Neil Riding the flat tire just before the last lap. He pitted to put some air in, which cost him second place :(
What a day! If you ask anyone who was there to tell you about the day, I'm sure the first thing they would mention is the wind. A steady 30 mile an hour wind with gust up over 40mph. Roads closed, travel advisories and storm clouds lurking overhead all day long left us wondering what the next hour would bring. Turns out, that with each hour passed, just brought in more racers and more smiles.
Every single category today ended up having a very exciting battle between the racers!! Starting at 10am was the, new to Fat Fish Racing, SPORT Category. Now this category will stay with FFR from here on out and is kind of an "in between" category to our A and B categories that we had in the mountain bike series. So the top half of the racers in the B category will feel right at home in this new Cat. "Cat" is short for category ;).
ok, back to the sport race.......
9 racers came out to compete at 10 am and we knew it was going to be a close one. Ethan, Bruce, Jack and Brian were the returning CX racers from the EKW CX race.... A race just wouldn't be a Fat Fish Race without starting 10 minutes late, mainly due to Bruce's broken seat post which decided to literally crumble as he rolled up to the starting line. After some fiddling around he just gave us the go ahead and start without him. So we did.
Ethan took the lead immediately with Mason, Chris, and Roy and Jack right on his wheel. The whole first lap was tight like this until Ethan's fitness gapped the rest of the group. Chris soon gained a few bike lengths on Mason and the two of them had about 15 seconds on Roy. Roy kept it very close, but the battle between Chris and Mason kept their pace fast!! This fast pace gapped Roy about half way through the race. From then on, Roy stayed very close, but the pair ahead of him gained about 10 seconds each lap. With 10 minutes to go Mason attacked in the tree section and flew over some barriers to get a gap on Chris. He held that gap through the Spiral of Doom and over the Flyover. With two laps to go, Mason had an 8 second gap on Chris and was looking fast and happy as he hammered by the spectators. The gang of spectators continued their cheering and lost focus on the top 3 guys for a bit while Bruce and Roy, the two bike shop owners in town, rode the Flyover. Then we cheered on Jack, Amy, Brian, Chloe and Jeremy as they rode over and around the Flyover. Suddenly we look over to see the front guys and Mason is no where to be seen. Ethan is way out front, Chris is in second, Roy looks to be in third and now Mason is very rapidly pedaling but moving very slow. We give Ethan the "one to go one to go one to go one to go". Chris is now in second with Roy following about 35 seconds later. Mason spins by after that in his easiest gear. He says that his derailleur broke and he is stuck in that gear (which is way to slow to keep up his second place). Well, that order stuck through the final lap as Ethan, then Chris, and Roy pedaled through the finish line. Amy won the women's category with Chloe placing second. It was blast to watch. Mason simply said about his mechanical, "thats racing"!
You never know what can happen and thats why you should never let off the gas. Keep spinnin' those pedals no matter what and maybe luck will be on your side. Great race guys and thanks for the show.
I'd love to keep writing, but i'm totally exhausted from the day in the wind and racing. Soon, we will have a race recap from the other categories.
Thank you everyone who came out today and cheered us on. Also, thanks to all the folks that checked us out at the Bike Swap. It was great talking with you and getting lots of people on new bikes. We had a blast!! Hope you did too :)
HUNDREDS of pictures were taken today at the race. For now, check out the rest of the Competitive Category at https://picasaweb.google.com/1
Reed Merschat's got skill with the photo shooter! Thanks Reed!
Enjoy
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