GT

Well, apparently this week (and next I think) is the time for midterms. I wasn't really aware of this until earlier today, and I was shocked by the amount of studying that I have to do. It pretty much all came up later in the day today. I really think that school would be a whole lot more fun if you didn't have to study for tests. I don't even mind going to classes (when I want to), it's just the forced learning and required conformist behavior that gets to me. Anyway, the biggest reason that I am at Brevard for my collegiate career is to race bikes, and getting to travel over the weekend and have some serious non-academic pressure put on me makes it all worth it.

We traveled to Conyers, GA this past weekend to race at the Horse Park where the 1996 Olympic Mountain Bike race was held. It was pretty cool to be racing on the same course as that race, and even though we didn't get to do the granite section, it was a blast. The weekend started out with a TT fairly early in the morning. I'm usually not a fan of starting stuff out like this, since I'm usually not firing on all cylinders for the first event and it is a whole lot easier to get it opened up when you are pushing to keep up with other people rather than a solo effort. It turned out OK in this case though, as I felt pretty good and had decent legs. For once the biggest problem didn't lie with me, but rather in the course marking. The people from GT had to figure out how to put on an event with fairly short notice, so I kinda understand some of the organizational issues, but course marking is really something that needs to be taken care of. I missed a turn in the race, and ended up losing about 2 minutes because of it. I finished out 10th, which was OK, but not really good for the amount of effort that I put out.

After the TT we had a short track race over a pretty fun course. It had a grass flat to DH followed by a very fast sweeping turn onto a single track climb with some fun sections and then finished out with a fast twisty descent. I got a pretty good start, and managed to get onto the lead group of 4 for the first part of the race. I held on for about 15 minutes, and then the attacks started coming. I knew that I wouldn't be able to hang on to the finish by about minute 2, so I was pretty prepared to fight to keep the leaders in sight. After I got dropped off the lead, I pushed it to keep away from any chasers. Unfortunately there was a Cumberland rider that came on strong and managed to get a gap on me on the final lap. I felt really good for the whole race though, and 5th place is a whole lot better than I have been doing.

The XC was pretty insane. We were informed that the course was significantly shorter than we were expecting, and so the race went from 2:30 to about 1:30. This was fine with me since I like the shorter style stuff anyway. I once again got a good start and ended up on the front group with little difficulty. There were about 5 of us including Tristan and myself with a very early gap when suddenly Tristan pulled off of the front and started messing with his bike. I figured that he would be back on shortly so I kept on the pace without a second thought. The front group ended up staying together for the first lap and a half despite constant attacks from Cumberland and LMC. The LMC guy finally got clear, and everyone else spent the rest of the race chasing hard. I could see 2nd place right ahead of me for the rest of the race, but never could quite bring him back. Tristan stormed back onto the front with a lap to go, and brought a chasing 4th back with him. I eventually got passed for 5th place and was good for the finish, or so I thought. I had about a mile of easy, very fast road left, when the one rock on the trail somehow caught my tire. I heard the leak, but was really hoping that my sealant would fix it up before I lost all my air, but apparently the tear was a little too big. I ended up having to run the final mile to the finish, allowing 2 other guys to pass me, placing me in 7th. Kinda disappointing, but still, not bad and I felt great.

Next week is conference championships, so I'm trying my best to rest up for that. Hopefully the team will have a strong race, and we will get that nationals spot that we have been chasing all year.