Cow Country.....Halpin and Matty Ice!!

Halpins Report:

Cow Country Classic has always been one of those have to do races. The race is hard, long, windy and usually attracts the best of the best of Montana racers. I personally love this race because it is a test of true strength. Cow country was also one of my first road races and after quickly being dropped from the field Jason Hobson rode with me and gave me advice and helped get me to the finish line. The race was a learning experience and right then and there I decided I wanted to win that race some day. Well with a couple more years of experience and thanks to some new teammates I almost achieved my goal. I knew that the race was probably going to be between NRO, GAS, and Montana Velo. Sure enough when we hit the first hill and I put down the hurt the selection was made and less than ten of us were at the top of the climb. We rode steady for the next few rollers until we caught Brian Williams who had gone off the front solo.

Once we headed eastbound and had a tail wind I knew it was time to go. I made an acceleration and was solo for the next couple miles. Josh, Curry, and Gonzalez caught me and we worked together for the next section of the race. It was a hot, windy day without very much water and we were all feeling fatigued. On the last climb I was setting tempo and Curry jumped, Josh went with him but could not hang on so I caught Josh and we pace-lined to try and reel in Curry. Frank the tank sat on our wheels not working and when I went with 1k to go he stuck to my wheel and then came around me. I hung on for 3rd and Josh came in 4th. We nearly caught Curry on the finishing stretch but his gap was just enough. Gas retained their dominance of Montana road cycling. Hopefully NRO will be able to bring them down soon!

In the other races Matty Ice continued his dominance of the cat 4 field and Bryce was able to hold on for 3rd place. However the highly anticipated race was among the women. The ultimate work horse Linsey Corbin was able to do some serious work and make the race difficult. It came down to Linsey, Jen, and a Delphine rider. The Delphine rider took the win and Jen was 2nd and Linsey 3rd. Nice work to everyone that raced. See you at the races!

B. Halpin