SERC/US Cup East #5--Ducktown, Tennessee (5/15/11) AKA "My Best Race Ever!" (Part 2)

3 to 5 year olds line up to race

Race day started out like any other. I rode a couple of warm-up laps around the kids' course and lined up when it was time for the race to start. Anthony only got to the trailhead that morning, so he didn't have a chance to pre-ride the course. I told him he had time to do a lap since it was a really short, one minute long course. He took off to do it.....and never came back!!!

Ok, he did eventually come back, but not until almost an hour later. It turns out, he missed the turn to the left and ended up riding way up the adult course and got lost. His dad had to ride out to find him. Fortunately, he did. Anthony didn't look too upset when he got back, until he saw his mom, who was VERY worried about him. Then, he cried (probably because he knew he was in big trouble). Anyway, Anthony missed the 9-11 race, even though Dave let the younger kids and the girls go before us, but at least he came back safe. The video of the kids' races is below.

After the kids' races were done, the yellow wave went off (pro, expert, & sport riders) and at 11:30, it was finally time for the white wave (base riders). The Junior 11-14 class had 8 riders start the race. Going into the single-track, I was in 4th place. One kid got stopped on a section of big roots and I got around him. Then, the boy who was in the lead had some sort of mechanical problem, and before we got to the top of the 2 mile climb, I was in second place. I wanted to pass the guy in front and move into first, but we seemed to be pretty evenly matched and I never managed to do it. He was better at the downhills and would pull away from me in those sections. I was better at the climbs and would catch right back up.

In the end, it came down to a sprint to the finish. I managed to beat him to the line by a bike length for my very first win in the Junior class. My dad was so excited he forgot to take pictures of the finish, even though he had a camera in his hand. We made a video of the race with the footage from the helmet cam, but the best part (the end) came out all messed up, which was really disappointing, especially to my mom who didn't get to see it in person.

My first time to stand on the top step in the Juniors class.



Mom was very proud of me

This weekend, we get a break from racing and get to do some other fun stuff. The weekend after that is a long weekend for Memorial Day, and we'll be camping and racing in Jackson, Georgia.