2012 US Cup/SERC #3/GSC #1--Conyers, GA (4/22/12)

This week's course, the site of the 1996 Olympic Mountain Bike event, was definitely one of my favorites of the US Cup/SERC series so far. There were blazing fast downhills, steep uphill climbs, and a feature you don't get to ride every day--a big, slick, mile and a half granite rock section.

The race this weekend was also the first race of the Georgia State Championship Series, so a lot of people showed up. Even with the addition of the Junior Sport and Junior Expert categories, there were still 18 kids that raced in my class. At least 4 of us were from Florida--John, Ethan, Parker, and me.

The start was nice and long. It was about 1/2 mile from the starting line to the woods across a grassy field, and allowed everyone to get into position before getting into the single-track. Pierce took the lead going into the woods, and John and I fell into 2nd and 3rd positions behind him. At the first turn, however, Pierce missed it (he didn't pre-ride) and went off-course briefly, so then John and I took over as one and two, with Pierce in third.

John and I stayed together for the whole first lap, trading leads 3 or 4 times. We got caught behind a large train of 15-18 year-old Juniors for a while (which was super frustrating!), and they didn't seem too happy to get passed by us. Even though John and I called out clearly for passes, one guy hit a root and fell as John was passing him. He yelled something very nasty at John as he was going down. I'm pretty sure that part will be edited out of the video (at least the audio). 

One of the parts that I definitely want to keep in the video is the sweet pass John made when he launched himself over a rock. At the time, I was in the lead and John was behind me. I was just settling in behind another rider and not paying a whole lot of attention to the trail. Well, I followed the right line of the rider in front of me and John just came around me on the left and launched himself off a rock. I know I should've been upset that he passed me, but it really was a very cool move and I wish I'd thought to take that line.

Pierce managed to hang on to John and me for the first half of the first lap, mixing it up with us a time or two, but John and I both attacked on the second big climb, and that allowed us to get away from him for the rest of the race.

Even though the granite rock section was an unusual feature of the course, I can't say that it was exactly fun. For some reason, that part took a lot of effort. Maybe it's because it was a pretty tough uphill and a super bumpy, sometimes sketchy downhill.

This is also the part where John seemed to gain ground on me. I just couldn't seem to ride it as fast as him. On the first lap, I was able to catch back up to within a few seconds by the time we crossed the line and started the second lap.

However, by the time we finished the granite section for the second time, John had gotten far enough ahead that I just wasn't able to catch him again. I had to settle for my third 2nd place in a row (four, if you count the time trial), and Pierce finished in third.

My dad and I ended up with matching 2nd place medals this week.

Next week, we go to another course that I really liked riding last year--Ft. Yargo.