Lees McCrae Collegiate Race

Downhill-

Yesterday and today made me remember by I love racing mountain bikes. Yesterday we raced downhill at Beech Mountain and once again what would a downhill race in the high country of North Carolina be like with out a bit of rain...or maybe a lot. All morning and early after it poured and poured rain. The top half of the mountain was covered in a deep and dense fog making it very hard to see the trail. Along with deep fog, a lot of mud and water made it impossible to ride with goggles and even harder to ride with out them. So I ended up squinting the best I could in sections where I knew mud was more likely to be flung up. Practice went great despite being soaked to the bone with mud. Beech has a high speed quad to get us up to the top but that didn't help us stay any more drier. Part of the reason for being so soaked was getting poured on while riding the chair lift up.

I had high hopes for the track drying out after the rain stopped and the collegiate mens A riders were relegated to the end of the start list. I was DEAD wrong. The USAC riders and the rest of the collegiate riders blew the course out completely. Every line I had practiced was gone or cross rutted. Also the drying conditions had just made the trail go from wet and grippy to peanut butter-like and very very sloppy. I was 5th from last to take my run with a clear view of the beautiful high country mountain in the back ground. My race run was less than stellar. I came off the bike in the 2nd woods section after tagging a tree with my left hand. The rest of the trail brought a few more wrecks into some small trees and a lot sliding around. I got down to the bottom and was sure I had put up a terrible run but to my surprise I posted up a 5th place finish. After such a harsh run I was happy with 5th.

Dual Slalom-

Today brought a different story with beautiful blue skies, drying dirt, and good vibes. Dual slalom around racing around the south east has one of the best race scenes I have ever been around. LMC combined the last round of the Beech Mountain Triple Crown Race Series with ours. So today we had our regular collegiate scene plus the local cat1,2,3 and pro/open crew putting up some great racing. I was stoked to put up a 1st place qualifier time after a less than perfect qualifier run. I had a easy first few rounds until I got into the semi-final rounds. It took me until that time to find my groove on the course. I have raced the slalom course at LMC since the other ETSU boys helped build it for the 2008 collegiate nationals. So going into the race I always feel good and confident knowing I only have to practice to get my legs warm. In the semi-final round I had to go up against a good friend, Alex Honkenen. Alex gave me a great race where I had to put up a good fight in order to make it to the finals. For the finals I had to race Ben Hulse, someone that I have always had great races with for the last 3 years. I was super amped for the finals and stoked to be racing Ben. Ben and I were neck and neck going after the rhythm section going into the mid-way berms when I set up for the inside turn a little too early. I ended up sliding out good and proper making it so I had to put more than a 1.5 second time in the next race in order to pull out a win. I had a great second run and won the race but I was only able to put .8 seconds into Ben so I ended up 2nd for the day. I was super stoked to be back racing mountain bikes with some great people! I wanted to thank everyone for their support and cheers. Also I hope all of the dudes who got hurt this weekend, Thomas, Ben, etc... get better soon and get back killin it. Thats all for now! More to come soon!