PROUD TO ANNOUNCE MY NEW SPONSOR!!

Very proud to announce that I have just been sponsored by Beljum Budder - "The Natural Choice for Chafing Protection". Let's face it, one of the worst things as a cyclist, whether it's on the road or trails, is chafing. We've all been through it and it isn't pretty. Beljum Budder offers maximum protection from unwanted friction and it does it with a product that is all natural. No worries about harsh chemicals in your most sensitive areas! So ride with pride and feel confident that you are using maximum protection that will not only cut down on irritation, but do it with ingredients that are made from botanicals, essential vitamins, and plant-derived lubricants. Check them out at www.beljumbudder.com

TRAIL2TRAIL RACE

Wasn't sure if the race was going to happen because the weather has been terrible. While most people are thankful for rain, mountain bikers don't like torrential downpours everyday that turn the trails into muddy messes. During pre-ride yesterday morning, the trails were literally underwater. I was having second thoughts about racing because I didn't want to ruin my new components on my bike. My dad and I went out again last evening and the trails were looking better, so I decided to go for it. Luckily, we didn't get any rain yesterday or today and the trails we able to dry up some. The Trail2Trail Race is part mountain bike and part road race. It consists of one 7 mile lap on the trails, then a 30+ mile road ride, followed by the final 7 mile trail ride. It can be done as a team or solo. One of my good friends, James Dibble a recumbent cyclist, and I decided long ago that we would team up. Our team name: Team Tour de Friends. 

Alex Meucci and me heading into the woods for the first lap

At the start of the race I was beginning to get the jitters. My goal was to keep up with Shawn Smith (a pro rider), Jim MacPherson, and one of my teammates, Alex Meucci. When the whistle blew I shot out wanting to get in front of as many racers as possible. I went into the woods in 6th place and we (Shawn, Jim, Alex, and Stephen Karras) immediately started to open a gap. It was a quick pace and I was determined to hang on. We blew through the trails at lightening speed leaving dust in our wake. I felt really strong and my new tire combo (Schwalbe Racing Ralph and Specialized S-Works Renegade) was working very well. Coming through transition my team was battling for first place with Shawn and a racer from AJ's Bikes and Boards. I handed my baton to James Dibble and he took off setting a very fast pace for the road portion. 

Heading into transition after my first lap

Handing the baton to James Dibble

While James was on the road I took a break and much needed cool down. It was blistering hot with the temps in the high 90's. I took this time to strategize about how I would play out my second lap. I knew that it would be tough if Shawn and David Pavlik (a super fast roadie from AJ's) came in with James. The second lap Martin Cox would be racing as Shawn's teammate and I knew I had my work cut out for me. Shawn was now racing solo. When James came through transition I was ready. I went out roughly 30 seconds behind Martin and the AJ's racer and I was determined to stay on Shawn and Martin's wheel. I felt like I was closing the gap on Martin and the AJ's racer until Martin picked up the pace and put down the hammers. I still felt good in my position and continued to work with Shawn, hoping to catch the AJ's racer. I just couldn't close the gap. As I was going into The Beast, one of the more technical red trails at Carter Road Mountain Bike Trails, I made a huge mistake that cost me about 20 seconds. After attempting to hop the front root at the beginning of the trail I slipped and almost fell off the edge into a ravine. Thankfully, I managed to catch myself. As I hopped back on my bike to ride down one of the drops I fell again. In the end my last lap time was about 6 seconds slower than my first lap time - about 32:29. Team Tour de Friends placed 3rd in the Serious Men's Race, and  1 1/2 minutes behind Martin Cox. I was really proud of myself for being able to stay with these phenomenal racers for most of the race! 

Coming to the finish line

3rd Place finish...super happy with that!!!

Me and Shawn Smith and Martin Cox 

A great big thank you to Bents Cyclery and Fitness for all of their support! You guys are the best! My Spy Optics sunglasses came in handy keeping the bright Florida sun and the mud out of my eyes. Wore my favorite SockGuy socks which, as usual, provided lots of comfort, kept my feet cool, and gave me some awesome tan lines! Thanks to my coaches and all of those who support my racing endeavors! Congrats to all the Team Bents racers - you guys did awesome and had a strong showing on the podium! Congrats Steve Bent on your podium finish!! Way to go Alex Meucci on your 1st Place Solo All Mountain win!! Jamie Enright - you raced strong and congrats on your podium finish! Taylor Pilkington and Papi - big shout out for your 1st Place team win! Super excited for Jen Howard on her 3rd place victory in the Women's Solo. Congrats to Jim MacPherson on his 2nd Place podium in the Solo All Mountain class! Congrats to Shawn Smith and Martin Cox from the Super Cool Bike Shop on your 1st place finish! I could go on and on congratulating everyone and I don't want to leave anyone out, so a big congrats to everyone who earned a place on the podium and all those that finished the race!! And thanks to Red Trail Racing for putting on a great race and all the hard work they put in to get the trails in great shape!

Super congratulations to my brother, Morgan, and his teammate, Connor Murray. They raced Fun Men's race as Team Thing 1 and Thing 2 and placed 4th in their race! 

Morgan coming into transition after his 30 mile road ride

SERC #10 - FONTANA, NORTH CAROLINA

Me and Mr. Mose

So I am finally back from my weekend of racing and fun in North Carolina. I left Friday night with Mose Howard and his family for North Carolina. The drive up was fun and passed by quickly. I managed to get in some much needed sleep on the drive up to Fontana. As we were driving through the mountains I could see that this was going to be a very hilly course. As we pulled into the campground we were all really excited to pre-ride and didn't waste any time getting our bikes and gear together. We realized fairly quickly that we wouldn't be able to drive to the course and so we had to ride our bikes up a 2.5 mile climb to get there. Once we got there we all jumped right onto the single track. The course was fast and flowy until we hit the hills, which seemed to go on forever. I remember afterwards talking to Dave Berger about the course and he said there were more uphills than downhills. And boy was he right! With nearly 1500 ft of climbing per lap, the only downhills were long, rocky sections that didn't offer much recovery. They were too fast and your arms were constantly clenching the bars with a death grip. There were two climbs that I knew would really hit me hard. The first being at the start of the race - it was nearly a 3/4 mile climb up an incredibly steep road. The second was a nearly 1/2 mile gravel road super steep climb that offered absolutely no traction. All the other hills were short and steep, but gave me no problems.

Getting ready for my warm-up

 After the course pre-ride we decided to pre-ride the short track course that we would be racing We found many good lines and at 7:30 I was ready to race. The short track consisted of all Cat 2 and Cat 3 racers. At the start line we were packed in like sardines. I didn't make the best choice of positioning and I knew it before the whistle blew. Sadly, there were too many racers and not enough time to change my position. When the whistle blew I shot out as hard and fast as I could starting in a 6th place position. As we turned the corner near a large rock a rider crashed in front of me nearly throwing me over my handle bars. I unclipped and ran my bike around him while nearly five other riders passed me by. I hopped back on and took off as hard as I could trying to regain my position. As I came around the concrete turn on my first lap I leaned to the side a little too much causing my bike to slide out from under me. I came out of the crash pretty quickly but was left with road rash on my elbow and hip and a shoe that was now very loose.

Ouch, my elbow!

 I tried my best to adjust my shoe but I knew I would lose more time so I decided to just deal with it. I knew it would only be 10 minutes of pain so I pushed myself and started passing riders up the only climb in the short track. At the end of the 10 minutes I finished in 8th place out of 30 racers and 4th place in Cat 2 Juniors. I knew I could have performed better had it not been for the mishaps on the course.

After the race, I chugged down a recovery drink and sat back to watch my teammate and coach, Mose Howard, race the Cat 1 and Pro short track. Man is he fast! He finished 1st in his class of 40-49 and 6th overall. Post short track race we headed back to the RV, chowed down on some pasta and went to bed. We wanted to be well rested for Sunday's cross country race.

Cross Country start line

I woke up Sunday morning super excited about racing. I knew that this would give me a better idea of my current fitness level. I was a little nervous about my competition since most of them are much better climbers. Coming from Florida it can be hard to get those much needed climbs into your training. I felt that if they were faster than me on the climbs I would need to dig down deep and stay strong mentally. Before the race, I was hydrating and watching Mr. Mose race his Cat 1 40-49 race. He immediately gaped the competition by nearly a minute, giving him a first place win and becoming the SERC series champion in 40-49. What an amazing racer Mose Howard is! He is now the FSC, GSC, and SERC champion in his class and got 4th place at Nationals! He is definitely an outstanding racer, coach, and motivator!

I pulled on my kit and gear and started my warm-up roughly half an hour before my race. As I pulled up to the line my nerves were kicking in. At the 10 second countdown, I readied myself to rocket out the gate. I shot up the climb in a 4th place position behind Carter Anderson, Silas Meep, and Pierce Elkins. I was feeling that climb...it was painful! But not nearly as bad as I initially thought it would be. Going into the single track, I was able to make my move and pull up to a second place position behind Carter Anderson. As we shot up the climbs I realized the degree to which Carter could climb. He had it going on! We were slowly opening a 5 second gap between myself and the third place racer. Flying down a descent I saw that there was an immediate switchback at the bottom. Carter was able to take it nice and smooth, but since I was so close behind him I was forced to bale into the bushes. We were going way too fast that my brakes weren't able to overcome the speed. This not only caused a rider or two to pass me, but also caused me to lose my water bottle in the beginning of the first lap. That left me without any water for the remainder of the lap. Toward the end of the first lap I caught up with Jonathon Ludwig, a rider from Team Moab. We worked together to pull back to the front group. 

Me and Jonathon Ludwig working it

Going into transition I grabbed my second water bottle and felt like I had gone to Heaven. I felt like I was dying of thirst. We slowly reeled back in the remaining riders and up the long gravel road climb I made a move to catch the second place rider. I knew it was the last really hard climb and the rest would be more suitable for recovery. I pulled the rider in and slowly started to open a gap. Coming into the final long, gradual climb I hammered it as hard as I could. Right after the climb was an extremely long downhill that gave me the opportunity to open up the gap a little more. I felt like I had one of the fastest downhill times ever!!! I was bouncing all over and hitting almost 40mph! What a rush!! It was definitely a bit terrifying!! As I came to the last road I sprinted as hard as I could to make it across the finish line in 2nd place. What a race! My legs were protesting. A great experience racing among some of the best racers around. Congratulations to Carter Anderson for pulling out 1st place! Congratulations also goes out to Cadence Howard and Rylie Howard for both wining 1st place in their races! They certainly take after their parents in their racing skills. 

The following day we headed to Tsali for some post race riding. While it should have been a recovery ride, Mose and I just couldn't help but keep it at a fast tempo. The climbs seemed like nothing after what I climbed at Fontana. It actually seemed as if we were faster on some uphills than on the downhills! Super fun riding Tsali with great friends and perfect weather. Once we were finished riding it was time to cool down at the Nantahala Outdoor Center for some tubing. The water was freezing, but felt oh so good! 

So what's on my agenda for upcoming races? The Trail2Trail this weekend at Carter Road Mountain Bike Trails will be a hammer session for sure. It is going to be fast and will fit right in with my training. Next will be the 8 Hours of San Felasco (8 Hours of Labor). After that is the Florida State Championship Series...can't wait, so excited!

Special thanks to Bents Cyclery and Fitness for their support and encouragement! TwinSix, Spy Optics, SockGuy, RxEquipped, and Cycleography.net - thank you for your continued support! 

Also, I would like to thank my coaches Mose Howard and Dwayne Allgire for providing me with so many learning opportunities and pushing me beyond my limit. Thank you to James Dibble for sharing the road with me on our weekly rides. Finally, I would like to thank my dad for all the commitment he has made to training me and helping to make me reach my peak performance.