Frostbite in June

The way spring and summer have gone here in the Pacific Northwest it would not surprise me if we in deed had frostbite in June. But this Frostbite was a bit more pleasant-a 9 mile timetrial between Everett and Snohomish, a quaint little town full of antique stores and restaurants on the Snohomish River. The race was scheduled for last February but was reset due to snow. And it did seem to snow yesterday as I sat on my trainer as hundreds of cottonwood seeds blew through the air. The weather was such a surprise-clear and mild conditions.


I was so ready for a nice and strong race after last week's debacle in Carnation. I had raced Frostbite in 2010 so knew the course-not much to this out and back on one road. It was well paved with a good shoulder and cars were always respectful. I had been battling a cold since Wednesday and did not know for sure if I was racing until Saturday.


Once again I was on my single speed and entered in the retro category. I had 3 hours to wait so my gf and I drove to Snohomish for a quick breakfast at the Snohomish Bakery (awesome scones). We hung out at the river for a while watching 3 hot air balloons. What a start to the day.


We then drove back to the staging area where I set up my trainer and got to work spinning in place. I saw some old friends and caught up on "life" which was such a nice change from trading messages on Facebook.


I was to start 5th from last in the retro division but many riders were missing. My 30 second rider was not there so I had a minute gap to the rider in front of me. I had a nice chat with the guys at the start about my single speed, and then was off. Soon I was at top speed and really enjoying the day and race-a little windy but not bad. And the temp was perfect. I got caught by my 30 second rider at 7 mins 45 secs so was please with that as I was the only single speed.


The only negative came when I hot the turnaround. I noticed a rider standing on the shoulder talking to the volunteers. He was in a Hagens Berman kit. As I started back I saw him mount his bike and start my way. before long he was on my wheel drafting. He stayed glued to me for about 2, maybe 2.5 miles. I was a rather upset as he was not only violating all rules, but was an anchor. I did my best to not let him get to me but his constant shadowing did have some affect.

He finally pulled around me and blew by without so much as a glance or word. Unbelievable. he did not have a race number but I did see him pull into the staging area so he either had raced or was going to. I finshed strong, clocking about 24:30, about 18 seconds faster than 2010 when i was on my Merlin road bike. I was quite pleased.

After the race my gf and went back to Snohomish, where we spent the glorious day window shopping the antique stores ( I did get a nice Porsche Spyder for $5) and then eating outside at a mexican restaurant, drinking endless margaritas and watching parachutists and boats on the river.

What a day!

Postcript-I did notify the race organizers and the president of Hagens Berman about this rider but no feedback yet.