Fernandina Beach FSC 2

     Fernandina Beach proved again to be a very fun race weekend.  Mountain biking, eating out with friends and playing on the beach.  Who could ask for more?

     As usual we headed up to Fernandina on Friday afternoon.  After we got there we unloaded very fast and headed down to the beach.  My Dad's parents came along this year as well as my Dad's Brother's family.  Running around on the beach at night made me relaxed and started off the weekend just right.  Saturday morning we all met for breakfast and headed to Ft Clinch State park.  Obviously the trail had recieved some rain because it was a lot less sandy than past years.  There was still some sand but not like you were riding ON the beach as in years past.  The local bike club had also made some improvements to the trail.  Mulch was spread in some really sandy areas and stones that were added to the big climb last year had finally settled in.  The preride went great.  My Dad went over a few areas to watch out for and then turned us loose to do a couple of laps.  We hung out for a little bit and headed to the beach.  I spent the rest of the day body surfing, boogey boarding and skim boarding with my Uncle Jeff and fellow teammates Sam and Morgan.






     RACE DAY!  I wasn't out for revenge but I was determined to climb up the podium.  Mentally I was ready and physically I was ready.  Goneriding took us out on a controlled start because of the amount of pavement leading out to the trail and because of the cars and RV's coming down the same road we were racing on.  Austin took off sooner on the motorcycle than I had planned on but there was plenty of road to get a good position into the woods.  THEN, we saw a huge RV in the road and had to settle in line earlier than we wanted.  I entered the woods 8th but made a few quick passes to get to 6th.  7 of us were wheel to wheel the entire first lap.  When we exited the trail to head to scoring we had about a mile of pavement to ride on so I made a few more moves and reentered the woods in 4th.  There were plenty of places to pass but the trail was soft and made acceleration difficult.  Thanks to the 100 yards of pavement in the middle of the woods I was able to move up 1 more spot.  Colin, who stopped to help Adam at Tallahassee was leading and had clear trail in front of him.  AND HE TOOK OFF!  We chased as hard as we could but he was gone.  We came out of the trail onto the half mile of pavement for what I knew was going to be a sprint finish.  About half way to the finish I hammered it.  Tyler Mayer was in front of me my teammate Adam Cohen was right behind me and the 3 person fight for 2nd was on.  Fortunately I had enough in me and crossed the line for a 2nd place finish.  With my heart rate reaching 203 I felt like puking and almost did. 

      

Congratulations to Colin for winning FSC 2.  I ended up 2nd with Tyler, Adam and Cody Ham filling out the top 5.

FSC #1 Tallahassee (Tom Brown Park)

     I have to start out by giving kudos to Colin Smith, one of my fellow 15-18 racers.  During the race Adam Cohen (CycleYouth/LeRoy's) and Colin were trying to pass someone in the 40-49 division who would not yield the trail.  Adam decided to just go around and crashed.  Colin stopped to help Adam up and make sure he was alright.  Then as they started again Colin told Adam to go ahead since he was in front before the crash.  As my Dad and Adam's Dad said "That was a class act move".  I am looking forward to racing with you more Colin.
     Tallahassee didn't go quite as planned.  My Dad took us on a preride and went over some of the things on the course to watch out for, like the two fence post at the start.  All of the CY/LeRoy team made it through but some other racers were not as lucky!  The second preride lap we got to open it up a little and I was feeling good.  Then the rain started.  We had a river next to our canopy.  After the rain stopped we rode a little more to see how the trail was and sure enough it was slick.




Creek Crossing

     Race Day!  I was as pumped as ever and the 11:30 start could not get here quick enough.  I went into the woods 4th and settled in.  I quickly made a few moves and worked my way up to 2nd.  I held 2nd until the first part of the second lap when 3rd got around us.  We stayed on his wheel for a while and then had trouble making quick passes as we caught other class riders.  1st opened up a gap that we were not able to close and I lost a little distance from 2nd.  I ended up 3rd for the day but was happy with my performance.  My Niner RDO performed great but I didn't have enough food in me to keep the legs turning fast enough to win it.  Lesson learned and on to the next race.  Andy kept telling us at camp that nutrition is everything and it is!  Props to Cody Ham on the win and to the rest of the CycleYouth/LeRoy's team for a great performance!

CycleYouth/LeRoy's results:
Me-3rd 15-18
Adam Cohen-5th 15-18
Madison McDaniel-5th base women
Sam Connell-3rd 11-14
Jordon Karras-4th 11-14
Ethan Audette-5th 11-14
David Jones-7th 11-14
Morgan Connell-11th 11-14
Jared Coker-18th 11-14

 

Florida State Championship Series

     After a very productive year on the mountain bike I am pumped for the upcoming FSC series! 
     I have a new bike, Niners carbon Air 9 RDO.  Thanks to LeRoy  at LeRoy's Bikeworks for somehow managing to get me Niners Limited Edition green bike.  It is a lot faster than my 26" bike and this bike handles like a dream.  I know we are in Florida, but what hills we do have shows just how well this bike climbs. 
     I also have a new team to ride with this year.  My Dad was able to convince Andy Johnston of CycleYouth to let LeRoy's be one of CY's DEVO shops, the only one in Florida.  This has helped with recruiting more junior MTBer's and my Dad and LeRoy have put together a top notch team for the FSC.  Our team is me (15) 15-18, Sam Connell (13) 11-14, Madison McDaniel (11) Base women, Adam Cohen (15) 15-18, and Matt Thomas(18) Base 19-29.
     This year I stayed away from the PS3 over the summer and kept up a steady training program.  I attended CycleYouth's summer Expert camp and learned a lot.  Andy taught me different pedal stroke techniques and worked a lot with me on climbing those mountains at DuPont and Pisgah.  Andy also talked in great detail about nutrition and changed my eating patterns.  Thanks Andy, all your advice is working.  We were also fortunate enough for Andy to have pro downhiller and former member of CycleYouth Ethan Quehl come over for a few days to work on cornering technique.
     My Dad has been coaching the CY team by setting up weekly rides and passing on what we have learned from past years of racing to the new junior riders on the team.  The CycleYouth/LeRoy's bikeworks team is showing up for the FSC and we are going to be FAST! 

8 hours of San Felasco

     The 8 Hours of San Felasco is always a fun race for me.  It is the week before the Florida State Championship series and gives me a good idea on where I stand with the competition.  This year I teamed up with Sam Connell and my Dad.  Sam Started the race so he could gain more experience riding in a big crowd.  He had a great first lap and proved he is ready for state.
     My first lap I was feeling really good and pushed myself up all the climbs to see how well I was handling some elevation.  My heart rate was looking good and I was recovering really well after each climb.  My lap times were in the mid 40's for the ~9.5 mile course and I was satisfied with that since Ryan Woodall was doing them in the 38's.
     It started raining during our final rotation.  My Dad was on the course when the rain came in but he wasn't muddy when he finished so I didn't worry about trail conditions.  However, the rain was not letting up and when Sam finished his lap he was muddy from head to toe.  I started out hammering it but quickly realized that San Felasco was SLICK when wet.  I backed off my pace to avoid falling and possibly getting injured.  I want to go into the FSC 100% healthy.  I didn't crash and we held our 10th place position.  My Dad took his last lap slow since we were a lap ahead of 11th and I told him how slick it was.

     I am happy with our finish, 10 out of 22 teams.  Shout out goes out to all the teams that finished and to the team of Ryan Woodall, Brian Bombassei and Andrew Danford for winning the 3 person team event.  It was also good to see Tinker Juarez out there winning the solo competition.  The last time I raced the same race as him I was 8 and on a 24" bike!

2012 Urban MTB Crit

     Red Trail Racings 2012 Urban MTB Crit was by far the best one yet!  The weather was good and the crowd was pumped up for the event.  For those who are not familiar with this race it is one of a kind.  We convert our mountain bikes to road bikes by changing the tires to slicks.  The 2 mile course goes up a parking garage and back down,  over to City Hall and down the entry steps.  From there we go down more stairs to the lake and back up the hill to the parking garage. 
     I was lined up on the front row with the rest of my CycleYouth/LeRoy's Bikeworks teammates but missed clipping in on the start.  The first lap I had to make up about 10 spots but quickly ended up behind Brawley Adams to trade back 1st and 2nd overall.  Brawley and I gapped the field and had a real fun time racing with each other...until..the rain started to come down just enough to make the course slick.  The worst part was in the parking garage where I took a spill toward the end of the race.  Brawley was able to gap me and finished 1st overall.  I ended up 2nd overall and 1st out of 19 in the junior division.  A big shout out goes out to the rest of my team for a great hard fought race -- Sam Connell 3rd, David Jones 4th, Ethan Audette 5th, Jordon Karras 8th and Morgan Connell 9th.