Our drive down was a long one thanks to getting stuck in traffic around Atlanta. I absolutely hate driving through Atlanta. Rarely do you ever make it through without losing at least 30 minutes in traffic. We lost over an hour on the south side of town. The only good thing about our detour off I-75 was that we at least got to see some nice backroads and also the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA.
Our lost time gave us less play time so we did not get to do any exploring outside of our pre-ride on Saturday. We did make the most of our lap on the course though. Dina came with us, so she and I practiced our lines and tried our best to learn the layout of the course. I have raced here before but it has been many years. I remembered very little about the course. We will be starting from a different location and going in the opposite direction around the trails, so it is like a new race for me. I think that has really made this year fun. We have been to a lot of new places, but even the places I have been to before changed so much that they felt new. I like the challenge of learning a new trail.
Creek along the course
We took time after our lap to play in the creek that runs through the park and took some pictures in a really cool creek bottom that was one of the greenest areas I have ever seen. The pictures we took do not do justice to the color this place presented. It was a great place to do some "Team Greer" photos of us with our bikes. I found a few logs to play on before we left. We all had a lot of fun.
The green bottom
Dina and her new bike
Me
Shannon
Riding a log
Sunday brought good weather. It was sunny, but much cooler than the past week has been. It felt like riding with an air conditioner next to you compared to what Montgomery Bell felt like last weekend. The trail was dry. It was one of few dry races we have had this season. I liked the course. It was difficult to get a rhythm going on the rooty trails, but I managed to find a rhythm just like I did at Montgomery Bell. The trails are very similar. Dauset is easier though, with shorter, more gradual climbs compared to Monkey Bell.
The six-mile loop was preceded by a short parade loop. We started on a gravel road, shooting across a dam next to a pond, then up a steep hill on concrete before the road changed back to gravel. Upon entering the woods, there was a long singletrack descent before a short climb to the finish area to start the main loop. The main loop was mostly descending on rough, rooty doubletrack early before a long climb up the terraced hills of the park. The terraces provide some short, steep humps, but then the climb is very gradual as you go across the hillside to the next terrace step-up. So it takes a long time to ride each terrace and climb this hill. After the first climb comes a long fire road that mostly descends. Then comes another long climb. This one has no terraces, but it is still long and mostly gradual. Once at the top, there was a technical descent to a short, steep climb with some roots on it. Then you descend back down to the bottom of the hill, following a creek for most of the rest of the loop. This section is flat and fast! There would be some drafting going on here for sure. A bridge takes you across the creek where you hit the final climb up to the finish. There was not much room for a sprint. The course was wide when you popped out of the woods, but there were roots everywhere that basically restricted you to one line for the final 50 meters. You would have to pull out something special to make a pass before the finish if you were behind exiting the woods.
Only one other Pro signed up today. It has been disappointing to have so few riders this season, but I have enjoyed racing with the Cat.1 19-39 guys. We did a combined start since both classes were pretty light on attendance. The combined start was good as the two classes are combined for the GSC series so I would rather race head-to-head for the points than to go by times at the end. Kyle Ellis was the other Pro on the line. He has been riding well and was the one that held me off in the sprint at Clemson when I came from behind on the last lap. I was so close to getting that first Pro SERC win then and I had not forgotten about it at all. I knew this course was better for me than Clemson, so I had some confidence. Today was the day to get that win.
I got the jump off the line and then cruised alongside Chris Lessing as we went across the dam. I didn't really want to lead early on. I had some good lines in mind and I didn't want to show them to everyone on the first lap. Kyle did want to lead and took off as we approached the concrete climb and I hopped on his wheel. He led us around the parade loop and into the first of four laps on the main loop.
Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 start
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Singlespeed start
Cat. 2 Junior start
Cat. 2 Women on the line
I felt good and had it on cruise behind Kyle in the opening miles. He usually starts very hard so it gave me more confidence to be sticking to him without a lot of effort. Chris attacked the group on the fire road section after the first climb. I followed him by Kyle, then followed until we got close to the next climb before I attacked to take the lead. I wanted to put someone between me and Kyle so maybe I could get a gap opened up on one of the next few climbs. My plan did not work exactly as I thought. The gap opened up almost immediately. Chris was the only rider that could hang with me up the next climb. I had only been giving it about 90% up to that point. Once I saw the gap, I gave it 100% the rest of the lap. Chris and I are battling for the GSC Series. I am ahead of him by just two points. But today I was willing to work with him to get away. I wanted a Pro win and to increase my lead in the SERC series as much as possible. SERC is the main goal, GSC is secondary. I could try to get rid of him later in the race.
I kept the pace high the rest of the lap. Chris didn't provide any help, but I didn't really care. I felt great and we were pulling away. Our 28:00 lap time (on the main loop) blew the minds of a lot of the locals as they thought it would be hard to go under 30 minutes on this course. We had around 50 seconds lead over Pete Edmondson, who is currently 3rd in the GSC Series standings. Kyle was 1:25 back.
Chris Lessing
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Kyle Ellis
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Kayley Burdine was the only Pro/Cat. 1 woman today
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Lap two was much of the same. Me riding hard with Chris in tow. I stayed smooth and just focused on riding my race. We went faster this lap with a 27:50, and pushed the lead over Pete to 1:50. Kyle was not having a good day and faded back to over 12 minutes behind after this lap. I didn't know he was that far back, but I was already turning my attention to Chris. It was time to race it out between us. I put in some hard efforts on every climb on lap 3. Chris was able to follow them all. He did make a mistake at one point and dropped back. I made it as hard for him to catch back up as I possibly could, but he got back to me before the flat section along the creek and he was able to rest on my wheel. We again got a little faster on lap 3 with a 27:44.
Me and Chris
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Photo by Diana Bridges
Photo by Dianna Bridges
I continued to hit the climbs hard on lap 4. Chris again answered them all and then attacked me on the fire road section. I was able to get to his wheel, then slid out in a corner. I didn't go down, but that opened up the gap right as we started the second of the two longer climbs. I had to work hard for the next 10 minutes to close down the gap, but I got back to him at almost the exact same spot where he caught me the lap before. This time it was my turn to sit on his wheel along the creek section. I wanted to pass him before we got to the last climb, but we were just going too fast in this section. The straightaways were not long enough for me to come by without running him off the trail at the next turn. I decided to save everything for one big attack up the final climb. He seemed to be hurting and I still felt great so I thought I could take him if I gave it all my effort.
We came into the climb with lots of traffic ahead. We were passing two Cat. 2 riders in the spot where I had hoped to attack. It was constant traffic up to the finish and I could not get by him. There was simply no room. I tried to pull out in the sprint, but just ran out of time. I was faster, but the sprint was too short for me to make the pass stick. I lost it by a bike length. I won my first Pro race, but it didn't feel as good as I had hoped. I only beat one rider who was having an awful day, and I lost the overall in a sprint I should have won. I was happy, however, to cross the line with all negative splits, minimal fatigue and no mechanical issues. Our last lap was the fastest of the day at 27:40. I don't think I have ever raced an XC where I had negative splits every single lap. That's really hard to do and that's why we smoked everyone today. We finished 3:40 ahead of Pete, who took 2nd in Cat. 1 19-39. Third place in Cat. 1 was over 21 minutes behind us! Kyle managed to grunt through his bad day and get to the finish to take 2nd in Pro at 24:31 back.
Pro podium
Photo by GoneRiding.com
Kayley Burdine and I showing off our SERC Series leader's jerseys on the podium for the fourth consecutive race
Dina hit the course right as I finished. She raced the Cat. 3 Women's race for two full laps on the course with five riders. After the parade lap, it was already down to three riders. Maiah Wiley led into the woods ahead of Stacey Williamson and Dina. Maiah got a gap by the end of the first lap. She had about 20 seconds over them at the end of the creek section where Dina was in 2nd and Stacey right on her wheel in 3rd. On the first climb of the second lap, Stacey bridged across to Maiah with Dina dropping back to 45 seconds behind them. They were in some heavy traffic as they were passing the men that started ahead of them. The next time I saw them was starting the creek section and Maiah had gapped Stacey again. I missed the finish, but apparently Stacey got back to her as they finished just a few seconds apart with Maiah holding on for the win. Dina faded on the hills the second lap and came in 4:20 behind them to finish 3rd. Dina was on the podium yet again, her fourth time in 12 days!
Cat. 3 50-59 class ready to start
Cat. 3 Junior 10-14
Cat. 3 Women underway
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Maiah Wiley leading on lap 1
Dina and Stacey Williamson
Maiah
Photo by Dianna Bridges
Stacey on her way to 2nd place
Dina took 3rd on her new Epic
Cat. 3 Women's podium
Below is some video footage both waves racing. Shannon and Dina both had cameras on course for the Yellow Wave start so you get to see the jump off the line as well as 30 seconds later when the riders had just entered the singletrack and began the parade loop descent. Then comes White Wave starts and some footage from out on the course that I shot while riding around watching Dina race.
Video: Jackson, GA SERC/GSC race
After the race, we rode the trail from Dauset to Indian Springs State Park. We checked out the park, including the springs and campground. They are having some problems with the dam there so the lake is currently drained to allow them to make repairs to the dam.
Chief McIntosh Lake view from the connector trail
The lake level was low for dam repairs
Indian Springs as Big Sandy Creek flows through the park
Zoom in on this painting if you can. This guy painted the springs from the roadside and it looked better than any picture I could have taken.
Then we spun back to Dauset on the road before visiting the Dauset Trails Nature Center. It's a cool place where they rescue injured animals. The animals are on display like at a zoo so you can see them while they are being rehabilitated. They have lot of wild animals, including a beaver, owls, an eagle, a coyote, bears, a mountain lion and foxes. They also have a farm area where they keep horses, cows, goats, pigs and chickens. The pond inside the park is full of all kinds of fish, including some huge carp that were swimming at the surface, and also several different types of turtles. We saw a huge alligator snapping turtle and also a softshell turtle, something I had never seen in person before. There's also a reptile house in the basement under the Nature Center where they have turtles, snakes and alligators. It's a cool place to visit and I recommend it if you are in the area. It's free to walk through. They accept donations, but do not require you to pay to see the animals.
Bald Eagle
Pigs
All kinds of turtles in the pond
The softshell turtle at the surface for just a moment
Snapping turtle and alligators in the Reptile House
The drive home was about as much fun as the drive down. We got hung up for over an hour again in Atlanta and took another detour of the Georgia countryside. I had two days to rest and then it was time for some crit. racing in Nashville at Race #5 of the Music City Crits Series. The rain that has plagued us all season finally held off and we were able to race. The course for this round was the original course that we raced in Race #1 this season, consisting of the two 180-degree turns that everyone loves to hate. My goal was to be very aggressive tonight. I was determined to make the breakaway.
We started a bit late after a nasty crash near the end of the Cat. 5 race saw a few riders need attention. We were told before the start that this would be a 50-minute race. I was ready for the early attacks and began to follow moves on lap 2. I went with everything that moved the first seven minutes before I had to recover. After a few minutes in the pack, I went on the attack again, trying to follow every counterattack until I finally ran out of steam at about halfway. A big attack came when I was gassed. I yelled to John Carr that this was the move that would stick. He knew it too, but both of us were too gassed to chase. A lap later, John followed a move that took him across to the lead, making it a break of six off the front. I tried to bridge across, but couldn't make it. I had to recover for a few minutes, then I tried again. I didn't want to give up on having an aggressive race just because the break was gone. I kept attacking, but the teams that had a rider in the break were all over me. I never understand why they won't work with me when we get a gap. If we were somehow strong enough to bridge the gap, they would have a huge numbers advantage. I attacked over and over. They weren't the best attacks I have ever done, but I kept trying to shake the riders on my wheel. I at least wanted to make their job of covering the moves a little bit harder. I spent over half of the race either off the front or on the front of the group. It was the most aggressive race I think I have ever ridden.
The break stayed away and the top six spots were settled among them while we sprinted for 7th. I had good positioning the final lap. We were flying down the backstretch the final lap, rolling about 34 mph. The rider in front of me sat up and I had to close the gap, which is hard to do at that speed even when you do have great legs. I did get across the gap though and picked off two riders in the sprint to take 5th in the field sprint for 11th overall. We finished with a 25.4 mph average speed. I hit my highest heart rate of the year in the finish tonight, breaking into the 190s for the first time this year. I hoped I would get the Most Aggressive Rider Award for the night and get to wear the red mohawk at the next race, but I didn't get it. If that wasn't enough to get it, I don't think I will ever get it. I don't think I can be any more aggressive than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment