Seattle Cyclocross Series - Race # 3

Race number 3 of the Seattle Cyclocross series went down on Sunday. As usual, Ian did battle in the Junior Boys 13 - 14 division. I, uh, walked around and took pictures. Oh yeah, I also ate a bratwurst (burp). I'm exhausted. Mom and sister Amy came out to cheer Ian on, which is always cool. They even had a playground to provide a little side entertainment for Amy. Wife Lori eventually froze her ass off, gotta bring warmer clothes next time. Considering they're not bike geeks, good sports to hang around for a few hours.

Event held at Silver Lake in Everett, Washington. Our first trip there, very condensed park; for parking and warm up. Cool course though - very technical with short climbs and descents, a few barriers and plenty of beach sand. At least what I saw of it while eating my bratwurst sandwich...

Ian dug the course, very mountain bikey - yes, mountain bikey - look it up. After scoping it out, was looking forward to racing. I bumped up his confidence by telling him it was his kind of course, with all his mountain bike experience. One of the adult racers on the team also mentioned it to him. Nice.

Unfortunately, Ian only was able to pre-ride part of the course, since we arrived slightly late to the festivities. Sometimes lugging the entire family to the gig slows down the process. Not a big deal though.

Alrighty then, the story in pictures...

I've never seen the JL Velo team tent so crowed. Lots of people racing and related visitors. Pretty cool. First time Ian has warmed up on a trainer (green jacket). Good thing I brought it, since really no room for a riding warm up.

Off go the Juniors. Short pavement start dumps 'em right into the sand. Cowabunga dude!

The sand claimed a few Juniors, as well as adults. That's Ian to the far right.

Ian runs through another Pile-O-Sand. Put in a solid race, grabbing 10th place out of 20 kids. Tough course, I think he did great. He's getting more competitive, was slightly disappointed with 10th place, thought he was going to score higher. I think if he rode the sand sections instead of running, would have bumped up a few places. The faster kids rode most of the sandy areas - not easy though.

I explained being slightly disappointed can be a good thing, means he wants to do well. To me, he put in a great showing at a tough race. There's also some really fast kids in his class, some of which can put a whooping on adult racers.

This kid is around 10 years old. Wanna race him? Some of these kids are impressive indeed.

Run Ian run.

Expensive saddles and Silver Lake.

Some fast dudes give it a go. I'm getting a kick outta photographing this stuff. Shooting a 'cross race is a hellava lot easier then racing a 'cross race...

Run with the seagull. He'll show you the way. Or maybe leave a deposit on your helmet.

Focus on the landing.

Tattoos make you go faster. It's pure science, trust me. I have no tattoos and I'm slower then crap. See? How much proof do you need?

Movement is good. Speed is good.

I dig this shot. Am I allowed to say that? I've been taking a stupid amount of pictures at each race. Burst mode and digital "film" add up to thousands of shots. Total Loony Tunes to sort through later. It's fun though, in a sick "Hey, it's 1:00 AM, I better get to bed" sorta way.

The sand claims yet another victim. Dude started cramping up while remounting. Ouch. I really felt for him while finishing my bratwurst sandwich and checking camera settings...

His bike does match the sand, and his team kit the course tape. Some kind of artistic statement, yes? Maybe not...

Are we having fun yet? Inverted bikes mock all passing racers...

Redline bikes are so fast, hard to keep a hold of 'em. Dudes under Redline tent gawk in amazement.

Grrr...

Blue highlights and sand. Perfect together. Who knew?

Smile or grimace? You be the judge.

Hey, nobody passes me. Especially her....

That's all folks. Another quickly written, fluffy bike post added to the Internet. Just doing what I can to add to the Information Superhighway. Al Gore would be proud.

Until next time. Same fluffy time, same fluffy channel...