Words and photos by Epic Rider John Prosser and Flor Silva

When we arrived at Henry Hagg Lake near Portland in Oregon for the first round of the Banana Belt series of races we stopped at the Park Ranger station to pay our park entry, the ranger stared at the removal truck we were driving then asked “Have you got a boat in there?” You see if you had a boat it was an extra dollar and we could have easily fitted a boat in our truck if it had not been packed with all our belongings. Also squeezed in there was my Neil Pryde Diablo which sat majestically at the top of the pile, comfortably residing on the top of the mattresses which had been strategically placed there to protect it.

We had nearly completed our two day drive from our old home in Marin County, California to our new home in Portland, Oregon. A trip of 680 odd miles we had split over two days. I say nearly as this race was kind of on the way.
I had flown back the previous Wednesday night and spent long days Thursday and Friday packing and loading the rental truck and also enjoying a couple of Margaritas at leaving parties before we finally left early Saturday morning. It was not a bad trip north. The larger truck allowed my wife and 8 month old boy to sit at the front with me. This was handy for keeping the lad fed and entertained as the miles rolled by. After a long day on the road we slept Saturday night in a road side Motel. To my horror I had forgotten to bring a padlock to secure all our belongings in the truck overnight. After realizing that the Diablo was the most expensive thing we own it came into the hotel room with us and had to be protected from my recently crawling son as he seemed determined to get his hands on his dad’s speed machine.


Pressing on early next morning, it was a rush to get to the race venue in time for the start. Once there, it was signing on then opening the truck to pull the Diablo from its perch and quickly trying to get warmed up in time for the off.

The 11 mile loop around the beautifully scenic Hagg Lake is a testing course for man and machine. The road snakes a rolling course with 750 elevation gain each of the four loops we would complete. In dry, sunny but cold conditions we finally started our 44 miles of loops around the Lake. I was sore from all the lifting but after getting the legs warmed up, discovered I was actually feeling really good today. During the laps 2 and 3 I instigated a few breakaways and felt I had nearly broken the elastic with the peloton a couple of times only to see a team wearing orange making a determined effort to pull me back again. After 5 or 6 goes I was nicely warmed up for the sprint! Now bunch sprints are not really my thing but as it was uphill finish and we had made a considerable effort to be here to allow me to race in this series (a fact not lost on my wife) I thought I had better have a go and see what I could do.

I always think that these bunch sprints are all about positioning, often with a sprint to get into position and then the fight to hold it. I kept my nerve and held my ground in the top ten coming into the last km. The hill kicked up slightly with 200 meters to go and that was where I stamped on the pedals and hit the after burners. I managed to get third place but beaten by two of those orange clad riders who were obviously the team’s sprinters.

Well, a good start to the series and I was tired but happy and you know the best thing was I didn’t have to unload the truck today!
So the following Sunday was round #2 of the Banana Belt and although I had a week of far better preparation the weather was not as kind as the previous week –in fact it was downright dreadful! What a difference a week makes!


Now, it can rain in Oregon and especially around this Lake but this was a day of record downfalls and combined with furious wind it was going to be a tough day in the saddle. I was kind of planning that due to a downhill sprint finish it was best to attack and get away to stand any chance of a high finish but instead I spent most of the first two laps just getting hammered by the conditions looking through rain coated glasses as the rain came down in sheets upon us. I did stretch my frozen legs with a brief lone breakaway and even got out of sight of the peloton only to be brought back in time to get ready for this frightening downhill bunch gallop together with a bend just before the finish line into strengthening driving rain!

I felt terrible but I was sure everyone else did as well, which was confirmed as I looked around at the remaining 30 odd riders. With a couple of Km to go, a short hill brought on a surge and immediately 5 or 6 riders broke away – I just managed by the skin of my teeth to stay in touch with them and as we started to speed up towards the last km I sat at the back of a small group of less than a dozen riders. The next moves in this fast moving chess game on wheels would be critical and would need to be impulsive driven by instinct and experience. From my vantage point I could see a team getting organized and in a split second I decided it was time to pick my wheel and I latched onto the rider they looked like they were planning on leading out. With the last bit of rain soaked energy I clung onto his wheel for all I was worth as his teammates did a fantastic job of delivery him to the last 200 meters to begin his sprint.

I was right there, starring at the spray coming off his rear wheel, desperately trying to figure out when to make my last ditch effort to come off his wheel to lunge for the fast approaching finish line. Every muscle strained but I just could not get past him and finished a surprised and totally spent 2nd place.
I now lead the series with one more race to go! Fingers crossed it be dry weather next time!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26405592