When a person thinks about mountain biking, this is probably what they're picturing in their head. Racing in North Carolina was awesome!!!
We got to Tsali Trails just after lunch on Saturday and decided to pre-ride the 13-mile loop that the white wave would be doing the next day. That was the toughest ride I've ever done! I didn't think I would ever make it back to the parking lot. The scenery was nice, but the climbs were so long that I was getting really frustrated. After all, we live in Florida, where there aren't any mile-long uphill climbs.
Of course, the great thing about big uphill climbs is the very fast downhill rides that were a lot of fun.
When we got back to the car, we were supposed to pre-ride a 4-mile loop that would be used for the individual time trials that afternoon, but we were all too tired and decided to rest instead. In fact, I decided not to do the time trial at all and I regret that now, because I could've had at least 3 extra points for the series. I also didn't want to do the Juniors 11-14 race on Sunday because I thought it would be too hard. Lucky for me, I got a good night's sleep and changed my mind in the morning.
The next day, I lined up for the Kids 9-11 race. My friend, Paul, is doing this series too, so he was also there. The course was pretty short, but we had to go up a long fire road before we got to coast down a long singletrack hill to the finish.
I started out in too hard a gear and Paul got ahead of me, but I caught him at the bend in the road and from there, I stayed out in front. It was another fun first place finish. You can watch it in this week's video.
After the kids race, I decided that I really wanted to do the Juniors race after all, so my parents signed me up. My friend Trent, who beat me so many times in the kids races before, was also going to be doing the race, and I really wanted to beat him for once.
I got a good start and got up to second place going up the first really long hill. I passed my mom, who was racing in the women's class just ahead of us, and she reminded me not to burn myself out on the first big climb. I took her advice, took a drink, and tried to pace myself a little better. This time, the course didn't seem as tough as it did the day before. Maybe that's because I was on a mission.
At the last big creek crossing, Trent caught up to me (I was still in 2nd) and wanted me to let him pass. I said to myself, "NO WAY!" and I took off. Somehow, I managed to get ahead of him by 12 minutes and finished the race in 2nd place and he finished in 3rd.
It was my first REAL podium in a race that counts for USA Cycling points and I felt prouder of this finish than any other so far. I think there's going to be another great rivalry between Trent and me during this series and I'm looking forward to it.
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| I worked really hard for this one! |
**Mountain Bike Mike would like to thank Jane Hodess for the great scenery photos of the trail and surrounding area.**
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