Race Report - Tallahassee, FSC #1

The wait is over, and I’m in Tallahassee at the first race of the Florida State Championship Series. The drive is beautiful; the weather is hot, but not too hot. There is some rain in the forecast but with how clear the skies are, it’s hard to imagine it.

It is nice to see all my peers, and we catch up on how the year in training or racing has been. A noticeable absent is Trent, as he has a funeral to go to. Bummer! The next topic is the time trial, and who is going to do it.

I'm parked next to Tim, Robert and Matt H. I go with Robert, Tim and Carolyn. There is a creek that has developed at the bottom of the cadillac trail which should make for something unexpected come the XC race on Sunday. My legs feel heavy as we go up cadillac, and they get a break going back down. In the middle of cadillac you actually have to do a bit of pedal which throws the legs off a bit. As we cross over and go into the technical section, I see that all the climbs and downhills are gutted out which makes it more challenging to find a good line that won't be worn out for tomorrow.

We do a new downhill section which only means we have to come back up. Dave put in 2 big climbs like he did in 2005 and the first one is short but much more steep. The second one is the long gradual one that changes grade a couple of time and makes finding the perfect gear almost impossible. Then we bomb back down the hill, and have to singletrack climb our way back out to the rolling singletrack that leads back to the BMX. We do a 36 mins lap and I'm a little bit cooked.

I’m not feeling too siked up to do the Time Trials, as my legs felt totally stiff that lap. Tim is leaning towards not doing it also. I get back to the car, and get a call from Nick the Active Cycles boys are hear and are unloaded. I ride over to them, and we go in and do the Time Trial course, and man does that thing hurt big time, and that is when I’m pretty sure the time trial is out for me. Reasoning is, if I gun it on the TT, I may pick up a point or two. If that effort is too much for the legs, I’m going to give back more points in the XC race the next day. I’m still deliberating though.

The BMX section is still a XC riders nightmare if they attempt to clear those table tops and don't make it.



My mind is not made up until Tim and I go back in and do a lap just under race speed. The second half of the course is extremely demanding, and I just don’t want to put out that kind of effort the day before a race. Plus, once you do the 2 climbs, you still have to climb your way back out to the BMX section. No TT for Pacer. I’m gonna save it for tomorrow

5pm Saturday
When all the riders line up for the TT, I’m starting to feel like I’m missing out on something as almost all my peers are there and looking serious. Ryno prove once again the he is the man to beat in winning the TT over Bob Mc, with Victor Alber coming 3rd. I think Victor is the next rider that will challenge Ryan in the future. I didn’t say near future, but future. What was comforting was not one rider I asked said that they enjoyed the experience, and that is was painful as hell. I think the riders that went over the top have taken 1 lap out of the bank for the XC on Sunday.

I get a really good night of sleep, and feel refreshed. I normally tinker with my bike to workout the pre-race anxiety. Not this time. I had a Chicken Club from Zaxby’s, checked in to the Hampton, took a shower, and hit the sack.

On the line!
Riders 5 seconds! Whistle blows, and we are off. I’m beside LaRue and I know his is going to do what he normally does. He goes to the front, tries to set the pace, only for everyone to have to work their way around him. We make it through the tricky corner without any problems and I’m sitting about 6th, with Greg D, and Mose behind me. We go through the freshly made single-track and it’s still rough. We get to the creek and someone clips out in the middle and a load of us have to put a foot down. Mose and Greg manage to pass me and I’m clipped back in and in the paceline. SH#T that was cold, but I’m sure I’m going to love the refreshing feeling of wetting the feet on lap 3 and 4.

We are going up Cadillac and there is a guy with Jittery Joe’s that visibly in the wrong place. He can’t keep the pace, nor can he handle the technical turns that would seem textbook for an Expert rider. We get pass him by the time we get to the top of Cadillac. As we come down LaRue is the one that is getting us gapped by the Shawn and Mark G. I have no really agenda at this point, so I sit and enjoy the ride down.

Once we are at the bottom, LaRue surges hard to prevent anyone from getting around him, but immediately slow down and is in the process of getting gapped again. We go through the tight single-track like a assembly line until LaRue has to put a foot down. I get gapped by the group of Shawn, Mark, Mose, and Greg. Damn, this guy is so stubborn. I won’t even try to pass him until the first climb. As I make my move to get around him, Ryan B passes me. “Pace yourself” LaRue says as I pass him, and I don’t even respond. I’m only gapped by the leaders by 20 seconds or so. I had planned to hold back on the climbs and pick it back up on the way out to the BMX. At the bottom Jimbo Smart passed me and he is rolling hard on his singlespeed 29er. I get on his wheel and he pulls me through and actually drops me in the rolling single-track before the BMX. I get to the BMX section and I can see all the leaders ahead of me, and it inspires me. I’m normally going backwards at this point, but I was feeling good.

I finish the lap with Jimbo just ahead of me, and I practically chase him all the way of Cadillac. I’m thinking we can work together if you only stop looking back and gunning it. I get caught at the top of Cadillac by Darien and Scott C. I let them by as I think the are going to give me a escort down. Darien immediately gaps Scott, and halfway through he tells me that he is not good at the technical stuff and he lets me pass him. It takes me a couple of minutes, but I bridge up to Darien and he has going backwards, and he lets me by him. I feel inspired and start riding at my pace. At the top of the climb Tim W, comes by me and we roll out.

We finish the lap, and he has lifted the pace and I’m feeling it but not close to redlining. We catch Jimbo at the end of the 2nd lap, going going into the 3rd lap he rips it up Cadillac. His climbing style is really punchy. He doesn’t keep a constant speed. He’ll gun it for 20 seconds, and then spin it out. That type of climb would hurt my legs, and it was. We come down Cadillac, and I’m excited because I know that Tim is going to let it all hang out, and he does. I’m on his wheel and enjoying the pacesetting. We have to pass a guy and I put a foot down, and Tim is gone. I mean he is gone with the wind. I realize he really doesn’t want anyone on his wheel and I keep it going, but not nearly as fast. I get passed by a hard charging Eric Smith, and I don’t even try to get on his wheel. At this point, I want my own speed. I finish up lap 3 in 32mins, and 48 seconds, which is only 35 seconds slower than lap 2. That is something that I have never done before, so I know I have enough in the tank to gun the last lap.

Going into the 4 lap Nick gives me 2 water bottles, and I drink both of them before I even get to creek crossing which was refreshing like I predicted. I’m hammering up Cadillac and I don’t feel and signs of cramping, so going down I decide to let it all hang out. Coming down one of the technical downhills my right bar clips a tree and I hit the dirt at 15mph at least. I’m stunned, even to the point that I might have knocked the wind out of myself and I was moaning trying to gather myself. I move my shoulder to see if I have broken my collarbone, and it’s ok. I attempt to get back up and my left foot is still clipped in to my pedal. I get it back out, and look to see if my bars are straight and I’m back on the bike. I’m sure that cost me at least 30 second, and I’m surprised that I got up so fast as that was the hardest hit I taken in a race for sure. Surprisingly, I was able to get right back up to race speed in less than a minute. I crossed over to the 2nd half of the course and I’m feeling good, but I still held back on both of the long climbs. I claw my way back out of the single-track with new vigor as I know I can hold my 7th place, and my best performance to date in a state race. I get to the BMX, and I max my heart rate out there of all places. All of a sudden I found the lines on the BMX on the last lap and crossed the line with a bunny hop.

Mark G was in front of me by less than a minute, and he had cramped up and was going backwards bigtime. I’m sure had I not crashed I would have caught him. I’m chalking this up as a huge victory as I came into this race season with no Interval work in my legs, and I managed my best finish to date as far as time is concerned. Shawn walked away from everyone with Ryan in tow and unhitched him the last lap. Tim recovered from 2 crashed in Cadillac on the first lap to storm back to 3rd place with Eric Smith right behind him. Greg D brought in 5th place, with Mark and I coming home 6th and 7th. Scott came in less than 1 minute behind courtesy of my crash. Ryan Woodall made it a double as he soloed in for the victory with his teammate and training partner about 2 minutes back. Bob Mc seems to be back to his 2005 race form as he placed 3rd place. Honorary mention to Ryno’s little Bro Reagan Woodall as he finished 7th place in his first Pro XC race. Man, talking about some God-giving ability in the bloodline.

I have 2 weeks off until Reddick, and I’m gonna hit is hard to finish top 4 at Razorback, and to do well in the Team Time Trial. We are currently 4th in the Team Classification, so that should motivate the team. See you at Razorback

Pacer Out!