2013 Sea Otter Classic

The wide open view during the pre-ride.

The Sea Otter Classic is an event I had been looking forward to for almost a year and my dad had spent about 6 months planning. California's not exactly a quick trip up the road in the Prius and flying with the bikes was new to both of us. Fortunately, my dad found a double bike case and we were able to pack them together and check them in without too much trouble.

After a REALLY long day traveling on the Wednesday before my race, we got our rental car (minivan) and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was very pretty and totally different from anything I've seen before. On Thursday, we headed straight to the event to pick up our registration packets and pre-ride the course, so my dad would be ready for his race on Friday. We also met a few friends and hung out at the ProGold tent with Bruce Dickman and some of the other guys, including the owner. I got to work the booth and show off my mad demo skills. (lol)

When I wasn't riding the course, or promoting ProGold products, I spent a lot of time at the Kenda/Felt tent riding the mechanical bull. (Yes, I said mechanical bull.) It was so much fun! By the end of the week, I had the second longest time, only 5 seconds off the record.

During the week we spent in California, we also went to see the movie 'Single Track High' and even took a quick dip in the Pacific Ocean. Being from Florida, I thought I knew what the beach was like. I didn't expect the water to be THAT cold!

On Sunday morning, my dad and I got up early, so that we could get a good parking spot at the event. There were a lot of different kinds of events going on during the day and we knew it would be packed. Even so, our "good" spot ended up being about a mile or two away from the start/finish area.

Juniors 13-14 line up for the start

As we lined up, I noticed there were about 50 of us in the class. I am used to Florida starts, where there is no call up, so you have to line up and claim your spot early. I did that at Sea Otter too and got right where I wanted to be. I was feeling great and ready to race! The first 2 miles were on speedway track and I decided to start the race off with a long, hard sprint, try to get out front, and see who could hang with me. It worked pretty well, too. I didn't see what was going on behind, but my dad said that my class was the only one all day that was strung out single-file going around the track. Eventually, I settled in and the strong riders caught up. Then we got squeezed together going into the dirt and I got shuffled back a little. I would make some of it up on the first climb and even more on the descent. I was flying and it was so cool! I was running in the lead pack as we crested the second hill. Then, out of nowhere, another rider tried to make a pass on me and lost control of his bike. He crashed right in front of me, I ran over his wheel, and went over the handlebars. I got back up, but when I tried to get going again, there was a shooting pain in my wrist. I rode for about another 20 minutes (according to the video), but when I hit a pothole just before the single-track, I knew my race was over. The pain was awful!

By the time my dad found out what happened to me and got down to the medical station, I was all bandaged up. The EMT's thought I probably had a broken wrist, so we headed out to an urgent care place to get x-rays.

Nothing looks broken to me. :-p

The whole experience was kind of a bummer, especially since I had really high expectations for this race. Despite getting taken out in the first 10 minutes or so of the race, my dad put together a good video documenting our trip. I hope you enjoy it.


2013 Sea Otter 13 to 14 from MTBMike on Vimeo.

Once we got back, it was off to the doctor to get a second opinion, and the first cast put on. The doctor gave us better news. Instead of having to wear the cast for 8 weeks, he thought I would only need it for about 3 and would only be off the bike for about 4 weeks. That sure sounded better, although I was definitely hoping when he looked at the new x-rays that he would say "It's not really broken. Just rest for this week."  Oh well, I guess a little rest couldn't hurt. But now I'm dying to get back on my bike and race. Hopefully I'll see everyone out there soon.

SERC #2--Bryson City, NC (4/6 & 4/7/13)

Since my mom told me last night on the way home from Tsali that I hadn't updated my blog since last November (yikes!), I thought maybe I should get back to it. And Tsali is a great race to pick up where I left off.

Last year I squeaked out the overall win for the SERC championship at the last race of the series in the 11-14 class after having a really consistent season of racing against some tough competition. Since then, I've grown a lot and I think I've gotten a lot stronger. So this year, I decided to challenge myself more and move up to the Junior Sport (Cat 2 Juniors 15-18) class for the series.

The first race of this series and also the GSC series, I didn't do so hot. I bonked big time on the last laps in both of them and finished 3rd. Not the way I wanted to start the new season. Then, during some routine maintenance on my bike, I found a crack on the chain stay. Thomas, the mechanic at Brick City Bicycles, double-checked and saw that it actually was a crack. He called Specialized and they replaced the frame. As it turned out, my choices were a small frame 29er Stumpy or a medium frame 26er S-Works. For me it was an easy choice. I just don't like the feel of the 29ers and a medium frame is what I really needed to be riding for a 26er anyway (because I grew so much this year). Plus, I have been drooling over the S-Works ever since my dad got his. So I got super lucky to get exactly the bike I wanted when I needed it. Thank you Thomas Deaner and Specialized!!

 

The race at Tsali is actually made up of 2 different events. There's a 4-mile individual time trial (ITT) on Saturday, (where bonus points are given toward the series totals) and the cross-country race on Sunday.  I have done well at Tsali the last 2 years I raced here and I was feeling good again this year. The course is fast and fun with a decent amount of climbing. The ITT went well, and I won my class and finished 23rd overall out of about 100 people (including the pros and experts). Jerry Dufour, a 15-year-old Cat 1 racer, had the second fastest overall time. He is just smoking fast!!

The cross-country race worked out really well for me also, despite the fact that I forgot my water bottle in the cooler (doh!). I got the hole shot at the start and traded places a couple of times with a kid from CycleYouth (I think his name is Kyle?). Once we started up the steeper part of the first climb, I went ahead and attacked and dropped him. Pierce, who was right behind me, tried to attack me, but ended up blowing himself up. After that, I just kind of rode away from everyone and took the win.  I was super excited! The bike felt great. I felt great and I can't wait to head out to Sea Otter in just over a week.

 

For my FirstPlaceRacing.com team, it was a great day too. Five of us won our classes. Roger Sutton won the 50+ Cat 2, Tim Zimmerman won the 40+ Cat 1, Dustin Zimmerman won the 15-18 Cat 3, Troy Zimmerman won the 50+ Cat 1, and then there was me, winner of the 15-18 Cat 2.

FSC #7--Lakeland, Florida (11/11/12) & Other Stuff

Ok...before I get to last weekend's racing, I have to back up a little bit and catch up on things that went on a couple of weeks before.

First, I went to Clermont with my family to compete in the Florida State Road Race Championships on Saturday morning. It was an exciting race. On the first lap, 3 kids in my group got into a wreck and one of their wheels came off and almost hit me.  I got lucky and managed to avoid that mess. I ended up winning the race, sprinting to a finish with the top 3 guys in the 13-14 year old class.

After that, we drove down to Sunrise to race the Coconut Cup Short Track race at Markham Park in the afternoon. Markham is a really cool course. Because there aren't a lot of mountains in South Florida, many of the drops, climbs and other features are man-made and Markham has some really cool ones. For the ST race though, we mostly just rode the parade lap and kids course.

Sunday morning, I lined up for the cross-country race. I got a good start off the line and except for one pass that Troy made coming around the second turn, I stayed in front. Then, I slipped on some loose gravel coming out of the single-track and went down hard. Several riders got around me and I had to spend the rest of the race catching up. The one really bad thing about Markham is the really narrow, technical single-track that makes it very hard to pass people. Lap traffic was working against me. In the end, I managed to catch up to Sam  and we sprinted to the finish. I got him just before we turned into the finish line "chute" to take second. Troy finished about 5 seconds in front of me for the win.

And now for the most recent race....Lakeland. Dad made a cool video of this race, so take a look.

Mountain Bike Mike's Multisport Weekend #1

This weekend was a very busy one for bike racing. First, we drove south to Brooksville so that I could race in the Brooksville Cycling Classic Criterium. It was my first time doing a crit, and I was excited.

The start was kind of confusing for me. There was a pace car that led us out, and we didn't start out all that fast, but somehow I got boxed in after the first turn and was stuck at the very back for a while. At the first opportunity, I got to the outside and made my way up to the lead group of riders. I finished the first lap in the middle of that group.

By the end of the second lap, our group had shrunk down to 5 of us. I just kind of laid low and hung on the back of all these bigger, older guys. At one point, they caught me off guard when they attacked and it took me about half a lap to catch back up, but I wasn't worried. They rode really slow up the brick road hill, so I knew I'd catch them there.



 

At the half-way point, we had dropped one more rider and the four of us continued together for another 3 laps or so. With two laps to go, a couple more guys caught our group on the climbing road. Let me just say, I had to keep reminding myself what my race strategy was supposed to be, because it was driving me crazy that we were only doing 9 mph on that road climb, which allowed the other guys to catch us. It's not in my nature to sit back, follow, and go slow, but somehow I did it. 

 

 

 

Finally, the official rang the bell for the last lap and things started to pick up a little. My coach, Winston, had given me advice on where to be and when to attack on the last lap. Well, I kind of messed up and found myself in the wrong position when the time came. I probably attacked a little too soon also, which allowed the more experienced guys to get around me going into the final turn. It turned out ok though, because I was the only one in my age group to finish with the lead guys, and I ended up winning my first crit, which was pretty cool.

 

We left Brooksville after awards and then drove home, switched bikes, grabbed food and our friend Dave, and headed north to Alachua to pre-ride the course for Sunday's FSC race.

 

Sunday morning, we got to San Felasco early to set up and get ready for the day's races. The weather was nice and cool and I was feeling pretty pumped up to race. I got a pretty crummy start off the line because I had trouble clipping in again (gotta figure that problem out before next week) and at one point, I was in about 7th position. The first stretch of the course is a big, long grassy climb before you get to the woods. By the time we got to the single-track, I had worked myself up to the lead, and I held it, until I heard gears shifting behind me, but by the time I could react, Troy had gotten around me. I wasn't too worried though because I knew it was a long race and I was content to ride his wheel, while Sam, who was in third, rode mine.

 

 



All of a sudden (and for about the 100th time lately), my chain popped off. I tried to baby it back onto the ring, like I've done lots of times, but this time it got knotted up really bad, and just like that, I was out of the race. It was extremely disappointing!!

 

 

Soooo.... no podium for me this time, but congratulations go out to Troy (1st), Sam (2nd), Jordan (3rd), Ethan A. (4th) and Morgan (5th) for a great race. See you guys next week at Markham Park!



Mountain Bike Mike Gets Coached

Not too long ago, I got invited to be coached by Winston David, a pro road racer. I wasn't really sure if it was something I'd want to do, because my dad has always been my coach and other successful adults in the cycling community have often given me great advice on how to improve in different areas. Also, I never really had a training "program".  Mostly I just rode my bike and would practice different skills whenever I (or my dad) noticed that I needed it.

Well, I decided it was worth a try, because I might learn some new things that my dad didn't even know. I'm glad I did. Winston lives in South Carolina, so for the first couple of weeks, he would just send stuff to my dad and we would go out and do it. This past week, though, Winston came down to visit family and went out on an individual training ride with me after school. My dad went along too, which was good, because Winston and I are both very shy, and my dad kind of served as the go-between at first. I soon found out that Winston's a really nice guy, but boy, did he work me! Now I don't have any doubts that training with him will make me a stronger racer and rider.

Winston has also agreed to provide some expert training advice for Junior Cyclist Magazine, the new online magazine that my mom is putting out, so look for his column in there.

MTBMike Gets His Skinny On at the Shannon Miller Foundation Road Race--Nocatee, Florida (9/22/12)

This weekend, my dad and I decided that since it was an off-week from the FSC series, we would sign up for the Shannon Miller Foundation Road Race in Nocatee, Florida. There are actually 3 events: the road race, an individual time trial, and a criterium (like a short-track race). We chose just to do the road race, so we could have at least a little time at home this weekend.

My dad raced in the Cat 5 group, which went off first, at about 7:30 am. His class did six 6-mile laps. Dad stayed near the front or out in front most of the race. On the 5th lap, the USAC official messed up the lap count and he got confused and thought he was done and had won. He put his arms up and yelled, until another guy in his 3-man break-away informed him that they still had one more lap. Oops! Newbie racer fail. (LOL)

Unfortunately, my dad would end up blowing up with one mile to go and got passed for an 18th place finish. Bummer for him, but as he says, "Another lesson learned."

Juniors mass start

The Junior classes started five minutes behind the Cat 5's. My class only did 12 miles, while the 13-year-old's and up did 36. When the older Juniors went off the front, I went with them. It was awesome! We were averaging 30mph, but I knew that there was no way I could maintain that pace for the whole race, so when a couple of them started pulling away, I didn't try to follow. My first lap time ended up being around 14 minutes for 6 miles because of them. After the race, I found out that one of the guys is really a Cat 4 racer, and another one is a Cat 3 and on the Garmin Development Team. And here I was, a lowly little 12-year-old in my third ever road race trying to hang with them. Even though I couldn't keep up with them for long, it made me feel good to know I kept up with them for about 5 miles while they were hammering it.

I was so happy to be way out front!!

Just before the start of the 2nd lap, a couple of the other older Juniors who were behind me caught up. I rode with them briefly, but when they wanted me to pull up front, I decided to just peel off the back and let them go. I probably should've just stayed with them, but I was tired and wanted to rest and set my own pace. I was pretty far ahead by this time, so I wasn't too worried about riding alone and getting caught.

My second lap time was much slower, but I finished with an overall time of 32 minutes for the win and almost 4 minutes ahead of 2nd place.  I also found out that the guy who came in 2nd is currently leading the series points in Florida, and currently is the #1 USAC-ranked road racer in my age group. Not too shabby for a mountain biker with an entry-level bike and stock wheels. (Some of these guys had bikes/components that cost more than my mom's car!!)

Next week, I'll be back in my natural habitat when we head to Gainesville for FSC #3. Hope to see you there!!

FSC #2--Fernandina Beach, Florida (9/16/12)

Mike the Merman (Thanks Lily and Kyley)

Last weekend we went to one of my favorite places to race, Fernandina Beach. I wish I could say it's my favorite course to race on, but that wouldn't be true. The reason FSC #2 is my favorite is because of the beach. I love the beach!! For this race, we were just a boardwalk away and I spent as much time as I could in the water (when I wasn't being buried in the sand).

But on to racing....

The course at Ft. Clinch State Park is a bit different than most we do. It starts on the asphalt in the parking lot, with all of us following a pace vehicle (Austin on the little motorcycle) for about a 1/2 mile to the woods and the start of the single-track. We pop out onto the road a couple of times during the race, including the 1/2 mile back up to the finish for scoring and then back down to the first section of single-track again. So, this course requires both off-road and road skills.

This week, I got to the woods first and Troy was third. It didn't take him long to pass Eric though, and before I knew it, he was right on my wheel and we were running a tight one and two through the course.

At the road up to scoring, Troy took the lead and I followed. I should've let him just keep it until we got closer to the single-track again, but I am the type of person who can't stand riding behind others. I passed him back and picked up the pace a bit. That was a big mistake, and I knew it when I was doing it, but couldn't help it and we rode on.

When we popped out of the woods for the road section before the last section of trail, I took a drink and let my guard down. Troy decided to attack and took off. I went after him, and stayed right behind him for a while, but had nothing left in the gas tank to run him down with when he started to gap me. I had used it all up earlier. Troy got his first-ever win and I came in a few seconds later.

 

Even though I didn't win, it was a great race. I went all out and left it all on the course. Maybe I could've raced smarter, but I couldn't have raced any harder. I think Troy and I are going to be pushing each other to the limit all season and I look forward to the challenge.

Troy gets his first win

Podium:  Troy-1st; Me-2nd; Sam-3rd; Jordan-4th; Dustin-5th (he was at the beach during awards)