Seth Bell takes it to the dirt, and to the podium at the Memorial Classic in Red Wing, MN. this past Sunday. This was my first race in the Comp class (think Cat. 3 on the road), an upgrade from last year, and I was pretty nervous about it all week. We all had a beautiful day for a race, with trails in near-perfect conditions and plenty of sunshine. The race course in Red Wing is a hoot, with lots of banked turns, tight singletrack, log obstacles, a rock strewn gully descent and a rocky, steep climb known as "the Stairway to Heaven", and even a teeter-totter! Wheee!!!
After spinning through the wide, grassy "prologue" section after the start, I made it into the woods somewhere mid-pack, and thought I may have been there the whole race. My trusty two-wheeled companion ripped us through the singletrack very well, though, and we picked our way through the pack as the race went on, eventually pulling out a very good finish.
The Comp race was 18 miles long, with 73 racers finishing, and I was completely floored to learn that I had won the singlespeed category of my race, and placed 3rd overall. Red Wing was a great event, and I'm looking forward to my up-coming events; MNSCS Race #7 at Buck Hill on Aug. 10th and the Salsa sponsored 24-hour event at Afton Alps Aug. 15-16.
Other NI Spin mountain bike finishes for Seth this season include an age group win and 5th overall at the Decorah Time Trials on April 27th, and 2nd place singlespeed, 3rd place overall Men's Solo finish at the 12-hours of Sexy Night 12 hour race in Red Wing May 16-17.
