FSC #5 SAN FELASCO

 Well, the highlight of the weekend was Andy coming down to the race.  He did a preride with us and showed the whole team a few valuable skills.  Thanks for showing up Andy, it was good to see you again.

Now to the race.  The weather felt great and trails were in great shape.  I was hoping for more climbing but the rescent rains flooded some of the trails and forced a change in the race course.  There was a crash on the start caused by Tyler coming unclipped and my teammate Adam had nowhere to go but down.  He gathered himself fast and was back on my wheel in no time.  We spent most of the race with Colin who we knew was a great finisher.  Since this was Colin's home course we had our work cut out for us.  On the second lap Colin attacked on a climb and we stayed with him for as long as we could.  My heart rate was running in the 190's and I had to back off a little.  I could still see Colin but everytime I closed in he attacked again, eventually increasing his gap.  Adam and I finished the race with a teammate sprint and are looking forward to FSC #6 in Miami.

 

 

 

CycleYouth results:

me--2nd 15-18

Adam--3rd 15-18

Madison--5th W3

Sam--2nd 11-14

Jordon--3rd 11-14

Ethan--4th 11-14

Morgan--5th 11-14

Jared--14th 11-14

The CycleYouth/LeRoy's Bikeworks team is still in 1st place

 

here is a link to my Drift helmet camera video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CvlHf0zGng

 

some video Andy took with his Contour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNXwzyVazRw&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEAHmhu8ZrY&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Xy_MZHJrI&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HEaVVaO_i8&feature=plcp

FSC #4 Alafia

     Finally a race I was completly happy with.  Yes, I won.  Coming into this race with the CycleYouth/LeRoy's team in 2nd place the whole team was ready to race. 

     I got a good start and entered the woods first.  I was suprised because nobody made a move on the very long double track to the woods.  Alafia is close to my house so maybe everyone was wanting follow my line before making a move.  Home course advantage does play a role.  Anyway, my teammate Adam Cohen made a great pass right before the woods and moved from 4th to 2nd right on my wheel.  With Adam there we chased down the 40-49 class to get through them as fast as possible before the first technical sections arrived.  There was about 40 of them split into two groups of twenty and we were able to get mixed in with them right as we were entering the technical stuff.  We had to run a few climbs but made it through pretty quick.  We picked off the rest of the 2nd group of 40-49 right before the next section and was able to really move through Bridges.  The next section was about 2 miles long and we were starting to catch the 40-49 lead group.  That section is pretty tight but those guys let us pass with very little trouble.  Then the last technical section was Roller Coaster.  I love this section and was looking forward to Adam and I trying to open up a gap.  But one of the 30-39 guys decided he was coming to Alafia to block racers instead of racing.  We had on open spot to pass but Mr. Blocker was intentionally moving left and right to keep the rider behind him for moving on.  The blocked rider Adam and myself were all yelling at this guy to let us pass but he was determined to not let anyone around him.  Even those not in his class.  FINALLY the trail opened up enough where we had enough room to shoot past him with out him being able to cut in front of us and we were on our way again.  (enough complaints came in about the blocker from multiple classes that he was DQed.  We know what jersey he was wearing so we will be better prepared around their riders)  The second lap comes and we enter North Creek.  We didn't do this trail on the first lap and I can really flow through here.  Adam was still on my wheel but he soon faded.  I had no idea he wasn't there and just kept hammering.  I got held up on another climb but after that it opened up nice and I was able to hold my rythm.  Because I wasn't concentrating on riders around me I started to wonder where Colin was.  He proved at the last two races how strong of a finisher he is so I knew he was coming fast.  All I could do was go hard and hope he wouldn't catch me.  Thankfully he didn't!

  

 Home course advantage payed off and the whole team had a great day despite a few mechanicals.





Me -- 1st 15-18
Adam Cohen -- 4th 15-18
Madison McDaniel -- 5th W3
Sam Connell -- 2nd 11-14 (with his 1st sprint finish)
Jordon Karras -- 7th 11-14 (broken spoke)
Ethan Audette -- 5th 11-14
Morgan Connell -- 6th 11-14
Jared Coker -- 15th 11-14

FSC #3 Hailes Trails Gainesville

     Gainesville went good but not so good.  Saturday afternoon was the Individual Time Trail (ITT) that was cancelled in Tallahassee due to rain.  I was pumped for it since it is worth up to 5 bonus points.  It was a 4 mile sprint that about made me puke!  I knew it would be.  I had a real fast and smooth run and only hit 1 tree towards the end.  I kind of bounced off it so it really didn't slow me down any.  My time was 18:41 and that was not only the fastest in my class but the fastest in the whole white wave.  I was very suprised to find out that it was the 26th fastest time out of almost 180 riders for both the white and yellow waves.  LeRoy's Bikeworks (my bike shop sponsor) was the round sponsor and gave new Orbea helmets to the fastest Junior 15-18, Junior 10-14 and to the GM base class.  So I got me a new Orbea helmet.  Thanks LeRoy!  Oh, the fastest white wave mens division received an Orbea 29er frame and fastest female a set of SRAM wheels. 
    

     Sunday.  Race day.  I was still pumped from the ITT and felt good on the line.  I had a game plan and was ready to race.  When we took off  I got sandwiched on the sprint and had to back off a little.  I still went into the woods in good shape and most of us stuck together for the first half of the lap.  Back in the rock quarry section we had a climb that is jagged rock with some steep elevation.  This is where Andy Johnston's coaching from CycleYouth camp took over.  Andy worked a lot with me on pedal stroke during camp and I have been using his technique ever since.  I was able to pass everyone in front of me on the climb and took over first place.  Now it was time to open it up and see what everyone else brought.  I stretched my lead out to about 45 seconds after the first lap but I couldn't back off because Colin, who won FSC #2 was in 3rd with my teammate Adam Cohen in 2nd.  Adam has been getting faster every race so far and I knew he wasn't far behind.  Colin is usually faster on his second lap and Adam is very consistent on his laps so I had to keep hammering.  With about 2 miles to go I had a 39 second lead when I rounded to corner at the big rock section and there was two other races on the ground all tangled up.  Because of the lay out of the trail I had no place to go.  To the right was a 50 foot drop into a quarry and to the left was rock too big to climb over with a bike.  I had no choice but to try to get them to somehow let me around.  A special thanks to some racers from the yellow wave who did a lot of yelling at the downed riders for me.  Anyway, I was still in first by about 15 seconds and had the steepest climbs in front of me.  Adam Cohen got stopped going up a climb by a rider in another age group who did not make one of the climbs and Colin bolted around him.  Colin then turned on the rockets he keeps somewhere in his bike and closed what little gap I had left.  Colin simply had more in him and won the sprint finish by about 5 seconds.  I finished 2nd and teammate Adam Cohen took 3rd.  I could blame the crash that held me up for me not winning but that is a part of racing. We are three races into the season and I am now in 1st place in the Junior 15-18 category.  Adam Cohen also moved up to 4th overall.
    
     So far this race season is looking good.  Our CycleYouth/LeRoy's Bikeworks team is now in 2nd place in the team competition, moving up from 4th after FSC #2.  Everyone is performing as expected and we are looking forward to next weeks race at Alafia.  Congratulations to all the CY/LeRoy racers for giving it their all.

Me--2nd 15-18
Adam Cohen--3rd 15-18
Madison McDaniel--mechanical DNF W3 (next week Madison)
Sam Connell--2nd 11-14
Jordon Karras--4th 11-14
Ethan Audette--5th 11-14
Morgan Connell--11th 11-14
Jared Coker--13th 11-14

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!