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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Joel Liefke
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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 |
Copper Cross 2007
Seatac, WA
9/16/2007
 Well it’s cross season again and unlike the past few years, I’m actually in ok condition, but not quite where I need to be. Building a house sure cuts into riding/training time, but it’ll all be worth it once it is done. Now back to the race…
As I stated, I’m a little out of my ideal cross form, but what better way to get into shape than to race into shape, that’s my half-brained idea anyway! Had the Giant all ready the night before putting on my always reliable Panaracer CrossBlasters (the lightest and still the best in all conditions) and adding those oh so precious drops of Slick Willy Slush onto the chain, yep, I’m ready to go. Oh and last but not least, the Champion Bikeman skinsuit, fitted a little tighter than I remember, oh wait, I’m out of shape, that must be it J!
Off to South Seatac, where I swear I’ve done over 50 races in my career. The theme for the day as it always is at South Seatac…sand! The course was a very short course, but very technical with 3 run-ups back to back to back, each progressively steeper leading into a tight and hard to pass singletrack section with around 10,000 switchbacks, or at least that is what it felt like. The weather was looking like it was going to hold out, but showers were definitely in the forecast.
Off the gun, 6 of us made a dash for the hole-shot and quickly gained a 15 second gap on the field which continued to grow throughout the first lap. We all kinda just stayed in line and made sure we could pull away from the rest to make the final selections for the rest of the race. Now comes the hilarity of this story. Coming through the barriers on lap two, I go to jump on my bike after passing a couple people through the barriers when all of a sudden the bike hits a pot hole and bucks me face first sliding onto the course….lovely. The best comment I heard was “Your safe!” Anyway, after I collected myself, I managed to dangle off the back of the now 5 riders for a couple of laps. On the final lap #5, I had another two accidents, one involving a blackberry bush, but nonetheless rolled home in 11th, my best finish ever in a cross race! Although I would’ve liked to have been in the top 5 as I felt great, 11th ain’t too shabby for this now masters rider!
Next week was to be the race of the year, at least that is what we call it here in the NW….StarCrossed, but unfortunately I have family commitments that I need to attend to, so instead of racing, I’ll be part of the course design and setup team. I’ll make sure to pass along pictures so that you North Easterners can get an idea of the course and what it entails! Until next time…
Joel Liefke
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