This week's trip took us to the site of one of my very best races, SERC #5 at Tanasi Trails in Ducktown, Tennessee. Last year, I raced here for the first time and my goal then was just to finish the race with a respectable time, because I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to do the 2 mile climb compared to kids who bike in the mountains all the time. I surprised everybody when I won the race (my very first Juniors 11-14 win) by a bike length in an exciting sprint to the finish. That was the first time I realized that maybe I really could do "mountain" biking and even beat some of the older kids. From that point on, I started getting up on the podium more often. |
| Me chilling after the pre-ride on Saturday |
This year my goals were a little different. First of all, I wanted a repeat win. Second, I made a side-bet with my dad to see if I could beat his lap time from last year (when he won in Cat 3), or beat his slowest lap time this year (he rides in Cat 2 now). I'll let you know how I made out at the end of my post. :-)
Well, this week, I got another good start off the line and went into the first section of single-track in the lead, with Pierce behind me and his brother, Noah, in third. We were making good time and started picking off the guys in the Grandmaster class, who started ahead of us, almost right away. 
After about a mile of climbing, we came out onto a double-track section and Pierce decided that it would be a good time to attack and pass me. At first, I thought, 'No way am I letting him pass me!' But after I settled back down, I realized that it was okay and I just needed to stick to his wheel and take the lead back before we hit the next section of single-track. And that's just what I did.
I'm not sure exactly where I dropped him, but once I realized that I was alone, I started to take it easy and rest. In fact, I didn't realize just how much I was resting until I thought I heard another racer behind me and I started to worry that Pierce had caught up. It turned out not to be him, but it woke me up and got me to re-focus on racing. It also reminded me that I was supposed to be beating my dad's time too, so I stepped on the gas again.
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| Eli--Base 30-39 Class 4th Place Finisher |
Pretty soon, I had made it through all of the Grandmasters, and was passing the guys in the 30-39 class. Once I caught up to Eli and Chris (2 racers from Ocala), I set a new goal to catch the kids in the Junior Sport (Cat 2) class who had started first, about 10 minutes ahead of me.
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| Chris--Base 30-39 Class 2nd Place Finisher |
Well, I ran out of trail before I could close the gap on the lead Sport guys, but I did manage to pass a couple of the guys at the back of the group and finish with the 2nd fastest Cat 3 time in the whole White Wave.
Pierce finished in second place, and his brother Noah finished in third for his first podium this season. Anthony came in fourth place for his first podium, and my friend Zach also got his first podium with a fifth place finish.
And what about the side bet with my dad? Well, despite slacking off a bit in the middle of the race, I did manage to beat his race time from last year (by 3 minutes). Even better, I actually beat his fastest lap time this year too (and he even made the podium for 3rd)! I'm thinking that there should definitely be a DQ Blizzard in my near future.
During the awards, my mom heard Pierce's dad say that Pierce beat his lap time too. How cool is that?
Check out the video from this week's race. It's a pretty good one, especially the footage of blazing down the gravel road and Thunder Rock Express. Hope you enjoy it!
Next weekend, Mom and I are doing some endurance racing at the HammerHead, while my dad lets his bad knee heal. I hope we see a lot of you there!!
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