Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Crested Butte Wild Flower Rush Recap

Other than a few wind gusts that would roll through in the afternoons, we couldn't have asked for better weather. To add to our excitement, the man, the myth, the legend... Matt Bollig came to throw down! He pinned it on the DS and DH in CAT 2 30-39 and got the taste of racing back. Before the race he was explaining his racing as "It's like racing, only slower" but after the race he said "I've got a lot more left in the tank for DH racing."

James Flatten decided to make a cameo appearance on Saturday afternoon. You should come to more races James! You taught us all how to cover parts of your body with blades of grass when sunblock isn't available. Ever think about going on "Survivor?"

Before you read the results below, you need to know that this was also a Pro GRT race, meaning there was a lot of really fast competitors here. Way more than usual for a MSC race. The top CAT 2 racers would have placed extremely well in CAT 1 and the top CAT 1 racers would have placed extremely well in Pro class meaning that everyone's class had some major competition. I think some sand-baggers need to upgrade to keep the fields tiered like they should be.

Noteables:

- Joel Scott came to cheer everyone on on Sunday seeing how its so close to his home.
- Eric and Sara brought out their brand new (used) $500 camper in the bed of their truck. You'd think for $500 it wouldn't be in very good shape, but they really got a killer deal and its super clean!
- Eric ended up 29/62 and Andrew Templin 43/62 in the Pro DH class. Both had solid runs and were only a few seconds off Brian Buell and Eric was directly behind Chris Shumake (Santa Cruz/SRAM)! The pro field was stacked. Way to represent Guys!
- Eric took 15/19 in the pro DS and was knocked out in round 1 which really disappointed him. But like i said before, the competition was unreal. Most of those guys ride their bikes for a living, like Jared Graves! One of the 2 guys in the big final was actually riding a DH bike to illustrate how rough it was!
- The two others that raced DS were Matt (CAT 2 30-39 11/13) and Kazzy (CAT 2 30-39 6/11). Matt got knocked out in round one, but absolutlely blew everyone away with how fast he rode. None of us knew he could throw down like that! However, Kazzy made it to round 2 before getting knocked out only because he wrecked in a silt filled berm in his second race of round two. It was going to be a close one for sure!
- Jesse Townsend had a great result with a 6th place out of 17 in the CAT 1 30-39 DH. That what hitting your lines and not crashing will get you. I wanna see a podium by year's end Jesse!
- This was Jesse Ruland's 2nd DH race ever (CAT 2 30-39). With a massive hangover from a late night CB with Matt and James, he still managed to pull off a stellar 9th out of 24! No wrecks and a solid run this time! You keep progressing like this and you'll have your pro card in no time little man.
- This was Chris Rupinksy's first race with the team AND first CAT 1 DH race! After a little suspension tuning he ripped off a 26th out of 34. However, his class is the fastest class next to the pros.... I should know, I struggled in that class for many years! BTW, you need to trade in those Yeti's soon Christopher.... while they're still worth something.. haha
- Last but not least, Matt Bollig managed to keep it out of last place in the DH with a 22nd out of 24. He said he's got more to throw down and just needs some time on a big bike and to get in better shape. Don't be surprised if you see him out laying down the power at the BMX track in 100 degree heat in the next couple weeks. The racing bug's bit him hard! He has also committed to coming to Telluride in two weeks, so if any of you see him trying to back out of it, lay the smack down!

We're all looking forward to the next MSC race Telluride July 8-10)..... I think I might race SD. We'll see how the collar bone is feeling (that will be 9 weeks out of surgery). Stop in and say hi in the pits if your going to be in town. I think we are going to borrow the 10x20 MRP easy up for our pits but just look for the Grassroots Cycles banner.

On a final note, if you ever get a change to go to Crested Butte, hit up the "Timeline" Trail. Its full of airtime and massive flow! You won't regret it!

~Pete Knepper





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