2012 Mellow Johnny's Classic--Henly, TX (3/3-4/12)

Last week, my dad and I drove out to Texas to compete in the Mellow Johnny's Classic (My mom flew out on Friday). It was my first time going to a REALLY big event, where lots of pro riders were going to be racing, and I was super excited. My dad and I had raised over $1100 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and we were the top fundraisers for the event, so we got a special parking pass and got to hang out and eat at a special VIP tent all weekend. It was really cool. We also found out that the money donated to Livestrong goes to provide support services for cancer patients and their families, something Lance felt was sorely lacking when he was battling cancer himself.

Anyway, the first day we were there, we pre-rode the course. It was rocky and had some climbs that were kind of tricky. I didn't really like it and I was worried about sliding out or getting a flat. After the second lap though, I began to feel much more comfortable with the course and started to plan my race strategy. Actually, my race strategy was pretty simple:  Get out in front. Go Very Fast. Win.

My strategy was almost blown at the line. Because there were 15 of us, we were divided into two lines. When the gun went off and we all started to go, another rider ran into me and knocked me off my pedals. It took a few seconds to get clipped in and back on track and I had to ride hard to catch up to the leaders before we got to the first single-track.

During the starting loop of the race, Mauricio and I traded places a couple of times, but once we hit the open road right before going into the single-track again, I finally got out in front and stayed there.

It was a great time and I'm glad we came all the way out to Texas to race. Hopefully next year we can come out and do the race again.

 

Check out the video my dad put together of the race. He let me ride with the rear camera on my bike and the usual camera on my helmet, so the footage is very cool.

The US Cup East/SERC Series starts again in a couple of weeks, so look for us at Haile's Trail in Gainesville, Florida on March 18th.