It seems like turnouts for some NW races are going to be a bit down this season. Not sure why really. The start lists are up for this weekend's omnium in Wenatchee and the fields all seem smaller than in years past. Since there really is no other northwest racing going on, all I can figure is that people aren't up to driving 2 1/2 hours to Wenatchee from the west side of the state. Most teams in the women's field only have one or two people so far, so that's really too bad. Cheers to my teammates for all coming over, as we have 8 already registered for the 1-3 women's race.
The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic also appears to have decreased registration so far, especially in regards to northwest racers. It's a great race, so I really hope more people opt to do it. Yes, I know I don't yet show up in the registration (I put mine in the mail several days ago), so I'm hoping there are many others whose registrations simply have not yet been received.
I walked Hitcher up to campus a few days ago because some more of Ted's co-workers wanted to meet him. Plus, more walking = more peace for me when we get home! It was a warm day - the hottest one we've had here yet, and all Hitcher wanted to do was lie down on the grass when we reached our destination. That was, until he met a friendly (and much larger!) Labradoodle to play with.
Next up, Ted and I walked Hitcher over to Ferdinand's (http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/ferdinands/ferdfront.htm) to pick up some cheese. If you have not tried Cougar Gold cheese, it is absolutely wonderful. Consider ordering some, as it is definitely worth it. Ted bought a scoop of vanilla for Hitcher, and Hitch loved it. The problem was, Hitcher seemed set on taking a nap then and there. Soon after we left Ted to walk home, Hitcher laid down on the grass and refused to get up. I tried everything to get him up, including pulling, pushing, lifting, and waving cheese in front of his nose (too bad it was vacuum-sealed, or that one probably would have worked). I seriously could not get him to budge and was not sure what I was going to do. Right about then, a man came over and asked if we were okay; apparently, this man had seen us and thought Hitcher had maybe been hit by a car since he was lying so still on the grass. I had to explain to him that I simply had a stubborn pup and could not make him move. A little embarrasing. Thankfully, Hitcher jumped up to greet the guy when he came over, so that got him on his feet... and I did not let him even think about lying down until we reached home!
4 comments:
Wenatchee has 30 on the start list, same as the cat 1-2 men, and (so I've heard) there are a few that are not on the list, but are going. Not bad for mother's day weekend (I'm out of town visiting family, or I would be SO there...) Now, if only we could get some more of those Eastern WA women to show up at the Western WA races, we wouldn't have just 4 teams in the 1-3 races, most of the time.
Hood is up to 37 (not including yours, which has not shown up yet) and according to promoter Chad Sperry, over half of last years women's 1-3 field signed up within the last 10 days. I think the Montreal World Cup is the same week, so that is a conflict. You really can't look at Hood as solely a NW race anymore. It is probably the 2nd or 3rd hardest SR in the U.S. now, and is attracting an NRC field.
So I'm not too worried about the women's fields- they have mostly been bigger than last year We had ~35-38 last week at Longbranch, which is huge for a WA state only race; and a record 57 at Walla Walla...
Life is good.
I don't look at Mt. Hood as strictly a NW race anymore - I'm not that stupid. Obviously, it has become a major NRC race.
I was simply trying to encourage more NW women to do the race since I have received NUMEROUS emails in the past week commenting on the decline in the showing of NW women at that race (including some from your teammate and husband, Suz). At the time I posted, there were very few NW women registered. That's fantastic if there are more now. Also, at the time of post, some teams coming to Wenatchee had only one or two - perhaps more will show, which will be great; only 23 were registered for the whole Wenatchee omnium at the time I originally posted.
Unfortunately, there really aren't many eastern WA female racers. I am really one of a few and I go to races throughout the state pretty much every weekend.
Just trying to encourage more women to come out... same as those emails I received asking more NW women to register for Hood.
Agreed, it would be awesome if we had a good contingent of NW women show up- and it's not too late! This is NRC racing at it's best, but the cat 3-4 race would be a good option for cat 3 women (or cat 4 of course) who can't get away that long or are intimidated by the difficulty of the 1/2/3 race.
Allison, congrats on your awesome TT yesterday!
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