Indie Series Race # 7. Hot Enough for You?

The Indie Series rolled on today to race number 7 of the series, this time in Roslyn, Washington.  Roslyn had it's 15 minutes of fame back in the 90's as the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska - where the the TV series Northern Exposure was filmed.  The Hollywood types have long left, leaving the small town back to its roots.

Until today, I didn't know about the great trails they have - right out of downtown - where the race site was.  Makes you wonder how cool it would be to live with a set up like that - nice.

Ian and I were looking forward to this event.  His 9:00 AM race time required us to get up stupid early for the 1.5 hour drive over the pass. Weather reports predicted close to 90 degrees today, so the early start was a good thing.  We arrived with enough time for a stress free sign up and look around.  Race promoter, Dan (never got his last name) gave us some early info - this is a tough course, the toughest of the series in his opinion - due to the steep singletrack climbs.  

Course was a 4.5 mile lap, with 1 lap for Ian's class.  A good call, I think 2 laps would have turned this into a death march for the kids. Adults did 2 - 4 laps per race, depending on class. 

Before the race, I fitted a 3 cm longer stem to Ian's bike, raised the seatpost to full max, and slid the seat back on the rails.  It fits him better - but he'll need a small frame 26" wheel bike soon.  This 24" wheel Specialized has been great for him.  Well worth the dough.

As noted in my HeadShokectomy post, I swapped the blown out HeadShok for a Fox fork a few days ago.  All was cool, until I realized the fork doesn't clear the frame.  What a hassle.  For the race, fitted a rubber boot cut from an inner tube to protect the downtube.  At the race, Diamond Back had a bike demo - Diamond Back Dude mentioned a taller fork crown race, to move the fork down 5 mm to clear the frame.  I'll look into it.

Sport class racers head for the woods.  A short, super steep climb strung people out right after the start.  It was a tough, but fun course - almost all singletrack.  The heat added to the "fun". 

Another wave of Sport racers ignore lonely garbage can.  I am the master photographer.  I'm actually under the registration tarp, borrowing some shade - felt like 100 degrees out - no motivation to wander course for pictures.

Ian's race was earlier and beat some of the heat.  Here he pushes up yet another steep hill, passing Aaron (I think that was his name) who's racing in the 11-14 year old Beginner class.  He later passed Ian back and was gone for good.

I followed Ian around the course as I have throughout the series.  He was hating life early in the race, but continued at a slow pace.  He felt better after the climbs ended and had a great time on the descent back to town.  Range of emotions go from "I want to quit" to "That was fun, when is the next race"?  I give Ian and the other kids a lot of credit.  Mountain bike racing is not easy.

After the race, Ian was toasted from the hills and heat - wolfs down peanut butter and jelly sandwich in dirty gloves. Yeah - he's hungry.

To the victor go the spoils - or something like that.  Well, winners medals and cans of Monster Energy drink (perfect for small children). Kid on the left, Scott Funston won the race, while Ian in came in 2nd place.  They were the only two kids in the Boys 10 and Under Beginner class signed up for today.

The Scott kid is fast, wins every race he enters and currently in 1st place for the series.  Ian has now moved into 2nd place for the series by being Mr. Consistent.  Nice going for all.

Overall, a well run race.  The entire Indie Series rocks.  Last event is August 8th in Greenwater, down by Mount Rainier - our favorite course of the series.  This could be the last time I ride with Ian during his race.  If he continues racing next year, the 11-14 age group steps things up a bit, in course length and other aspects.

I'll enjoy it while I can.....