Friday, May 27, 2011

Indie Series #1: Dry Hill, Port Angeles WA

The first Indie Series race of 2011 offered up a slightly different course than the typical XC race.  The downhill-racing roots of Dry Hill influenced the course layout and made for an interesting event.  The first mile+ of the course was a short loop with ups and downs that spit riders out back at the starting line.  Next came a grind up a gravel road, a grind up singletrack, more grinding up road, grinding up singletrack, road again. . . you get the idea.  The highest point of the course was near the top of a particularly nasty grade.  Upon hitting the top though, all pain was quickly forgotten as the trail turned into a super-fun super-D style run.  Roots, whoopdies, tight turns, drops, steep turns, mandatory ladders, optional ladders and a finish on the last 200 yards of the downhill race course all made for a white-knuckled good time.  Kyle and Jamey both rode fully-rigid single speeds and were lucky their teeth didn’t rattle out of their heads before it was over.  This course really favored skilled all-mountain riders, and the results show that team GL6 does indeed have some mad skillz. 

The award for perseverance goes to Jamey.  As he started on the downhill in first place during the first lap, the spindle to his right pedal snapped off.  Rather than quitting and rolling back down the road to the bottom, Jamey rode the downhill section with only one pedal and a metal spike sticking out where the other one used to be.  He managed to reach the bottom with only one large gouge in his leg.  (Ouch!)   He then proceeded to hunt for Theresa’s car keys, get his toolbox out of the car, put on a mismatched pedal, and go finish the race.  Now that is dedication!

-Theresa


Indie Series #1: Dry Hill Results 5/22/11
Bernie Miller, 4th, Expert Men 35-44
Kyle Curtin, 5th, Expert Singlespeed
Jamey Poelker, 4th, Sport Singlespeed
Theresa Nation, 2nd, Sport Women 35+
John Curtin, 7th, Sport Men 45+

No comments:

Post a Comment