Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Sunday April 6th Cross Country


Early wake up today we race at 8 AM. It was cold this morning when we got up this morning around 50 degrees so we put on our arm and knee warmers and headed out. Today will be the first time I get to race against the guys I'll see at the National Championships in Vermont in July. Once the sun started coming up the cold quickly disappeared, the weather was perfect for a race.

They called up all of the Jr. Experts to the line which was cool I have never had a call out before. There were some race rules given and then the 1 minute to go, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, GO.

Let's just say my start sucked for lack of a better term, I went into the single track 2nd from last. Not to worry the race is 30 miles long plenty of time to move up, right, wrong. About 3 miles into the race my rear tire was flat. Fortunately I had a couple of co2's with me and was back under way quickly. Unfortunately, it was one of the fastest sections on the course. I don't know what it was, but, I struggled on the short steep climbs in this race. Never the less I chased as hard as I could and finished 8th in the race and 5th overall in the General Classification. Steve should em that you don't need no stinkin' mountain to be a fast mountain biker, he flatted early in his race and still chased them down and won by over a minute. 2nd in the GC. Great job Scuba Steve. Dad got a worst start than me and finished 18th for the race and 10th in the GC.

Coach Drew had a great race proving his win in Georgia was no fluke finishing 5th in the XC out of about a zillion. We didn't get to stay for the Pro's, but, my pal Ryan Woodall kick some major butt finishing 12th against some of the best in the world. It was his best National finish so far and a good sign of what's to come. He should be ready for the National Championships in July.


As soon as we finished racing we packed our bikes back in their sweet bike bags and headed to the airport. None to soon I must say as we got to the gate they were giving our seat to some standby fliers, needless to say they were a little less than happy when they had to exit the plane.

Thing is we weren't late for boarding, we still had 10 minutes. Still it was to close for comfort.

We walked in the door at home about 2AM Monday morning, 71 hours after we walked out. Over 3500 miles in the air, 3 races in 3 days and some tired legs. I can't wait to do it again.


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