Florida State Championship Series Finale at Santos: December 12, 2010

Last weekend was the last race of the Florida State Championship Series. I was very excited because it was going to be held practically in my back yard, at Santos, on trails that I ride pretty often with my family. It was kind of chilly in the morning, but I had on my cold weather clothes, so I wasn't worried.

I didn't get a very good start this time and went into the woods in 5th place, behind Nicho, who wasn't feeling well and was riding slower than usual. There were no good opportunities to pass for a while, so I got held up and Trent and Bryce took off and got way ahead of us.

Eventually I got around Nicho and Vince, caught up to Bryce during the second lap and passed him, but by then, it was too late to catch Trent. He was too far ahead and finished first. I came in second, with Bryce right behind in third. It was another fun race. Watch this week's video below.

After the race, my mom took my brother and me home to get cleaned up for the Awards Banquet at 4:00. There were a ton of people there and everybody who made it to the top 5 in their class got a plaque and a lot of prizes. I came in third and got a new jersey, really nice bike gloves, a bike pump to attach to my bike for emergencies on the trail, and a new camelback. Plus, all the kids got a present. The boys got a remote controlled car and the girls got Zhu Zhu pets. It was pretty awesome!

My brother, Ryan the Goofball

It was an exciting first season of mountain bike racing and I can't wait to pick up the second half of the Coconut Cup at the end of January!

Amelia Earhart Park (CC #3 and FSC Make-up Race)

The first weekend in December was full of great mountain bike racing action at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah. This was the make-up race for the Florida State Championship and also the third race in the Coconut Cup Series. I was hoping for a big win to be able to replace one of my lower scores in the FSC and gain some ground on Trent and Nicho in the CC. I didn't quite get everything I was hoping for, but it was still a great race and I ended up in second place.

Here we are lining up for the start of the race.

I got a great start (for once) and was right behind Trent.



Below is our video of the race.

 After the 9-11 year old race, Bryce and I weren't sure we were going to do the novice class race, like we had the last two times. We had ridden the course on Saturday and it was very challenging, but when some mean lady took down our bike ramp, we decided just to try it for fun. After all, it was going to be a long trip home.

I actually came in 22nd out of 31 and beat 9 other people (8 of them grown-ups). The best part was the finish, when I sprinted past a man in my class. Unfortunately, he wasn't about to let a kid beat him, and he caught back up and just beat me to the line. Oh well, maybe next time.

Mom made this short little video using some extra footage she took of my friends and me during the novice race.

(Mountain Bike Mike would like to thank Mrs. Burnett and Mr. Cattani for posting most of the pictures that I "borrowed" for this week's blog.)