouble. The follow car was on the scene immediately. Shawn was conscious and with his EMT/Fireman experience he told the woman what to do while he was in a ball on the ground. He was transported to the nearest hospital very quickly where they X-Rayed him and gave him strong pain killers. The report back from the hospital was that Shawn broke 6 vertebrae and 4 ribs in the accident. He was then transported to the Portland Hospital to make sure he was checked up properly and looked after. The doctors in Portland were amazed that with so many breaks in his vertebrae that the spinal cord was intact. We all were very worried for Shawn. His family was at the scene and were with him in the hospital. Yesterday, we heard some great news. Shawn's injuries are not life threatening and he will have a full recovery. He was very sore with his broken ribs, but the doctors and PT released him from hospital yesterday and he was able to return home to his family to begin his recovery process. So his family and his teammates all were very relieved and wish him well for a full recovery. Shawn was in top shape and was ready to peak for his home town race in Walla Walla next week. Now he will be cheering the team on from the sidelines.
Ryan Iddings, continued in the race and managed to get 9th in the road race. He was second in the field sprint. This was great to see Ryan getting a really good result in a very hard race. Look out for him in the future. This 25 year old definitely has some talent.
We all wish Shawn a full recovery. Hopefully he will be back in a month or so ready for Withrop and Banff Stage races.
RESULTS
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Cherry Blossom Classic
6th – Mike Hone, Stage 1 Road Race
9th – Ryan Iddings, Stage 4 Road Race
11th – Jeff Goodwin, Stage 3 Criterium
