Andy Salmon Kermese
Eatonville, Wa.- Feb 5. 2012
The Andy Salmon Kermese went down as the 1st road race of the 2012 season. I think we could use the term road race loosely here. It was really much more like a cyclocross race. Since I am really a dirt racing guy and not much of a road racer this suited me fine! The race circuit was a loop consisting of 1.5 miles dirt road/horse trail and 1 mile of chip seal road.
Starting on the road section . I lined up as close to the front as I could as I knew it would be important to be in the front going into the dirt. That turned out to be true as myself and 2 others (Team Apex and Old Town Bicycles)had a gap of about 30 seconds on the next group back as we came out of the dirt. We worked well together for the first 5 of the 10 laps and continued to extend our gap to the chasers. Around lap 5 a serious attack came from the Team Apex rider in the group that saw him completely “shell” myself and the other rider from his wheel. I was already pegged and could do nothing. After that he was not to be seen again. OTB and myself had a good battle going for 2nd place until he flatted with one to go. That was a relief as I didn’t know just how I was going to get rid of that guy. So I ended up 2nd place and was happy with that result.
Being a late winter race in Washington it really had the potential to be a wet, cold and muddy mess. The opposite was true as the temperature went into the upper 40’s and the sky was clear and blue. I managed to force myself to look up as I was racing and catch some great views of Mt. Rainier! Truly a great start to the season.
Todd Morse-Tucker