Hammer Head 100/50/25--Ocala, Florida (5/7/11)

On Saturday, my mom, our friend Dave, and I competed in our first endurance race, the Hammer Head. Dad did it last year, so this was his second time. The Hammer Head had three different distances that you could pick to ride--25, 50 and 100 miles. Plus, there were team options for a 100 mile team and a 50 mile co-ed team. Mom, Dave and I chose to do the 25 mile solo race. Well, actually, my mom wanted to do the 50 mile co-ed race with me, but I thought she'd be too slow and I wanted to do the race by myself. That might not have been the best idea. (I'll tell you why later in my post.)

Wow, look at that really cool jersey in the front left of the picture! :-)



The start of the race was crazy! I'd never seen anything like it. Dave Berger (from goneriding.com) led the start on his motorcycle and everyone followed him down the limerock road. There were a couple hundred people at the start and it took a while for everyone to get moving.

Once everyone got going, it was about 3/4 of a mile to the beginning of the single-track and that's where things really went nuts. The people at the very front of the pack got in with no problem, but then it started to back up and came to almost a complete stop. To see what I mean, take a look at the video below.



 Once we got into the trail things started to smooth out. Faster riders passed slower ones and everyone got more spread out. I traded spots a few times with Vince, a friend that I raced against in the Florida State series, but when I pulled over to let some faster riders by in Nayl's, I got a bunch of leaves and branches caught in my derailleur. I pulled them out, but my bike wasn't working quite right after that, and Vince caught me and passed me for the last time.  

Vince

We finished in 32nd and 33rd place, which was pretty cool since we were 2 of only 3 kids riding.



Dave

Our friend Dave came in right behind me in 34th place out of the 66 people doing the 25 mile race. Not too bad for a first endurance race.

Remember when I said it might not have been the best idea to tell my mom I wouldn't do the co-ed race with her because she was too slow? Well, she was fast enough to take 3rd place out of 12 riders in the women's class. Boy, was she happy (but she's never going to let me forget it now either)!!


Jane Hodess--1st, Pam Swails--2nd, Jennifer Mace--3rd

My dad did really well too. He rode the 50 mile solo race against a lot of pro and expert level riders and finished 9th out of 87.



The Hammer Head was a great event and we all had a lot of fun on the course and at the trailhead.

Next weekend, we take another road trip. This time we'll be in Ducktown, Tennessee for SERC/US Cup East #5. Wish us luck!!