This weekend, I drove down to South Florida with my family for the combined FSC #6/CC #1 race. Friday night, we got to stay with my Nana and Pop Pop in Royal Palm Beach, and on Saturday morning, my Uncle Louie met us at Markham Park for a pre-ride.
We got there around 1:00, after a longer than planned stop at
ProTech Bicycle Shop for some maintenance on my bike. (It turns out that a new set of wheels might be in my future.)
My dad is back on his bike this week, so he was able to take me around the course a couple of times. When we got back from riding the first time, we were told that there was a short track event at 4:00. Apparently, we weren't paying very close attention to the schedule because we had no idea.
The short track race was a timed, very fast race. Everyone in the white wave lined up together and started together. We rode the mile or so long trail for 10 minutes and when the leader came through the finish at or around that mark, we got the final lap call. Then, everyone got awarded points (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) based on the position they finished within their particular class. I think top 3 overall were also awarded medals and prizes.
Anyway, I've been training VERY HARD the past couple of weeks, and I really wanted to go out there and do well. So, I got to the starting line early and lined up right in the front row. Some of the other juniors were telling me I shouldn't be there, but I kind of ignored them and figured that it would be better to be the one other people have to catch up to, rather than the one in the back choking on the dust of people in the front.
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| Adam in the lead |
My plan seemed to be working great in the beginning. I took off like a rocket, and although I got passed by some of the faster adults and older juniors, I stayed ahead of the boys in my class...for a little while, anyway. Adam passed at the end of the first lap and Jacob did too. I think I just burned myself up on the first lap, because I couldn't maintain the pace, but boy, did it feel good to be the one getting chased for a change!
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| Francisco |
On the second lap, John got around me and I dropped to fourth place in my class. To be honest, I wasn't too happy about that, but I kept pushing.
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| John and me |
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| Jacob |
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| Adam and Jacob finish first and second |
Even though I was disappointed with a fourth place finish behind Adam, Jacob, and John, I have to be happy with the fact that I was only 1 minute behind Adam, and out of 40 total riders, I came in 20th. Not too shabby for an 11-year-old. Plus, if I end up doing the whole Coconut Cup series, I earned 2 bonus points, which could come in handy in the overall standings.
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| John finishes third |
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| This is me really wanting a top 3 |
I'll report on the Kids and Junior cross-country races in the next post.
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