MTBMike Gets His Skinny On at the Shannon Miller Foundation Road Race--Nocatee, Florida (9/22/12)

This weekend, my dad and I decided that since it was an off-week from the FSC series, we would sign up for the Shannon Miller Foundation Road Race in Nocatee, Florida. There are actually 3 events: the road race, an individual time trial, and a criterium (like a short-track race). We chose just to do the road race, so we could have at least a little time at home this weekend.

My dad raced in the Cat 5 group, which went off first, at about 7:30 am. His class did six 6-mile laps. Dad stayed near the front or out in front most of the race. On the 5th lap, the USAC official messed up the lap count and he got confused and thought he was done and had won. He put his arms up and yelled, until another guy in his 3-man break-away informed him that they still had one more lap. Oops! Newbie racer fail. (LOL)

Unfortunately, my dad would end up blowing up with one mile to go and got passed for an 18th place finish. Bummer for him, but as he says, "Another lesson learned."

Juniors mass start

The Junior classes started five minutes behind the Cat 5's. My class only did 12 miles, while the 13-year-old's and up did 36. When the older Juniors went off the front, I went with them. It was awesome! We were averaging 30mph, but I knew that there was no way I could maintain that pace for the whole race, so when a couple of them started pulling away, I didn't try to follow. My first lap time ended up being around 14 minutes for 6 miles because of them. After the race, I found out that one of the guys is really a Cat 4 racer, and another one is a Cat 3 and on the Garmin Development Team. And here I was, a lowly little 12-year-old in my third ever road race trying to hang with them. Even though I couldn't keep up with them for long, it made me feel good to know I kept up with them for about 5 miles while they were hammering it.

I was so happy to be way out front!!

Just before the start of the 2nd lap, a couple of the other older Juniors who were behind me caught up. I rode with them briefly, but when they wanted me to pull up front, I decided to just peel off the back and let them go. I probably should've just stayed with them, but I was tired and wanted to rest and set my own pace. I was pretty far ahead by this time, so I wasn't too worried about riding alone and getting caught.

My second lap time was much slower, but I finished with an overall time of 32 minutes for the win and almost 4 minutes ahead of 2nd place.  I also found out that the guy who came in 2nd is currently leading the series points in Florida, and currently is the #1 USAC-ranked road racer in my age group. Not too shabby for a mountain biker with an entry-level bike and stock wheels. (Some of these guys had bikes/components that cost more than my mom's car!!)

Next week, I'll be back in my natural habitat when we head to Gainesville for FSC #3. Hope to see you there!!