The first official race of Fall, the day started rather chilly but
warmed up to be quite decent for the afternoon. Lake Sammamish is a fast
and bumpy course with the only big obstacle being the long stretch of
beach along the coast. The key for this race was to push that big gear!
From my nice start last race I got a good call-up position and heading
into the first corner after the drag-strip start I was in 4th position. I
held this spot until we hit the beaches and once everyone was running I
managed to get past everyone and I was now leading the race!
For the
next few laps I either managed to stay in the lead or I would drop back a
few spots as we worked our way from one end of the park to the other,
weaving through trees, over bumpy grass, and through the sand. Heading
into the last lap I was still leading although I could tell there were
riders right on my wheel. As we hit the sand, I was passed and was now in
3rd place. Coming out of the sand I shot past a rider and was back into 2nd as
we worked toward the front half of the course. In the straight-away section passing
the pits I again took the lead.
We were working our way through the
single-speed field and heading toward the finish line. I was first to
and through the barriers but again felt the others breathing down my
neck. I was soo close to the finish! I swung around riders left and
right while pushing to gain ground where I could. Finally I was into the
last grass corner and heading into the paved corner heading into the
finishing stretch. I came through the corner holding speed and was ready
to push all the way to the line...
But suddenly the bike locked up. I
had rolled the rear tire off the wheel!! The two riders who were on my
wheel shot past. I grabbed the bike and started to run down the long 150
meter stretch. I moved to the gravel for more grip and still riders
came shooting past, finishing both in the 3s and the single-speed class.
I finally managed to cross the line, but how many spots had I lost?
Deflated from the mechanical robbing my finish I waited for the results
to be posted. It had taken me a minute to run in all those last yards. My
lead had faded to nothing in the fraction of a second, but luckily the
ground we had gained over the others proved to be enough that even with
that long and torturous run-in I managed to hold onto a 9th place
finish. Not quite what I wanted, but still a respectable result that
will luckily keep my call-up for next time. Now I just need to glue the
hell out of that tire to make sure I am not robbed of my hard work down
the road!
Congrats to our other Bikesale cross riders and their great races:
Jenny Dallas - 4th Place - Women's Singlespeed
Melissa Desimone - 15th Place - Women's Singlespeed
Irena Netik - 19th Place - Women's Cat 4
Heather Barnett - 15th - Beginners Women
Way to go! Next weekend is the long flats and dusty grass of Arlington. Hopefully we can pull some more results there!
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