Georgia State Championship Series Finale--Helen, Georgia (7/17/11)

Sunday was the last race of the GSC in Helen, Georgia, as well as the awards banquet for the series. I was a little nervous about this one because we weren't going to be able to get to the trail until Sunday morning and I wasn't going to be able to pre-ride the course. Fortunately, some friends gave us a heads-up on what the trail was like. Basically, it was a whole lot of climbing and not much technical stuff.

The kids' course was easy, except for the big uphill climb to the finish. A lot of the smaller kids had to walk/run it, but it was fun. I ended up doing an extra lap with the 3-5 year olds.

Unfortunately, the juniors race was another one of those races I'd like to be able to do over. It started out pretty good. My friend Nico (from the Florida series) came up with his parents and did the juniors' race with Trent and I. The last time I got to see Nico was at the 12 Hours of Santos race, so I was glad he came.

Trent racing hard



We had a large class of 14 kids, with just about every super-fast kid in the class showing up, and I was about middle of the pack for the first couple of miles. I was riding strong and working my way through traffic when all of a sudden.....BONK!!! I got light-headed and just couldn't seem to keep going. Everyone started passing me and there was nothing I could do to keep up. It was very upsetting, but I didn't give up, and I didn't cry. I just kept going, although it was at a snail's pace, and I was NOT very happy about it.



Nico sprints up the hill for the finish

 What happened? Well, my stomach was not feeling well in the morning (my mom thinks it was just race nerves because it seems to happen every Sunday) and I didn't eat anything but a banana for breakfast, and didn't eat anything before the juniors race. Also, my dad said I spent too much time riding around, wearing myself out instead of resting between races. So....by the time I got half-way through the race, my body just shut down (otherwise known as 'bonking'). I guess this is lesson number two this season:  Eat, drink, and rest before races.

In the end, Dustin blew everyone away to come in first. Nico came in 9th, which in this group was really good, especially for his first time racing in the mountains, and Trent wasn't too far behind. I was fortunate enough just to not finish last. Very disappointing.

After the race, we went to the Unicoi Lodge for the Awards Banquet. This is where the overall awards for the whole George State Championship series are given out.

I had a great time in the GSC and finished the Kids 9-11 class with a perfect record to win the championship. It was exciting because it was my first time winning. In both the Florida and Coconut Cup series, Trent won.

Even though I had a disappointing finish in the last race, I still managed to take third place overall in the Juniors 11-14 class. Dustin won first, Thomas took second, and Zach finished in fourth. Considering how good so many of the racers in this class are, I was extremely happy to make the podium for the overall awards. Plus, the sponsors gave out some super-cool stuff.



In addition to my wins, my dad also had a perfect series and won the championship for the Base 40-49 Men. I am very proud of him because he trains very hard to get better each week.

Overall, it was a very good day for the Maces, and for our sponsor, FirstPlaceRacing.com. In addition to Dustin's win and our podium places, Mr. Zimmerman (Dustin's dad) also made it to the podium with a championship win in the Expert 40-49 class.

Now we get a break from series racing for a few weeks before heading back up north to Fontana, North Carolina for the last SERC race.