FSC #8 - ALVA
Can't believe the race season is almost at an end. Just a couple more races then the FSC is over....sad to see it happen. Was excited about racing Alva because the trails are so flowy with some technical sections. I knew my road bike skills would definitely come in handy here because of all the open flat areas. The day of pre-ride I made sure to only do 1 1/2 laps so that I didn't overdo it. This race was different than the others; one lap was 10 miles so Cat 2 racers were doing 2 laps instead of 3. While that doesn't sound different, when you are out there racing those 10 miles seem endless. The course was pretty cool and one of my favorite sections was in the mangroves and there was a lot of ducking so that you didn't get whacked by the branches. My bike handling skills really came in handy here. After the pre-ride we all went back to the campground and hung out. Got my pre-race haircut, too!!
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| Pre-race haircut by Mose Howard |
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| Waiting to start |
Race day I was ready to go! I was determined to get a good start and ended up getting the Hole Shot. I pulled the group really hard through the first long, flat open section that had a lot of turns. I made sure in this course to tap my brakes as little as possible so that I could carry my corner speed. Once we got into the technical sections and looking back I could see a gap that was opening up. I came through scoring with a 2 minute gap and felt really strong. That second lap found me by myself in a few areas and it made it
tough to push myself. A couple of times I felt bored. I looked down and saw that my heart rate was much lower than I needed it to be. Those two long laps just got to me.That was what made me get out of my temporary lull and get hammerin' again. The gap was closed on me toward the end but I managed to finish 1st with about a 30 second lead on the 2nd place racer.
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| Got the Hole Shot! |
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| 1st Place Sam, 2nd Place Cody Burnett, 3rd Place Adam Cohen |
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