2012 Epic Family Race-cation (Part 3)

Breckenridge

Breckenridge is one of my family's favorite places, and since my Mema and Grampa had never been there, we thought that would be a great excuse to spend a couple of days there. My dad really wanted to take me on the Firecracker 50 loop, and since I will finally be old enough to race in the Firecracker next summer, I was looking forward to going. It was my first time riding there and both my parents were sure I would love it.

Well, I really did like it a lot until we got to Little French Gulch. Apparently, some heavy snow/rain last year had washed away much of the two-mile trail. The bottom part wasn't too bad, and I was having fun motoring up it. Mom's not much of a climber, and after about a 1/2 mile, she was off the bike pushing. Unfortunately, not too long after that, the trail disappeared, it started raining, and we were all pushing. Mom was a trooper, but it was pretty obvious she was not having fun. To top it off, we took a wrong turn at the top of the mountain and ended up on this very steep, very rocky, very fast bombing downhill that scared my parents to death (I thought it was fun). What we thought was going to be a 2-3 hour ride turned into 4. We came back very tired and hungry, but with a good story to share with the rest of the family.

Mom hiking up Little French Gulch

From Breckenridge we continued west toward Moab, Utah. It was like going from one planet to another. The scenery changed from green mountains to red rock and the temperature went from warm to oh-my-gosh-this-is-hot!!

When we got to Moab, we took a drive through Arches National Park. We got out a couple of times for short hikes to see some of the formations, but it was so hot and dry that none of us really felt like doing any of the longer hikes, especially since we were getting low on water.

 

 

The next day I chose to sleep in, while my parents got up early to ride at Slickrock Park. (I know, I'm a slacker.) My mom rode 2 miles of the trail and decided that she had done enough to get a feel for it. My dad did the whole loop.

Mom riding at Slickrock park in Moab

Dad out on the trail

After showers and breakfast, we moved on to our next destination, Salt Lake City, Utah, where we would be staying with family for a few days. We had a great time getting to know cousins we had either never met or rarely see. We played a wicked game of Ultimate Frisbee in the back yard after dinner one night, which was really fun (and dangerous too, since Mandy and my mom both got hit in the face).

My crazy family in Salt Lake City, Utah

One morning, Kim's husband Pablo hooked us up with some local mountain bikers who took us on a group ride. Pablo just started riding a year or so ago and has even done some racing.

Pablo and me

At one point, the guys decided that I was too fast and somebody put rocks in my jersey pockets to try to slow me down. LOL

The Salt Lake City group and us

After Salt Lake City it was on to Sun Valley, Idaho and MTB Nationals............

2012 Epic Family Race-cation (Part 2)

 Ok, so part 2 didn't come as soon as it should have, but hey, we're a busy family.  LOL

After we left Crested Butte, we headed north to Fort Collins to visit some friends. On the way, the GPS took us on an "alternate route", otherwise known as a "Mace Family Shortcut."  It wasn't any shorter, but it was definitely a lot cooler. We went through a break in the mountains called Cottonwood Pass. The views were pretty but the road was very curvy and I was getting car sick. When we got to the top of one of the mountains, there was one of those Continental Divide signs. We got out there to take pictures and my dad thought it would be cool to get the bikes and ride down the mountain the rest of the way. So we did. It was epic!! We got up to 52 miles per hour on our mountain bikes. My mom was a nervous wreck following behind us in the car, and my brother took pictures. I would love to go back and do that ride again.

Once we got to Fort Collins, we made plans to ride and do some other things on our list. First, we had to get lunch at Lark Burger. Not sure why my dad loves that place so much (he says it's the fries), but it was on the "must do" list. Another thing on the "must do" list was some hill climb training. Because of the wildfires, the mountain bike trails were closed, so we took to the road and practiced climbing there with our mountain bikes. It was fun to see the looks on the roadies' faces when we'd pass them!

Horsetooth Reservoir--Fort Collins, CO

While in Fort Collins, we did a bunch of other things besides just ride.  We jumped on our friends' trampoline, and we went ice skating and fishing. My brother Ryan had a more difficult time with the skating, but he did ok trading stray hockey pucks for lollipops.

After visiting with our friends for a couple of days in Fort Collins, we headed back to Denver to pick up my grandparents at the airport. They would be with us for the rest of the trip. From the airport, we went through the Rocky Mountain National Park on our way to Breckenridge.

We got to get pretty close to some elk as we were driving up to the ranger station.

At the ranger station, Dad and I decided to go ahead and ride down, like we did from Cottonwood Pass. It was fun, but the roads weren't as steep, so we never got over 42 miles per hour this time.

My brother took this picture and I just thought the sign was funny.

We got to Breckenridge about dinner time and I'll continue with part 3 there.

2012 Epic Family Race-cation (Part 1)

I can't believe it's been almost a month ago that we were getting ready to leave for our Epic family vacation. So much has happened and I'm going to try to catch up on things a little bit at a time.

We left home at 6:30 the first morning and drove all the way out to Wichita Falls, Texas that day. It was a 19-hour drive, but thanks to the wonders of technology, (my computer & my parents' iPad), it wasn't too bad. I had only been back from mountain bike camp a few days, but hadn't ridden since the last race in Georgia, so my dad and I got up early the next morning and went for a quick ride on a trail that was right in the middle of town. It was ok, but we found out later that we missed the really fun part of the trail. Bummer.

The next day, we drove the rest of the way out of Texas, through a bit of New Mexico, and into Colorado, where we would spend the night in Gunnison before going to Crested Butte to race in the Wildflower Rush that weekend.

This was my first time racing at altitude and doing a ski resort course. I went on a pre-ride with my dad the day before the race. The course itself wasn't super tough, except for a 20% grade climb at the very beginning. The downhill though, was pretty fun. After the pre-ride, I felt pretty good about the race and how I could perform.

This picture doesn't show just how steep this climb was.

In fact, I thought I had a good shot at winning. Unlike in Florida, the kids racing in Colorado didn't seem to take off from the line as quickly, so I sort of sat back and watched for a few seconds. Then I decided to attack and got a pretty big lead turning the corner into the first climb. Then it hit me......altitude. All of a sudden, my chest started hurting, my legs cramped up, and I had to get off the bike just before getting to the top of that steepest part. I watched as several kids passed me and there was nothing I could do about it. It was humiliating.

I finished the race mid-pack, crossing the line in 10th and collapsing on the ground afterward. Not fun. Unfortunately for me, my dad was able to make a video of the race. This is definitely one of my least favorites.



One good thing that happened was that I met 2 boys who race as much as I do, Jake and Nye Yackle. We've been following them on Facebook and they've been following us, so it was cool to finally meet them in person, especially since they live in Colorado and we live in Florida.

Jake, me, and Nye

Look for part 2 coming soon.....

2012 US Cup East Triple Crown/Bump 'n' Grind--Birmingham, AL (6/2&3/12)

This weekend my dad and I took a guys only trip to Birmingham, Alabama to compete in the US Cup East Triple Crown event being held at Bump 'n' Grind. We actually left a couple of days early to get there because the first events were on Saturday and we wanted to be able to do all of our pre-riding on Friday. Unfortunately, that meant that I would miss the 5th grade awards assembly at my school. Mr. Bowie, my teacher, really didn't want me to miss it, but I didn't have much choice. Birmingham is a long drive and if we wanted to be ready to race, we had to be there on Friday. (Hopefully Mr. Bowie isn't too mad at me.)

Waiting for the start of the Cross-Country race

Friday's pre-ride went really well. We spent a lot of time practicing at Blood Rock because last year my dad was afraid of it and decided to just jump off and run it, which worked out well for him because he ended up on the podium. I had decided to do the same thing, but after riding it like 10 times, I felt like I could definitely do it for the downhill race and I was going to give it a shot.

Me riding Blood Rock during the Super D

The short track event was actually the first one we did on Saturday. It is called Turn and Burn. Unfortunately, my dad thought it would be run the same way as last year, where everyone starts in one direction and when the whistle blows, everyone has to turn around and the race actually starts. We stayed in the back thinking we would be in the front when the whistle blew, but (psyche!!) there was no whistle. They didn't do the "turn" part this year, and we hesitated a long time before realizing it, so we got to play catch up.

Despite the fact that the electronic scoring at Bump 'n' Grind was all messed up and we didn't get to see any results on Saturday, my dad and I thought we did really well. We woke up Sunday morning excited to do our favorite event, the Cross-Country. I was super excited too because this is the first time I would be racing head-to-head with the 15-18 year old Cat 2 Juniors. After comparing my times with the guys at the SERC, I was feeling pretty confident that I would be able to hold my own, even though I was the youngest competitor at the event.

Igor and me

Our group went off with the Cat 2 Clydesdales. When we lined up, I was right next to a REALLY tall guy named Igor (he's 7'1" tall). The announcer was joking around about it being a race between the tallest and the smallest. It was pretty funny. After the race, he interviewed us and it was great.

Carter and me after the race

When it was time to finally race, I went into serious mode and took the hole shot, which I knew was important. Then, I tried to settle into the lead. Carter Anderson, a Cat 2 Junior I know from the SERC series, attacked me on the gravel road going over a dam and took the lead away from me. When we got to the other side and went into double-track going downhill, I attacked him back and got in front again.

My silly face crossing the finish line

When I got far enough ahead that I didn't see him, I tried to use what I learned from all the races I've done and just settle in, ride my race, and protect the lead and my bike. I was so excited with the win that I did a silly sprint to the finish. It was awesome!! Even better, I walked away with $80 in prize money. Carter ended up placing second and he went home with a check as well.

My dad ended up finishing the Cross-Country race in second place, which is pretty amazing since he got two flat tires during the race. I ended up winning the Omnium for Cat 2 Juniors, placing first in all three events. It was a perfect day and a great weekend! The second Triple Crown event takes place next weekend at the Massanutten Hoo-Ha, but I'm going to miss it because I'll be at mountain bike camp all week with several of the guys I race against (can't wait!). Fortunately, I only have to do 2 of them to qualify for overall awards, and the third one is at the final SERC race in Fontana, North Carolina in August, which I will definitely be racing.

2012 US Cup East/SERC #6/GSC #3--Jackson, Georgia (5/26-27/12)

This weekend's race at Dauset Trails in Jackson, Georgia was an emotional roller-coaster for me. Last year, a crash right in front of me at the starting line put me behind right from the whistle, and then a fall on some rocks into a creek when I was working to catch back up just ruined my whole race. So this year, I had a score to settle with the course, and I was on a mission to finally beat John Michael.

Pierce, me, and John Michael

We got up to Dauset on Saturday afternoon and pre-rode the course. To our surprise, it was a totally different set-up from last year. The trail with the creek that I crashed on last year wasn't even part of the course this year.  One section, called Huff and Puff, we rode in reverse last year and we were told to be thankful. This year, we found out just how it got its name when we had to ride it in the usual direction.

Saturday was very hot and in the late afternoon, I competed in an individual time trial event to earn bonus points for the Georgia State Championship series. I wasn't planning on doing the whole Georgia series because of conflicting races, but just in case we made it to enough to qualify for overall awards, I did the time trial. It was great too, because I finally beat John Michael by 17 seconds!! This had me excited and looking forward to racing against him on Sunday.

Because this race was another combined US Cup/SERC/GSC race, the field was pretty big. I got out in front this time at the start (big improvement from last year's start) and I was feeling pretty good.

By the time we got to the steepest part of the gravel road climb before hitting the woods, John Michael, Pierce and I had put some distance between us and the rest of the pack. Then out of nowhere, John and Pierce stood up and blew past me. I stood up then also to catch Pierce's wheel as we made the sharp left turn into the single-track. I knew I wanted to eventually get around those guys, but this first downhill section was really fast and was part of the parade lap that ended with us going through the finish line, so I knew if I just stayed with them I'd have a chance to pass when everyone slowed down there.

Well, it wasn't but a few seconds before my first big break came. Like I said, this section of downhill was fast and we were flying through there. John Michael's wheel slid out on a turn and he went down hard on his knee. Pierce and I went around him and John was finally able to get going on the bike again after everyone had passed.

I ended up getting around Pierce at the finish line area and took the lead. Then I knew I just had to ride fast, make no mistakes and do a better job getting through traffic than everybody else and I would have the race won.

Unfortunately, I only got 2 out of 3 of those goals right. I was definitely riding fast and aggressive, and I was definitely getting through traffic better than everybody else. However, I also crashed several times. On the last one, I got a flat and didn't have any CO2 with me to re-inflate it. I blew a lead of at least a minute because I didn't have supplies. I was so frustrated!! Walking my bike back out of the woods and getting passed by the guys I was in front of was one of the most humiliating feelings ever. I know mechanicals happen, but why did it have to happen when I was leading?

Marco--2nd place

So how did the race end? Obviously, I got my first-ever DNF. Pierce went on to get his first win and if I hadn't been so miserable myself, I would've been happy for him. He's a nice guy. Marco Newman came in second and John Michael worked his way back from dead last to third place.

On the ride home, we reviewed the video footage from the race--all 25 minutes of it--(yes, that's sarcasm) to try to determine what I did wrong and what I could learn from my mistakes. After we were done talking about it, my dad started playing an interview that a friend of ours, pro rider Drew Edsall, had done at the Transylvania Epic this weekend. Some of his answers really seemed helpful in my case. Here's what we came up with:  1) Protect the bike, 2) Protect the lead, 3) Be prepared. Thanks Drew (and Dad)!!


Next weekend, my dad and I are taking a guys only road trip to Birmingham, Alabama for Bump 'N' Grind. I can't wait! It will be my first Cat 2 race and I'm looking forward to being able to compete against some new and different riders. I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to riding Blood Rock though, but I guess I'll see when we get there.

2012 Hammerhead 100/50/25--Ocala, Florida (5/12/12)

This has been a busy week cycling-wise. Although I took a couple of days off after the race at Ducktown, things started picking up mid-week. Wednesday was National Ride Your Bike to School Day and even though I ride my bike to school every day, there are only a few other kids who do also. My dad was trying to get the principal of my school to get actively involved in it, so that maybe more kids would get their bikes out of the garage, but she never got back to him and nothing much happened with that (unfortunately). Even so, my dad surprised me at school one day the week before and we made a short documentary about letting kids ride their bikes to school.

 

Wednesday afternoon, I took a ride around some of the trails that would be included in the Hammerhead race on Saturday. It was brutal. We hadn't had a lot of rain in a while and the trails were slick from leaves and pine needles. I slid out and slammed my shoulder into a tree--twice! Ouch! Needless to say, I didn't have much of a positive attitude about how the actual race would go after that.

Climbing 'The Wall'

On Thursday afternoon, I went to Brick City Bicycles after school to work for a couple of hours before going on the group ride that evening. It was probably one of the most exciting group rides I've been on. I was able to hang with the 'A' group for about 24 of the 32 miles, averaging around 21mph. I've never hung on to them that long and I think I could've done better but I blew myself up running the pace-line too long.

Friday after school, it was back to the trails to pre-ride with my friend, Bryce, who was planning to do the 25-mile solo race. I took him out on the most technical sections of the course: the blues on the 49th Avenue Trails, Nayl's Trails, and Ern-n-Burn. He loved Ern-n-Burn because it was a lot like a BMX track. We had a good ride and practiced a couple of especially difficult parts to make sure we knew how to ride them in the morning. After the pre-ride with Bryce, I had a much better attitude toward the course and I was feeling good about lining up to race the next day.

Last year, I competed in the 25-mile solo race and finished 33rd out of 66 riders, but this year I decided to do the 50-mile co-ed team with our friend, Jane. We thought we had a pretty good chance of making the podium, or even winning.

I lined up at the front of a pack of more than 100 people for the mass start. Dave Berger led us out on the motorcycle and gradually sped up as we got farther down the road. I had a good start and even rode Bob McCarty's wheel for a short time. I got right next to him at one point and wanted to turn my head and say hi so it would be in my video that I passed Bob, but it was too crowded and I decided it was too dangerous to play around at that time, which was probably a good decision, but I still kind of wish I had that footage--haha. (If you don't know who Bob McCarty is, I can describe him in one word--AWESOME!!!)

I was really having a good time running with the faster guys near the front of the pack and managed to stay there until I got involved in a big crash in the section before Ern-n-Burn, called Beyond. My leg got squished pretty badly and it hurt like crazy. Fortunately, my bike was ok, and I was able to get back up and keep riding, but it definitely messed up my flow after that.

By the time I got out of Nayl's and back to the 49th Avenue Trailhead, I was getting very tired. I had gone out really hard for this race, but maintaining that for almost 2 hours was getting tough at the end.

I did manage to finish my leg of the race in under 2 hours (1:51 according to my Garmin), which put us in 3rd place when Jane went out to do her lap. She was about 10 minutes behind Sarah, who was running in second after her partner, Regan Woodall (pro/expert rider) put up a really fast time. Jane raced a great lap, managed to pass Sarah with about 4 miles to go, and moved us up to 2nd. It was awesome!

We had a great time, and I'm glad I did the race with Jane as my partner.  Jane even let me keep the trophy. It's my first big one and I can't wait to display it!



Next week, the Mace family is taking a break from racing and doing a charity ride here at home. I hope to see the whole cycling community come out to support the 5th Annual Frank Pollack Memorial Ride Benefiting Hospice of Marion County. This ride is very special to us because Hospice took good care of my Grammy before she passed away in February.