|
|
|
Indie Series #3, Seatac Shuffle
22 April 2007
Report by: Charlie Bartlett
thanks to thad for holding off so i could share the news...
today i won my race! it's my 1st win on a mtn bike and it felt great!
the cheering section (dan, wilbur, DJ, ben, etc) was awesome!
it was to be 3 laps of the rolling seaTac course, but they felt
people in the previous races were hitting it too fast, so they upped
us to 4 laps. so we all knew it was going to be fast, and it was
getting warmer, which in retrospect, i should've given someone a
bottle for the last lap, i could've used it!
so we (the 30-39 sport men) line up behind the 19-29 yr olds and
unlike the budu races where rory gives them about a 12 second head
start, wick sent them off and let us wait for quite a while, which
was good as we usually catch the back end of their group too quickly
and it bottle-necks big time! wick sends us off, we start on the road
head into the infield across the start finish and up into the sand
for a hairpin back down and back behind the start finnish and off
into the woods. i was on the front row to start hoping to stay in
contact with the top 5 or so and then see how i felt and what the
other guys were up for. part way into the first lap i'm already in
front, having gotten around a few guys as they bobbled or slowed on
the sandy hills or washed out in the corners. one guy's rear
deraileur sounded like it was chewing on a piece of silverware, he
couldn't find any gears, as i shot by him he said, "of course it
worked fine before the race."
so then i'm off the front and i keep telling myself, "don't win the
race right now, you'll have nothing left later, stay in contact with
a couple guys and then make a move in the 3rd or early 4th lap." that
all made sense, but, honestly, i felt great and as i found my rhythm,
i looked back and no one was staying with me. i wondered if this is
what brian feels like...
so i just tried to stay smooth and strong and see what happened. it
was a blast, the cheering section was sweet and watching dan run
around snapping pics made me feel like it was my 6th birthday and my
uncle had just gotten a new camera!
as i caught people in the 19-29 group and was lapping some of the
stragglers from other fields, i lucked out, i was never stuck behind
anyone, i always seemed to catch them at a place where i could easily
pass without loosing any momentum. unlike last week where i dropped a
spot as i was trying to be nice and not plough over a women i'd
caught and as i was being polite, rick, who'd been on my wheel nearly
the whole race, shot past me.
back to seaTac, i wondered if i'd be able to hold on, i wondered if i
won if they'd ask me to upgrade to experts where i'd get spanked! and
i wondered if i'd get sloppy as i got tired and have to fight for the
top 5.
fortunately, when i heard someone coming up to me i just put a little
extra effort at the top of the climbs and around corners to try and
keep the gap and to try to psych him out. when it was all over i was
wiped and i still have some pain in my left knee that i'd rather not
still have!!
it was a great race! and as thad pointed out, i'm not a great
descender and i'm not a superb climber, so this was definitely my
course to go for the win! so now i need to really try some of the
workouts i got from you all and some of the hills and see if i can
maintain my podium streak as the courses get tougher and the field
gets stronger!
thanks again for the cheering today! this was a great weekend to be a
bunny.
cb
Results:
Sport:
Charlie Bartlett, 1st 30-39
Thad Boss, 10th 39-39
Expert:
Dan Wren, 7th 40-49
|
