Rustin. Fifth and final race of the season.
Recap. I had three primary goals for the season. 1. Race. 2. Try to place top 50% overall. 3. Have fun. Up to this point I had accomplished all of these things. I was here to race but to have fun too. At the end of the first four races I was 16th out of 64 with 3 finishes and one DNF (did not finish.)
Preride. I got to the race site about 12 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Some of my teammates were showing up at about the same time so we got to gather to preride the course. As we are riding we are commenting on how nice the course is. The flora and fauna are almost exactly like Huntsville but the trail is a lot less rootie. Every course I have ridden there has always been a spot that is the tout of that trail. Rustins is Tomak Hill. The hill starts with a short drop in (a ledge with a vertical drop on the other side) in the center then goes almost straight down for about a 100 feet then over a narrow short bridge and ends with a 3 foot ramp into a sharp right hand turn. Had I been by myself I probably would have just went straight into it but since I was with other people they wanted to stop and look. The examination kind of psyched me out a little but I did it and caught a little air at the end. Big rush, did it again, bigger rush!!! Got a little more air, fun spot. Finished up and decided this was going to be a really fun course with lots of spots to catch air and show off.
The race. There were about 25 people lined up at the start and a bunch of faces I have seen at the previous races plus a few new ones. The starting line was in an open field and the went for about 50 yards made a 90 degree turn and then went into a small wooded single track section then opened up again for a passing area and then enter the real single track. I did really good off the start. I was third to the end of the starting area and when I got to the second passing area I slowed down a little bit to conserve energy. Several people passed me before we went into the single track but I wasnt to worried. The first three miles the whole group was together plowing though the forest. I had dropped to about 10th at the point and would stay there most of the race. Once we got into the really tight, twisty single track the pack started breaking up and I passed a few people and the adrenalin really started pumping. I was pushing a little extra hard because I knew I was in a pretty good spot and started catching up with the faster racers when all of a sudden on a sharp upie/downie section I took the wrong line over the top of a hill and got stuck between two trees. The handlebars made it but the cranks didnt and I couldnt get through and, in an adrenalin crazed state couldnt get unstuck. After about 30 whole seconds I was able to finally get unstuck and move on but damn that to a lot of energy. I settled into a good pace but my stomach started cramping and my back started hurting but I couldnt hear or see anyone around to I tried to relax my breathing and muscles. As I was going along a section that parallels the road that has some small jumps in it I heard one of my friends cheering for me so I caught some big air and started feeling a little better. Crossed the road again and there was a rider down, I think he broke his collarbone couldnt figure out how it was in an open spot but put that out of my mind and kept going. The trail opened up again on a fast down hill the went into a sharp right hand turn but it was more sandy than I expected and the front wheel slid out and I started tumbling but I was feeling really good at this point and just rolled with it, grabbed my bike and was off before the dust settled. My ribs hurt a little but couldnt stop now and no one passed me, I got lucky. Then I crossed the road and Bikemojo (cated up to sport) and that crew was there cheering me on. Still kind of hurting but feeling better and I knew Tomak hill was coming. I was blasting though a corner and realized that Tomack was next. I slowed a little and took a deep breath and thought Dont Screw this up a mental mistake here is very unbeneficial to the body. I jammed down the hill at 30 mph and flew over the jump and the crowd erupted in applause, that was pretty neat. The next part of the course was twisty and trunie single track but nothing extraordinary then the course whips back to Tomack and you have to do a series of 7 switchbacks to climb the hill. At this point I could see the competition gaining. Even though this was a pretty tuff section I kept my pace and headed on. The next section was a little technical but very fast and I think I only got overtaken by one rider. Then the course finishes up on some open areas over a damn then a climb to the end. On a really fast downhill there was a water break over the trail that looked like a little rubber tire sticking out of the ground. I had almost made this mistake yesterday when preriding and realized at the very last moment that it was actually a tree. I had just barley enough time to bunny hop it and clear it, it was so close my front tire dragged it as I was going over. One of my friends didnt realize it and smacked right into it and wiped out. When I went by I asked him if he was all right. He kind of stared in my general direction and said go. I thought about it for a moment, as I was riding, and decided to stop and go back and help him out because he really looked like he was star farming. I stopped and then decided to continue because the finish was less that a mile away and I could tell the paramedics when I got there. As I was crossing the dam I saw a guy I had been chasing the whole race. He made a mental error going up a short climb and I over took him and left him back then set my sights on the next person. We made a left hand turn on to a short section of about 200 yards to the finish. I pushed and caught up with him but wasnt able to maintain the pace so I had to back off to be sure no one came up from behind and passed me.
The time on the clock was 58:02. I started 6 minuets behind the first group so that made my finish time 52:02 which is almost the time I figure I should finish in. I ended up in 9th place in my category. Woo hoo first top 10 this year. And I heard later that I ended up 11th over all for the season. Im going for the championship in the spring series.
Recap. I had three primary goals for the season. 1. Race. 2. Try to place top 50% overall. 3. Have fun. Up to this point I had accomplished all of these things. I was here to race but to have fun too. At the end of the first four races I was 16th out of 64 with 3 finishes and one DNF (did not finish.)
Preride. I got to the race site about 12 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Some of my teammates were showing up at about the same time so we got to gather to preride the course. As we are riding we are commenting on how nice the course is. The flora and fauna are almost exactly like Huntsville but the trail is a lot less rootie. Every course I have ridden there has always been a spot that is the tout of that trail. Rustins is Tomak Hill. The hill starts with a short drop in (a ledge with a vertical drop on the other side) in the center then goes almost straight down for about a 100 feet then over a narrow short bridge and ends with a 3 foot ramp into a sharp right hand turn. Had I been by myself I probably would have just went straight into it but since I was with other people they wanted to stop and look. The examination kind of psyched me out a little but I did it and caught a little air at the end. Big rush, did it again, bigger rush!!! Got a little more air, fun spot. Finished up and decided this was going to be a really fun course with lots of spots to catch air and show off.
The race. There were about 25 people lined up at the start and a bunch of faces I have seen at the previous races plus a few new ones. The starting line was in an open field and the went for about 50 yards made a 90 degree turn and then went into a small wooded single track section then opened up again for a passing area and then enter the real single track. I did really good off the start. I was third to the end of the starting area and when I got to the second passing area I slowed down a little bit to conserve energy. Several people passed me before we went into the single track but I wasnt to worried. The first three miles the whole group was together plowing though the forest. I had dropped to about 10th at the point and would stay there most of the race. Once we got into the really tight, twisty single track the pack started breaking up and I passed a few people and the adrenalin really started pumping. I was pushing a little extra hard because I knew I was in a pretty good spot and started catching up with the faster racers when all of a sudden on a sharp upie/downie section I took the wrong line over the top of a hill and got stuck between two trees. The handlebars made it but the cranks didnt and I couldnt get through and, in an adrenalin crazed state couldnt get unstuck. After about 30 whole seconds I was able to finally get unstuck and move on but damn that to a lot of energy. I settled into a good pace but my stomach started cramping and my back started hurting but I couldnt hear or see anyone around to I tried to relax my breathing and muscles. As I was going along a section that parallels the road that has some small jumps in it I heard one of my friends cheering for me so I caught some big air and started feeling a little better. Crossed the road again and there was a rider down, I think he broke his collarbone couldnt figure out how it was in an open spot but put that out of my mind and kept going. The trail opened up again on a fast down hill the went into a sharp right hand turn but it was more sandy than I expected and the front wheel slid out and I started tumbling but I was feeling really good at this point and just rolled with it, grabbed my bike and was off before the dust settled. My ribs hurt a little but couldnt stop now and no one passed me, I got lucky. Then I crossed the road and Bikemojo (cated up to sport) and that crew was there cheering me on. Still kind of hurting but feeling better and I knew Tomak hill was coming. I was blasting though a corner and realized that Tomack was next. I slowed a little and took a deep breath and thought Dont Screw this up a mental mistake here is very unbeneficial to the body. I jammed down the hill at 30 mph and flew over the jump and the crowd erupted in applause, that was pretty neat. The next part of the course was twisty and trunie single track but nothing extraordinary then the course whips back to Tomack and you have to do a series of 7 switchbacks to climb the hill. At this point I could see the competition gaining. Even though this was a pretty tuff section I kept my pace and headed on. The next section was a little technical but very fast and I think I only got overtaken by one rider. Then the course finishes up on some open areas over a damn then a climb to the end. On a really fast downhill there was a water break over the trail that looked like a little rubber tire sticking out of the ground. I had almost made this mistake yesterday when preriding and realized at the very last moment that it was actually a tree. I had just barley enough time to bunny hop it and clear it, it was so close my front tire dragged it as I was going over. One of my friends didnt realize it and smacked right into it and wiped out. When I went by I asked him if he was all right. He kind of stared in my general direction and said go. I thought about it for a moment, as I was riding, and decided to stop and go back and help him out because he really looked like he was star farming. I stopped and then decided to continue because the finish was less that a mile away and I could tell the paramedics when I got there. As I was crossing the dam I saw a guy I had been chasing the whole race. He made a mental error going up a short climb and I over took him and left him back then set my sights on the next person. We made a left hand turn on to a short section of about 200 yards to the finish. I pushed and caught up with him but wasnt able to maintain the pace so I had to back off to be sure no one came up from behind and passed me.
The time on the clock was 58:02. I started 6 minuets behind the first group so that made my finish time 52:02 which is almost the time I figure I should finish in. I ended up in 9th place in my category. Woo hoo first top 10 this year. And I heard later that I ended up 11th over all for the season. Im going for the championship in the spring series.