[Borregokid]

This was the year when the Leavenworth race finally came into its own. With no WIMS about 300 racers descended on Freund Canyon and had a nice little party. Kona was there with a nice demo area, plus the mountain. Of course there was also the beer garden with a lot of micro breweries represented, and a band. Oh, and there was also a race.

This was a completely different course than the Shuffle and Mudder. This was about power-power to the top. Forget the rooty single track finesse. Training for this race wasnt too hard, just find a hill and go up it. When youre tired change into a bigger ring and go up again.

For myself and my son it was Veni, Vidi, Vici- finally. Matty had a nice race placing third and maybe fourth or fifth overall. It looked like about 100 riders. In fact it seemed like the Bellingham riders did pretty well. Does Bellingham have the best mountain bike riders in the state? No argument here. Dawn Lambert from Speedy Beavers picked up a second. I thought maybe the best race, a race of "distinction" came from a 40+ woman rider who knocked off a 1hr 54 min race. The guy who won the expert-pro also set a course record for three laps leaving his competition way behind.

Now its on to Bellingham and the Padden Pedal where the B'ham riders have made it an annual tradition to stomp on the out of town riders and take home the medals.

 

[mattv2099]

Finally, a REAL mountain bike race. The Leavenworth course was very similar to last years Chelan course (which I miss very much). The climb at chelan was steeper and the downhills were straighter but my lap times were almost identical.

That was a fun race. Me and Matt R rode away from the sport field pretty easily on the climb. I took it pretty chill on the downhills but ended up in 3rd (I was first to the top of the hill but 3rd to the bottom). It looks like Borregokid and son sandbagged a couple of wins You guys going to upgrade soon?

My teammate andrew bit it hard in the water crossing on the second lap of the expert race. He lost a lot of blood. The medics wrapped him up and he continued on to finish forth. AFter the race he and another busted up rider went to the hospital to get fixed up.

can't wait for the padden pedal.

 

[Borregokid]

That was my best race of all the WIMS-Indie races. After the WIMs series was over I decided to work on my downhill skills and ran Taneum Ridge a few times and came back to Freund and hit it up a few times. I had already run Freund a couple of times this year so I felt I had a pretty big advantage, I guess it was my "homefield"
Running the HT I take it easy coming down. I think I pulled over and let five or six riders pass me on each of the downhills. I think I might have been a minute or two slower but I felt in control. I am thinking maybe a new Skareb fork or something might be a little better than my vintage 2000 SID.
I talked to the two DHers who tried to get to the top between the two races. They couldnt believe bikers could go that fast up hill. I think the best part of this course might be the first mile of logging road. Usually the guys in my class make a big sprint to hit the single track and I get boxed out. Here there was 1.25 miles and 400 feet of climbing before hitting the single track. I dont think there is any question this was/is the best race in Washington. Those guys from Das Radhaus put on a heck of a race.
Looking forward to the Padden race. I hope to come up the week before and ride the course till I drop and then ride it another lap. I will let you know when I am up there, hopefully my son is around also and we can spin around a couple of times. Now you have to defend your "homefield."