Markham Park

                 Markham Park was definitely a different type of race. The course was pretty awesome, with tons of technical sections and climbs with plenty of single track, all surrounded by thousands of acres of sugar cane. Thankfully, training on the even more technical course of Carter Road helps, but the trails were still pretty tough. When it came down to racing, the course was not so much fun. FSC#6 is crossed with a series known as the Coconut Cup, so there were twice as many riders. The class before my group, 40-49, had 70 riders, With all of the technical switchback and climbs, the trails got bunched up several times, causing everybody to get off of the bike and start pushing. I was gaining on first place, and at one time was 5 seconds behind him, but traffic and blocking held me up. This allowed third place, who is a great passer and racer to catch me, resulting in a sprint to the finish. At the end of the day I ended up with a third place finish. 

Getting reading to head out for my Juniors class race. 

Carter Road
                 FSC#7 was definitely my favorite race. I new the course like the back of my hand, since it is where I train. When the whistle blew I was second off the line. Before entering the woods we had to make a sharp turn. I took it wide which shot me up to the front leading everybody into the woods. Once flying through the trails and hitting the more technical trails, my coach Chris Burnett screamed that I had nearly 30 second on everybody. As I hit the road back to the trailer, there was a horrific head wind. I tried to find a fast rider to draft off of, but I was all alone. Second place was a big road rider, so he closed the gap on me on the road. I shot my gel, got some extra energy, and took off, making smaller gaps in the more technical sections. As we headed back to the trailer, I realized that he was right on my tail. I started dropping hammers, sprinting as hard as I could. The wind was horrible and he was drafting off of me. When we were about 200 yards from the finish, I hammered the pedals as hard as I possibly could, giving me a First Place Win! I'm qualified for nationals now and I am going to need to train harder and stronger than ever before. I'd like to give a shout out to my coach, Chris Burnett, and sponsor, LeRoys BikeWorks for all their hard work and support. Thanks again LeRoy for the grip shifters! And I'd like to thank my mom and dad for their time and dedication in helping me get to where I am now. 

My 1st place win at FSC #7 Carter Rd!!  Felt great to win on my home course. 

Alva
                FSC#8 was very fun. The course at Alva was extremely fast, a speed course for road riders with a few climbs and technical spots. At the beginning, I was right on the leaders butts, flying through the trails. Once we hit traffic, they shot around a rider. I called out that I was passing to the left, but when trying to pass I was pushed right into a tree. I hopped back on my bike and eventually passed the rider. I caught back up to the leaders, but when it came to turning through all of the corners, I just could not keep up. I started closing the gap, but as I hit another sandy turn, I slid out, causing my chain to fall off. As I fixed my chain, I saw fourth place fly by. I hopped back on my bike and took off. My legs were dead and my chain kept dropping, resulting in a fourth place finish. All in all it was still a good day and I had tons of fun. The course was awesome and I will definitely ride it again. Congrats to my little brother, Morgan, for his 5th place finish in the my class. Morg, you are getting fast!