Fake Bike Race Yields Fun

Stage 3 of a fake bike race is in the metaphorical book, as Jeff Owens wins will walking away. And just being really nice. He won while doing his second SOL lap of the night and looked like he could easily do a few more before heading home for his 9pm bedtime. With his efforts, he sees his lead in the overall GC grow to a way more comfortable than it sounds 11 seconds over Cody Sovis.

When Erica wanted a night out with her hubby, John O’Hearn took that to mean “Let’s throw on some lycra and ride in circles in the woods with other people” and that’s exactly what they did Thursday night. John duly took 3rd on the evening and retained his 3rd place standing in the Giro, with Kyle MacDermaid finishing just ahead of Dan Ellis for 4th and 5th on the night.

Brad Pauly gets special mention for stopping his race to push Wes Sovis about a mile after the heftier Sovis’s chain blew up on Anita’s. That’s just how nice of a guy Brad is. Unsurprisingly, while being pushed by Brad, his time would have actually been a PR on the GO segment – really impressive, Brad! Wes was able to get home after Dan used his Scout Tool to toss in a new link and save Wes from a long, shameful walk home or a very expensive cab ride.

It’s Neil Vajda and Jeff Galstererererererer behind Dan Ellis on GC, with both looking to close the gap on the last stage of the tour. Vajda has been going faster and faster each week, so look for a sub-40 lap next week. It’s coming. I can feel it. We can all feel it.

Giro Rosa Standings

Emma Schwab continued her impressive spring with another really strong ride on stage 3, but the Giro will not have an overall winner since no one has raced each stage. We were stoked to have Emma, Erica O’Hearn, and Kasey Wierzba in the house at the 6 o’clock party, with Sara Sovis clocking a lap as well. Look for Emma to try to score some KOM points next week to get on the board in that classification to make up for the lack of an overall winner in the Giro. Ladies, come on out and ride. It’s fun. It’s free. And we swear, we’re cooler than we look on Instagram.

Classification Standings

Jeff G is going to win the Best Old Rider classification with some very consistent performances this spring. As summer arrives and it gets sandier, Jeff will get even stronger on his fat tires. Look for him to play a factor in the GC competitions at the Tour.

Owens leads the KOM classification, with Dan Ellis and Jason Johnson tied on 20 points for second. O’Hearn and MacDermaid remain factors in that competition, however, and could look to play spoiler in the last stage.

It’s really close in the Sprint competition with MacDermaid being chased by Andy Weir, John Zelinski, and Garrett Jenema, who are just two points behind.

The Finale and Beyond

The Giro finale will be at the Split Rail fence on May 30 at 6pm. Sharp. Or you can do the course on your own. Whatever floats your boat. The fun doesn’t stop there, with a whole host of F.F.F. (Forced Family Fun) throughout the month of June, starting with Ladies’ Night on June 6. Ladies, we’ll be giving away a FREE entry fee to a female participant for the coolest ladies-only bike race ever known as Skirts in the Dirt. All you have to do is show up and be a woman to enter, and we’ll randomly choose a winner Thursday night.

View the Giro standings here. View all the SOL results from 2019 so far here. Have Brad White teach you to play the pan flute here.

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