NORBA needs to step up and stop the sandbagging.

--- Matt Leonard <maleonardphi@...> wrote:

> http://www.puc.edu/Pioneers/HMC/
>
> So I ended up pretty frustrated not ending on the
> podium even once this year. This was my last
> mountain bike race of the year, and I thought for
> sure it would have been the one to get a medal. I
> ran in to everyone before the race: Urbina, Allen,
> Bob, Matt Cerkel, JT, Piper, and the roaring mouse
> crew. I spent about a half hour on the trainer
> warming up and was already hot. I went and rode
> around for a little bit, just to make sure my bike
> was working and then headed to the start. I sort of
> eyeballed my competition and nobody looked like they
> were going to be easy to get by.
>
> The guy said go and everyone took off. As usual,
> I started pretty slow, but gradually caught a few
> people by the time we hit the single track. I
> fought with one guy for about the first mile of the
> single track, but he burnt out and I went by him. I
> was feeling pretty good and kept pushing hard.
> About half way through the first lap, I passed Julie
> from Roaring Mouse, but didn't have time to chat.
> There were a couple of guys, one of which was in my
> class, right behind me. So a quick hello and back
> to my race. I slowly started catching the expert
> women and the single speeders, which made me feel
> pretty good. I was really starting to catch people
> from the earlier starts.
>
> On the last climb before the whoopdy doos, I
> passed Paule from roaring mouse. He commented on
> the fact that I was having a good race and that
> motivated me a little more. So through the whoopdy
> doos with no hangups and off to the fire road. I
> caught a couple more people and back in the single
> track. I was feeling the effects of the heat, but
> was still feeling good. Mentally, I really had
> pumped myself up. Even though my legs were getting
> a little tired, I was flowing really well and riding
> smart. About a mile into the single track, I saw
> Urbina. Wow! I am really flying if I caught him!
> Turns out, right as I went by, he was having
> mechanical problems. I offered help, but I don't
> think he recognized me. So that was a little
> deflating. I figured if I could make up my the time
> between our starts (4 minutes I think) on him, I
> have to be top three.
>
> Once we got to the hills again, I was in a group
> of 3 single speeders. We kept passing each other
> back and forth, but never getting in each others
> way. Through the whoopdy doos again cleanly and
> time to start hammering. Two guys were right behind
> me drafting. So after a little while, I dropped
> back in line to take my turn at resting. By the
> time we hit the flat part, we had caught some
> people. But I couldn't keep up with the original
> two guys. So I passed another expert female on the
> steep down hill, and one guy right before the track.
> I hammered my way around the track and came in
> through the finish line.
>
> I thought I had to have placed. I felt pretty
> good the whole race. Allen was already finished,
> but said he had just come in (he ended up finishing
> 54 seconds faster than me). When I went to the
> table, I wasn't in the top three. I was really
> pissed. I ended up 5th out of 7 and about a minute
> slower than last year. Overall, I was pretty let
> down. The same two guys have been kicking my a$$
> all year. They took 1st and 3rd at sea otter, and
> were 3rd and 1st yesterday. The real kicker is that
> I think I may have have won in the expert class.
> There was only one guy in the class and he finished
> about 27 minutes behind Urbina. So, I think the
> sandbaggers were out in full force this weekend with
> the incentive of one less lap. But still, no
> excuse. They are just plain faster than me. So not
> too bad of a year. I had hoped for more, but thats
> the way it goes.
>
> Matt
> 5/7 1:57:05
>
> Class Name Place Name
> Result Race # 45-49 Expert Male 3/4 Michael
> Urbina 2:50:24 647 Single Speed 5/13
> Allan Sherlock 1:56:11 641 Senior 2
> Sport Men 5/7 Matt Leonard 1:57:05 526
> 35-39 Sport Male 16/17 Matt Cerkel 2:29:47
> 681 Master Sport Men 6/8 Bob Lofland
> 2:16:18 611 Senior Sport Women 3/5
> Piper Ehlen 2:27:58 677
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo!
> Mail Beta.


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com