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.