Florida Sunshine

     Starting the year in Florida is always welcome. After this year's nasty winter weather I was more than ready to get out in the sunshine and do some racing on the mountain bike. I wasn't as prepared as I had hoped to be, but most of it was out of my control. There were a lot of good parts about those few weeks. I got to spend a lot of time with my wonderful girlfriend Shannon. She decided Florida sounded good too, so she hopped in the car and made the trip down with me.

    We tried to make it more of a trip and take our time going down, leaving on Thursday after work. I have driven down there on Saturday to get there just in time for a pre-ride, then race Sunday and drive back home. It's almost a 10 hour drive one way and that leaves you drained both mentally and physically. We made a trip over to Dawsonville, GA to go by the Pearl Izumi Factory Store. I needed some new shoes for trail running and for work. The staff there are always so great and they hooked me up with some shoes to my liking in a matter of minutes.

My new trail running shoes. Ready for another XTERRA.

     After Pearl it was on to Atlanta with a stop in Sandy Springs. Being the little Mormon couple we are, we had to stop by the newly renovated Atlanta LDS temple. It was really cool on the outside and we couldn't wait to come back in April to see the inside once it was complete.

Atlanta LDS Temple

Me and my Shannon had a lunch break on the Temple lawn

     We made it down to Gainesville on Friday night in time to make a little dinner. Saturday morning we slept in for the first time in forever! Then we cruised over to my favorite campus in the whole wide world, THE University of Florida. We caught a little of spring practice for the football team and checked out the always nice Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, as has been my tradition the past few years. Shannon is not a Gator fan like me so I was very grateful that she was so into going over and looking at the campus and field.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators

     We made a stop by the Oaks Mall on the way over to the course. Shannon left with a pair of Gator socks. That's the first step in her conversion over to the orange and blue. :)

     We got to the course and decided to hike back into the woods and have lunch by one of the lakes. I have always heard there are alligators in the lakes around the course, but I hadn't seen one and really didn't believe it. Well I was proved wrong when one came cruising through the water right in front of us as we sat on a bluff overlooking the lake. I about flipped out of my chair trying to get the camera out.

One of the overlooks along the course at Haile's Trails

My first alligator sighting!

They are really intimidating the way they cruise through the water.

     We had a lot of fun on pre-ride day. I was excited to get my old number 13 back. 

     I did 2 laps to dial in the course. It was in the reverse direction of every time I've raced there. Then I took Shannon on a hike to show her some good spots to spectate.

The trail went through a section covered with Spanish moss.

The Spanish moss mullet was then formed.

Shannon chillin' on a rock overlooking the lake.

         Sunday was race day and I was excited to try out the hardtail in its first race. And I wanted to see how my condition was at this point. I had a good start and was in the battle the first two laps, staying wihtin 20 seconds of the top 5. I hung in 6th-8th spot battling back and forth until I crashed at the end of lap 2. I lost the lead group and never really made it back to them. The bike was awesome though. I made a few mistakes early, but after while I had learned its style and had a good time on it.

Chatting with Thomas Tunrer on the line

Pro start

    Shannon kept me pumped as I rode hard, trying to hold my 8th spot. I did well dealing with the heat the first 3 laps, but it started getting to me on lap 4. I had to back off some and finally lost complete sight of the riders ahead. I was holding off those behind and on my way to my goal of a top 10, but it was frustrating to be held back by heat and not by lack of strength. All my training rides had been at 50 degrees or less so it was no surprise that 82 started to get to me.

     I crashed hard at the end of lap 4 while trying to pass a very stubborn lapped rider. Got to love those kind of riders. Of course it happened right in front of Shannon too. I lost a good piece of skin on the leg and really banged up my knee which made me have to soft pedal for a mile or two, giving up 2 spots in the process. My last lap was bad. I never really got my rhythm back and ended up finishing 10th. I was heppy with a top 10, but it kind of looked bad on paper because I was the last finisher. It still amazes me how many people just give up and quit when they get behind.

Me hammering a hill behind a lapped rider just seconds before my lap 4 crash.

Last time up this dreaded climb in the sun

One of the Junior racers taking an off-camber section.

     We had a great time and enjoyed the break from the cold. I considered it a successful race and felt good about the following weekend's race at Chickasaw. More to come on that race...