Bellingham Olympics!

Memorial day weekend in Bellingham. That means Ski to Sea! For those of you who don't know, Ski to Sea is a 7-leg relay race starting at the Mt Baker Ski area and finishing on the beach in Fairhaven. The race has gained popularity over the years and become more than just a big local event.

For the third time, I raced for Whatcom County Open team RunningShoes.com. When I raced the event in '07 and '08 I raced the road bike portion. This year I was happy to race the mountain bike leg. The 14 mile mountain bike course is actually more like a cyclocross course, featuring a mix of wet bumpy grass, gravel, cement, mud and even railroad tracks! A great course considering the lack of terrain available to work with in the floodplain between Ferndale and Bellingham.

I must have been excited to race off-road after all the recent road racing, because I ended up posting the fastest time of the day! Team captain/friend, Jim, let me borrow his carbon 29er for the event and it definitely helped me go fast! As a team, we were 2nd from Whatcom County and 8th overall. My teammates, Steve George, Jim Clevenger, Sam Alexander, Phil Elsasser, Jesse Allen, Peter Scherrer, and Joost Zeegers all did amazing!

Beer and Top-Gun trophy!

Photo: Suzanne Marie

After the race, we celebrated at the RunningShoes.com shop. Let me just say, it was a fun night! I already look forward to Ski to Sea weekend 2011!