assists.cycling.cheating.womens.short.track.cross.country.copper.colorado.state.championships

 

August 29, 2009. Copper Mountain, Colo.

Mountain States Cup #6 Copper Cup Short Track Cross Country State Championships Womens Pro/Cat 1.

Race notes:
- This Short Track race was 20 minutes plus 2 laps. Fast laps were approximately 1:45 which works out to 12 - 14 laps give or take a few. 

- The race is part of a series. Currently, in the Womens Cat 1 30-39 division, Sarka Ruzickova* (YetiBeti) leads Tracy Thelen (Feedback Sports) in second, followed by Megan Taylor* (COMotion Sports / Yeti) in third.

- In the Womens Cat 1 20-29 division, 7th place Lauren Zeidonis (Hub of Aspen) is in a tight race for first in the series with 6th place Sarah Rawley* (YetiBeti)

- Initially, the protest was by a spectator. 

- The gentleman seen pushing at the top of the climb into the downhill singletrack is Seth "Bubba" Ramsbottom,  who works for Yeti in international sales and sponsorship.

- Ramsbottom was asked to stop his pushing more than once by spectators. Some attempted to be friendly and said, "if you push one, you gotta push them all" Ramsbottom's response was "I only push people I know."

- Ramsbottom also races short track in the Mens Cat 2/3 30-39 division for team COMotion Sports / Yeti and Super D in the Mens 30+ division, also on the COMotion Sports / Yeti team

- According to Yeti, "He has no affiliation with our team and wasn't at the race in any official Yeti capacity. He is super-passionate about racing and was cheering on people he knows ... he insists that his actions were in no way intended to give specific riders an advantage in the race. He said the section in question was a the top of the climb and his actions had no change in the outcome of the race.
- Ramsbottom commented after the race: "Looks like my enthusiasm at the race last weekend was taken the wrong way. I certainly wasn't trying to affect the outcome of the race, I just got fired up and was doing everything I could to keep everyone motivated. I know first-hand how hard a short track can be, so I figured they would appreciate some encouragement. In retrospect, I should have just yelled and ran beside the riders without touching them..."

- From Yeti owner Chris Conway: "I can't speak to the specifics because I wasn't there. But, I will say that I have known Seth for nearly 10 years and have always know him to be ethical in his job and on the race course.
      As you know, we take racing seriously at Yeti and have invested a considerable amount of time and energy promoting the sport regionally (we own the Mountain States Cup), nationally (we have one of the top rated DH teams in the country), and internationally (we have a top 3 WC team). To suggest that Yeti is somehow unethical as the result of these pictures would be inaccurate and discount our commitment to the sport."

- From Team Yeti Beti manager Amy Thomas: "Seth has no ties with the team other than we order our bikes through him."