Bend, Ore. — Team Type 1’s Shawn Milne finished second on the final stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic Sunday, capping an emotional five days for the team in Bend, Ore.
Matt Wilson and Moises Aldape each won stages for Team Type 1 and Aldape took home the polka-dot jersey as winner of the King of the Mountains competition. Wilson also finished fifth overall.
But what brought smiles to the faces of more than just Team Type 1 was the news that the condition of Ben Brooks had remarkably improved since his violent crash Wednesday, an impact that broke his bicycle in half and initially left him unconscious and unable to breath on his own.
Brooks was transferred out of intensive care Sunday, Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said, and was actually kidding and joking around with members of the team who visited him after the race.
“Ben actually threw the guys out of his room and told him that he was tired of looking at them,” Beamon said. “We got the KOM jersey and won a couple stages, but I can’t remember feeling as good as I felt walking out of that hospital room, seeing Ben alert and his personality coming out.”
In Sunday’s Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, Milne and Aldape were part of a small group that came to the final 2.5 miles (4 km) together. Milne said he was feeling strong, despite the heat and humidity that had many racers pulling out early in the 83-mile (133.5 km) race.
“I kept talking to myself and told myself to toughen up and deal with the heat,” Milne said. “Finally, the adrenaline kicked in the last lap.”
Aldape led out the sprint for Milne, who was only beaten before the line by Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living presented by Parkpre). Ted King (Bissell Pro Cycling) was a distant third.
After the race, Brooks’s father thanked the riders, the race organization and the community of Bend for the overwhelming support of his son. Brook’s wife, Rachael, arrived in Bend Thursday and his parents flew in from Australia Friday.
“My dad had to go to through the same thing when I was hit by a car in 2001,” Milne said. “Hearing him talk about Ben had me starting to break down a bit.”
Photo: Copyright Kurt Jambretz (www.actionimages.cc)
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