Butler wins Cascade Chainbreaker!
May 11th, 2009 | Posted by Bart | Topic: NewsReported by Oregon Cycling Action
Bend- - Portland’s Sue Butler (MonaVie-Cannondale) carried the flag for the western side of the state when she sailed through the course to win the Pro Women’s race by nearly eight minutes over Karen DeWolfe (Team Dirt) of Corvallis and Megan Faris (River City Bicycles) of Portland. Bend’s Sami Fournier (Organic Athlete) rounded out the Pro Women’s field in 4th.
Butler’s win was made all the easier because Alice Pennington, who she’s been dueling with for the past couple of races, was in Arkansas this week at the Joe Martin Stage Race with the Veloforma road team. Pennington finished second behind Butler at Bear Springs Trap but took the top prize at Mudslinger May 3.
Nevertheless, Butler had little trouble pushing herself through the super-fast course after charging away from the field early in the first lap.
“I looked around and said, ‘Where is everybody?’” Butler said of her early lead. “So I just kept going and raced against the clock and tried to pick off as many guys as I could.”
Butler steadily built her lead over the fast, rolling course that featured a steady helping of short power climbs, one long, steady ascent and singletrack that ran along and traversed a winding dry creek bed.
“The course was a full-on pedal through,” Butler said. “It’s just a fun course. It’s one of my favorite courses. (Chainbreaker) was my very first race ever in ‘03 as a beginner.”
Butler’s next stop will be the May 31 Bump-N-Grind in Birmingham, Ala., the third stop of the USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Mountain Bike Tour.
“We’ll see how that goes,” she said. “I think my fitness is coming around a little bit and I’m feeling a little better.”
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