Blown tire ends day for McGrath

Mountain bike course takes its toll on Hamilton area rider

August 23, 2008

Brad Kelly

BEIJING -- Not only did Seamus McGrath get to watch the medal ceremony following the men's mountain bike race, the native of Millgrove near Hamilton was actually a spectator for much of the race as well.
    
Starting 27th on the grid, the 32-year-old weaved his way through the rest of the field, and was sitting in a position just out of the top-10 when his Olympic Games here in Beijing ended after not one, but two flat tires Saturday afternoon.
  
"There's a pretty rough downhill with a pretty big loop in it and I launched off of it and my front wheel blew off," he said as those remaining in the race flew past the start/finish line. "It was lucky I didn't crash and break my collarbone because it was a nasty descent."
   
Determined to continue, he switched between riding on the rim and walking to the tech zone some three kilometres away to get a new tire. But his day went from bad to worse.
  
"I put on a new front tire, flatted that, so then they pulled me out."
  
He was placed 44th out of 50 riders, a long way down the list from the 9th place showing he had four years ago at Athens.
   
That's racing though, he shrugged.
   
"It's definitely not what I was expecting. It could happen in a small race or the Olympics, or anything in between."
   
The race was won by defending Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France, who finished just over a minute ahead of countryman Jean-Christophe Peraud, who was second.
   
With the season now complete, McGrath plans to continue to ride on the World Cup circuit for two more years, then re-evaluate where he is in his riding career. It's at that time when he will decide on whether to stick around for two more years to make a run at a third Olympic appearance in 2012 in London.