Macon Me Happy

    I had a good week of training on the trail at home after the Montgomery Bell TT finale. I kept the pace light and logged miles with the family rather than hammering away the fast laps. The weekend ahead in Macon featured a TT & XC so I wanted to make sure I wasn't tired going into the weekend after such a hard race at the Bell. It was nice to be able to ride with everyone at home. The whole family was able to ride this week, including Shannon, who has been off the mountain bike a lot the past few months due to some elbow pain. Performing massage and other manual techniques at work got her elbow sore and we just can't seem to get it to go away completely. She has good days where she doesn't feel it, but then it suddenly comes back at random times. The mountain bike seems to aggravate it, but she has gotten better so she was able to get out on the trail some this week.

My Mom and Dina riding behind my house on the section that has now become known as "Buttercup Row." We had no idea these flowers were here until they popped up last week.

      We had to be on the road early on Saturday to make it to Macon in time for the afternoon time trial. This was the first round of the Georgia State Championship Series, being held in Macon, GA at the L.H. Thomson Trails behind the L.H. Thomson factory. The series is made up of five rounds this year. Two rounds have bonus races. One is this weekend in Macon with the only TT of the series, the other will be in Acworth in June with a short track. I was excited to get the series going, especially after how well I rode last weekend. I had never been to this trail system either which always makes things extra fun. L.H. Thomson is a manufacturer of bike components, some of the best in my opinion. I know carbon rules the bike world these days, but I still prefer some strong aluminum on some parts such as the stem and seatpost. Thomson makes both of those components. I am currently using a Thomson post on my Epic, so it was pretty cool to bring it back to its place of birth. I also have Thomson posts on my old Lemond road bike, on my Titus Racer-X, and did have one on my Redline cross bike before the frame broke. L.H. Thomson also does aerospace engineering and manufacturing.

My seatpost came home for the weekend

     It was a warm week, but winter made a stand as the weekend arrived. It was snowing when we left home and actually accumulated about three inches on the ground. Luckily, we got ahead of the snow before it got on the roads. We stayed on the tail-end of the warm air mass as we traveled south, but the forecast was for the cold front to follow us all the way to Macon and bring us some precipitation during the night.

     This was the first road trip for us since September last year. It was nice to be on the road heading for a race. Traveling is part of the race weekend experience. Encompassed within the term "traveling" is the actual driving as well as all the other experiences you get on the road. Things like watching gas station signs like a hawk in order to get the cheapest price, making sandwiches while pumping gas, dodging crazy drivers and thinking you will die multiple times along your journey, and the strange moments in the rest stop restrooms where there always seems to be some guy struggling in one of the stalls. Apparently, the women's restroom is not as exciting according to Shannon and Dina, but I rarely come out of a public restroom without a story to tell.

     Dina made the trip with us as she is hoping to do most of the mountain bike races with us this year. I am glad she is excited to race and I look forward to showing her some of the cool things we find on our trips. It's also very nice to have someone to split expenses with.

     It was a perfect day in Macon when we arrived. The trail was dry and the weather in the upper-60s. A lot of the riders from further south complained of it being cold, but upper-60s is a great temperature for racing. Not too cold and not too hot. We didn't have a lot of time before the TT started, so we focused on pre-riding the TT course instead of the XC. It was mostly the same, but the TT skipped one longer section that we would face each lap in the XC. I got in two laps and found a sandy course with a lot of roots. Other than a long field loop to start the course, it was all singletrack which was music to my ears. The TT course was just over four miles in length. I was guessing about a 20-minute race for my group.

     Riders were seeded with advanced categories going first. I got nominated to go first since I won the SERC Series last year. I prefer to chase and have some times gaps, but so does everybody else. Somebody has to go first so today it was me. It always makes me nervous going first as you don't know who is out on course and if they realize what is coming at them.

     I took off fast, but held back just a little bit in the opening field to ensure I didn't blow up. The first three or four minutes were all power. Even once you went into the woods it was straight trail with a lot of pedaling to take you to the first twisty section. I felt good and went really hard in the first twisty part. There were some small hills in the middle and end of the course and I was hurting a bit when I got to them. I felt like I was not going fast enough, but I was able to get a time check on one of the loops where we doubled back and realized I was still holding the one minute gap on Simon Lewis, who started right behind me. That kept me digging really hard. I knew I had a chance to win this thing.

Simon Lewis started one minute behind me and was a tough one to run from

Me in the new black skinsuit that I really like

     I made some mistakes in the turns, but I was able to go hard all the way to the line and lay down a time of 18:19. I watched the clock for the first few riders and was relieved to see that it was over a minute between each of them. I know I'm riding well, but this field is tougher than what I faced at Montgomery Bell. My time was good enough to top the Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 class, but Mose Howard of the Cat. 1 40+ class was able to run the loop in 18:08, besting me by 11 seconds. Mose is a great rider on this kind of trail so I was not surprised he knocked me off. I knew my time was beatable as I had too many mistakes and was too slow on the first climb or two. The win gave me five points for the series and made me the first GSC leader of the year. I was 16 seconds ahead of Justin McMurrer in second and 17 seconds up on Dustin White in third. Simon took fourth at 18 seconds. It was tight among our group!

Me during the TT

     Dina had a good ride in her first short TT. She finished in 25:11 and took 2nd in Cat. 2 Women. She decided to move up to Cat. 2 this year. She is a solid Cat. 3 that really doesn't have the endurance to add an extra lap in an XC race yet, but she wants to push herself so she upgraded to get in the extra time. Shannon was jumping around the woods and snapping some pics. The trail is very twisty and is great for spectating. Minimal walking is needed to see the riders multiple times.

Dina having fun early in her TT

Dina

This steep pitch was a tough one. Many riders had to dismount on this climb.

     After the race, I took a lap on the XC course in order to spin out the legs and inspect the section we did not use in the TT. I liked that extra piece of trail. It was more tight singletrack, but with more dips and flowy corners than the rest of the course. There was a little climbing, but it was minimal. Overall, I would call these trails flat compared to everything else we race on. There was a nice stream flowing through the latter part of the course that features some small waterfalls and was surrounded by some bright green moss. It was a green strip that seemed to glow in the middle of brown woods.

I really liked the exposed roots next to the falling water. They almost looked like hair.

Strip of green right next to the dull brown trail

Yellow Wave Time Trial Overall Podium. They actually did the podium on Sunday which is why things look wet and cold.

     We grabbed some dinner at Georgia Bob's BBQ in Byron and then relaxed in our hotel room to some college basketball on TV. We had initially planned to camp at the race site, but tent camping wasn't looking like a good idea with the incoming weather so we had to get a hotel. We checked the forecast Saturday evening and it looked like a wet one coming for the XC. North of Atlanta was getting snow, but we would likely just get rain overnight. Chattanooga got several inches of snow and it made us worry about the drive home.

     We woke up to wet conditions on Sunday. It had rained most of the night and was much colder now. I had just put on all new parts on my bike. I was not excited to wreck my new parts in the rain, so I changed back my bottom bracket and pedals in the hotel before breakfast. It was wet and about 40 degrees at the start, but the trail was great thanks to all the sand in the soil. There were no standing puddles in the woods and though the roots were wet, they were not slick. On my warm-up I felt like I was riding on a dry course. The rain didn't slow things down a bit. The cold and wet together were just annoying on the body. I think I could have left my bottom bracket and pedals alone as this course would not have hurt them one bit.

    It was drizzly when we took to the start line at 9:30. We had a decent group of Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 riders, but only three Cat. 1 40+ riders were on the line so they chose to combine us into one big start. That put Mose starting with us so I knew he would want to win the overall and his efforts would likely shape the outcome of our race. We were scheduled for four laps on the six-mile course. I got the jump off the line, then Simon Lewis came by on the first long straight. That was perfect because I didn't want to drag everyone along the opening field section. I got shuffled back to about fifth at one point in the field, but moved back up in the corners before the woods, making two passes just before the singletrack. I ended up in second behind Simon again as we hit the woods. Simon kept things fast as there was room to pass in this first section, but nobody changed positions as we were just going to fast to try anything.

Yellow Wave riders lining up

Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 start line

Simon got to the end of the field first. I'm on the inside here picking up a few spots to enter the woods second.

Dina about to hit the woods for the first time

     Here is a little video of some of the Yellow Wave starts. It's all the video we could get on this rainy day. The quality is bad as we are using a different camera. My camera had some dust on the lens that supposedly couldn't be cleaned. You may have noticed some black specks on my photos back a few months ago from those dust particles. I took it apart a few weeks ago and attempted to clean it on my own, but now the camera just won't function at all. So, we are borrowing an older camera for the time being until I can get a new one.

Video: Yellow Wave start clips

     I was hurting when we hit the twisty stuff the first lap, but I quickly recovered. That was the kind of start that usually is my Achilles heel, but I have improved some with my power and jump off the line so getting into the woods in second was a small victory. Simon led us for most of the opening lap. I was quite comfortable behind him and just biding my time. I passed Simon for the lead with less than a mile to go in the first lap in one of the few spots on this course that is wide enough to make a pass. I upped the pace to shed some riders off the back of our group. We had eight guys together initially, but I got it down to five of us by the end of the lap.

Simon and a few others near the end of lap 1. I was leading here and just out of the shot.

A blurry shot of me leading at the end of lap 1.

    After one lap 1, I was leading over Simon, Mose, Justin McMurrer and Dustin White. They sat on me around the field to start lap 2, then Simon jumped by me just before the singletrack. He led the entire lap this time. Again, I felt like I was on cruise, but we still had two laps to go and I didn't want to show anyone any of the other places I was thinking about making a pass. As we came out to end lap 2, I went for a feed with McMurrer. Simon laid down the power. He and Mose did not take a feed and instead went on the attack. Mose put in a huge dig and hit the woods in first. It was one of those moments where I was on the back foot in a section where I am the weakest. But this year is looking different. I had some legs on the field section and was able to hang onto the group. I couldn't move up, but I didn't get gapped either. And I was able to eat and drink whereas the others did not.

A rider starts lap 2

Nathan Haslick

Riders negotiating some corners in the field section

     The rain began to pick up and was a full on downpour as we moved into lap 3. My glasses got covered in water and started to fog up. I had to take them off about a mile into the loop. I was fifth in the line and had to slow down to get the glasses off. At the same time, Mose was laying it down again. I lost about 10 seconds to the group of three in front of me. Mose pulled away and was out of sight halfway through the lap. It took me about three miles to get back to McMurrer's wheel. Mose had about 20 seconds on us as we ended lap 3 with the rain still coming down steady.

     Again, the feed zone was the attack spot of choice. Dustin White went for it and opened up a gap over Simon. Then there was another gap back to McMurrer and me. I was able to pass him in the field and take over fourth overall. Mose was not really a priority of mine because he is in the 40+ class. I set my sights on Simon and White. It took me about a mile to get across to Simon. McMurrer did not come across the gap with me. There wasn't a lot of places to pass, so I just simply asked Simon if I could come by and he let me go. I told him to get on and we would try to cross the gap to White. As we started the small climbs, we could see White ahead. He was about 15 seconds up and had now caught Mose.

     I hit the next two climbs really hard and cut the gap in half. Simon fell off my wheel, but stayed within sight. Then the cramps I felt last week started to come back. Just like the previous week the cramping was in my quads and came on quickly. Just like that I was reduced to just staying seated. There was only about 10 minutes left to race to I kept pushing hard in the saddle and hoped I could see the finish before the quads gave out all the way. On the descent to the last section, I caught a stob on an off-camber left turn. There were a lot of stobs on the course, but this was one I hadn't noticed before I hit it. The stob went in my rear wheel and ripped out a few spokes. I could hear the clanging and knew immediately what was wrong, but I didn't look down because I didn't want to know how bad it was. I went from bridging to the leaders to trying to hang on to my spot in just a matter of seconds. I had to baby the wheel a little bit in the last mile, but I couldn't back off much as Simon and McMurrer were together now and only about eight seconds back.

     I was able to hold off Simon and McMurrer by a hair. They caught me on the last descent as I picked my way gingerly across the creek. I had just enough in the tank to sprint up the final climb and get past any spots wide enough to make a pass. The finish was too tight for a sprint which probably saved me two positions. Mose and White finished together, giving Mose the 40+ win and White the 19-39 win. I ended up 2nd in the class, with Simon third and McMurrer 4th. The three of us were just 14 seconds behind Mose and White. It was a tight weekend of racing for sure!

     That was a very fast race for this early in the season. I couldn't believe how vicious some of the accelerations were from those guys. For the second time in my life, I had all negative splits. We got faster each lap. I am a bit disappointed to cramp and break the spokes, but it feels good to be in the battle. I am pleased to have held on for 2nd. It would have been easy to have lost two spots there at the end. I will have to work on this cramping thing and figure that out. Everything else looks good. I left Macon with the GSC points lead by one over White thanks to my TT victory and the fact that McMurrer also beat him on Saturday. That's a great way to kick off the series!

     Dina only had three riders in her group. Three laps was a long race for her, but she did well in the cold conditions. She ended 3rd, but that is to be expected until she gets used to the distance. This was a great place for her to do her first rain race. You really can't beat the way this trail handles rain.

Cat. 2 Women Podium

This guy won a baby

Pro/Cat. 1 19-39 podium

     The drive home took a lot longer than the drive down to Macon thanks to some accidents on I-75. We took a detour up to Atlanta. Detours take longer, but you do get to see some cool things. When we went through Culloden, GA we saw the Moto X Compound, which is a motocross training facility run by Matt Walker. I had heard of that place as several big names in the moto world have trained there. Thankfully, the second half of our drive was good. The temp got into the 70s in Chattanooga and Nashville, melting all the snow in the morning hours. We only saw a few white patches in the shady spots atop Mont Eagle. There's a saying around middle Tennessee that says "If you don't like the weather, just wait a day." It proved true this weekend. Snowing Saturday, sunny and warm on Sunday.

When a Plan Comes Together

     My last prep ride before the third Montgomery Bell Winter TT was a trip down to Chickasaw. It was time to start homework on that course in preparation for the Chickasaw Trace Classic coming at the end of March. I hadn't ridden the course since the race last year. I had a day off work so I went down for a ride. My Mom tagged along and got in a few laps as well. It's funny how much time I spend with my Mom now thanks to mountain bikes. I believe we do more things together now that we ever did when I lived under her roof.

     The interesting part of the ride for me was that I forgot my jersey. I did bring a sleeveless base layer so that is what I went with instead of a T-shirt. It was a loose base layer so I was rocking a floppy sleeveless shirt over my tight lycra shorts with some bad tan lines showing on my arms. It may be winter, but the tan lines are still there.

     The ride was informative as far as learning new lines. The trail has changed a lot over the past year. A lot of my favorite lines are gone. They're full of roots or just not there at all anymore. Several trees have fallen forcing reroutes. It was a good trip to see all those things, but I felt absolutely terrible. I had no legs and just felt fatigued overall. I think I was a bit dehydrated and just worn out. I have been training really hard lately and I think I just pushed it a bit too hard. A few too many miles and intervals, and a few too many nights of going to bed hungry.

     I took several days off the bike the week leading into Montgomery Bell Winter MTB Time Trial Series #3. The time I did spend on the bike was slow and easy. I focused off the bike on drinking and eating. I stopped caring about losing more weight and just made sure my energy stores were topped off and ready to go. I was already just shy of five pounds lighter than I was at the February round.

    Taking that much rest makes me nervous. Sometimes the legs don't want to wake up from their nap for a few days. I hammered a lap on our backyard trail the day before the race to open up the legs. I also did this to simulate the next weekend when the Georgia State Championship Series would kick off in Macon with a time trail on Saturday followed by an XC on Sunday. My legs were a little sluggish, but I shattered my PR on the loop by almost a minute. Everything was looking good for a redemption throw-down on Sunday.

     My fear all week was that the weather would not give me an opportunity to run a fast time and move up in the overall. There was a threat of rain on Sunday, but it came well after race time and we were given yet another beautiful day with even better trail conditions than in February. It was a little drier and the trail felt more packed and fast-rolling. I was still hoping to put in a good ride for Kendall. When I got to the race Shawn James was there. Shawn was super supportive of me, helping me during my warm-up and on the start line. He was so appreciative of me wearing the wig and trying to get the word out about his daughter last month. I kind of felt bad that I didn't wear the wig today when I was still riding for her. In the back of my mind I still wanted to donate to Kendall any winnings I could muster up.

     I got pushed back even further on the start order for this round. Like I said before, nobody really believed that I flatted twice last month, so they seeded me further back where they felt I belonged. Again, that's not a bad thing. I like carrots. My goal was to eat every single carrot and come out of the woods first. That was a lofty goal considering how far back I was starting, something like eight minutes behind the first rider. I picked out a few riders that I expected to be my main challengers. Last month's quickest rider and leader of the overall, Jaron Wood, was not racing due to illness. There were three others that are just as fast and would be ripping today. Harrison Klapheke has been riding very well and knows the trail well. He started four minutes ahead. Dustin Burkeen started two minutes up, and Bobby Jones started 1:30 ahead.

     There was no tight riding at the start for me this day. I was hitting my lines from the word go and got right into a good rhythm. I actually had goosebumps in the first section. I had waited a whole month to unleash on this place! I told myself on the start that today was my day. I was going to crush this thing for Kendall and shock some people. The trail at Montgomery Bell suits me perfectly and there was no reason why I shouldn't win if I just try.

Rider just after the start

Tim Bell running geared today

Dustin Burkeen

Bobby Jones

Me on the trail

John Carr

     I used the knowledge I learned from my MBA pre-rides to hit all my lines and rip the opening sections. I went through the first three riders ahead in the first two miles, including Grant Wilson who is a really fast rider. That really pumped me up. On the North Slope section of the course you can see quite a ways in front of you on all the twisting trails so I was able to time some riders and see that I was gaining on every one I timed. My Mom was out on the course on Charlotte's Ridge. I had asked her for time checks. She was so excited when I came by that she just yelled that I was killing everyone and didn't really give me any times. I wasn't sure if that meant I was going fast at that moment when I passed her, or if I was making up a lot of time on those ahead.

     I felt great going up Charlotte's Ridge and the Goat Path climbs. With each passing climb I felt a little bit better. I almost ran into Caleb Skinner at the start of the Goat Path. He was sitting in the middle of the trail looking around and I had to take to the bushes to miss him. I could see Burkeen by the Gnome Climb and that really motivated me to catch him by the top of the next shorter climb. I was so pumped to go by my first target that I just exploded over the top of the climb and put a big gap into him in just a few seconds.

Harrison Klapheke was the first Open class rider to take off today

Bell

Jones had passed Burkeen by Charlotte's Ridge

Burkeen

Caleb Skinner

Me starting Charlotte's Ridge

Grant Wilson

     I backed off for a moment to eat and drink before the Green Trail came. It was a section where I knew I was very fast compared to the others. It was also where I hit the ledge last month and blew my tire off the rim. I was ready for the ledge this time and took the good line beside of it. I knocked off two more riders on this loop and got another time check. My Mom told me I was much faster than everyone else and gave me some actual numbers to back up her claim. Only three Open riders were left in front of me. Two were together at 15 seconds, one was at 1:30, which was Harrison. I caught the closer two riders as we hit the halfway mark and started the bigger hills. Both got off and walked while I was able to ride the Moguls climb. They were walking the good line, but I had the power to run off into the rough stuff and still clean the hill. They had no chance to get on my wheel since they were walking.

Scott Marx out front racing Singlespeed

Harrison on the Green Trail

Bobby Jones

Tim Bell

Rolling a dip on the Green Trail

Burkeen

Harrison

Bobby Jones and Matthew Slavick together

Slavick

Still charging hard. About halfway home here.

Bell

Burkeen

John Carr

Barry Reed

Drew White

     At Tommy's Revenge, just over 40 minutes into the race, only two riders were left ahead. Harrison was a minute ahead and Scott Marx, riding Singlespeed, was still several minutes ahead. I knew I was winning, but I still wanted to catch every single rider so I stayed on the gas. I had made up almost three minutes on Harrison in half of the race so I knew I could get another minute back. My favorite trail on the course, Haynie Branch, came with Harrison now just 25 seconds ahead. Shawn was here and going absolutely nuts cheering for me as he knew I was doing what I said I could do. We got to the two-way bridge crossing so fast today that riders were still coming across it starting their race. I got lucky and didn't meet anyone which is a good thing because I didn't realize people were still starting.

     I set another KOM time through Haynie and was just a few bike lengths off Harrison when we exited that trail and started White Pine with just four miles to go. As I got to Harrison, my legs started to cramp. Not in my hamstrings where I normally cramp, but in my quads. Both of them at the same time. It came on fast. Suddenly, I couldn't stand on the climbs anymore, but I was fine seated so I kept pounding away. Harrison sped up significantly once I got to him, so I just stayed behind him through White Pine. We caught a glimpse of Marx out front and I started to think that maybe I really could pass everyone.

     Harrison and I came flying up to the turn onto Storm Track and it was taped off. We both knew that was part of the race and there had been a mistake in marking the course. He asked what we should do and I said tear down the tape and ride what we knew we were supposed to do. So Harrison busted through the tape and we took off on Storm Track. We got to the end to see it was taped correctly and we knew we had gone the right way. Harrison said that he had taped the course and that it was his mistake. I felt bad for him because he knew his mistake would cause people to go the wrong way. And they did. Storm Track takes several minutes to complete. Not only was Marx nowhere to be seen anymore, but Jones, Matthew Slavick and Burkeen were now ahead of us.

     Harrison punched it up the last climb and put a few bike lengths on me as my cramps were getting worse and I couldn't accelerate that fast seated. Next thing I know there is a guy riding the wrong way towards us, right in the middle of the trail. Harrison got by better than I did and increased his gap. I gave all I had to pull back up to him, but he held a few seconds on me to the line. The tape miscue likely cost me from catching everyone like I had hoped, but I still won the day. My time was 1:30:24, which was 5:40 faster than Jaron's time from last month. So I won the day and the overall!

     I had made up so much time on everyone that even though they missed Storm Track my time was still faster than theirs so I knew I had won even before they sorted out the timing mess. Some riders behind us missed the turn, while others went the right way. Immediately after the race people were accusing me of cheating. I did Storm Track with Harrison so I had a witness. Apparently, the Goat Path was not marked, which is why Caleb was sitting in the trail when I went by. I knew the course so I wasn't even looking for markings. Again, Caleb was a witness that I did that section. I had to leave the parking lot because people were so upset and insisting that I cheated. They wanted me to upload my Strava GPS file immediately to prove I rode everything because there was no way I could be four minutes faster than everyone. I don't have a smartphone or any other way to upload my Strava data immediately so I couldn't appease the crowd. I don't understand why everyone is so surprised. I have won races like this before and even on this very course. I had to just ride away because it was getting a bit out of control and I was going to end up saying something I shouldn't.

     I rode back in the woods and watched some of the riders come through the Green Trail. I chatted a while with Presleigh Jennings' family. Presleigh is a Junior rider that started racing recently through the high school leagues. I rode with her in February on my second lap of the course. She has good skills on the bike and was very polite. I saw her stand and sprint up some of the hills, a skill that a lot of women seem to struggle with. This girl is young, but I don't think it will be too long before she is at the top level if she sticks with this sport. Just my prediction. She's also pretty good at Track & Field events too I hear.

    Here's a bunch of pictures my Mom took of the second half of the field. The battery in her main camera rand own so she had to switch to a camera with quality settings that were a bit off so please excuse the lack of clarity on some of them.

Butch Carter

Scott Chen

My Dad even came out to race today

Trail traffic on Goat Path

Dina

Dad on Green

These roots stopped a lot of people, including Steve Moneymaker

Mike Taglio

Jennifer Morehead

Dina

Karah Lewis

     After watching Presleigh, Dina and my Dad come through, I jumped on the course and rode a partial lap, stopping again at the two-way creek crossing to watch a few more riders. Scott Marx was standing there and congratulated me on the win. He was one of the few that believed I did the full course. Scott said he had seen my Strava times from my pre-rides and knew I was going to destroy the race. Michael Edens called Scott on the phone and then asked to speak to me. I had to make an official statement that I did in fact do the entire course. Michael was in a tight spot, but I think he did the best he could with handling the situation. To account for those that missed Storm Track, he took the average speed for their entire ride and then figured what their time would have been for the length of the Storm Track loop based on that average speed. It's never going to be exact because anything could have happened on that loop, but I think it was a fair way to do it considering the error was due to the promoters not the riders. I really think it put everybody in the correct finish order anyway. Jaron was the one affected most by this. Several of us went faster than his February time and some guys may have slowed down given another section to go through.

     It was a great day for me, but not my best ever. The homework paid off, but I still have some work to do. I can't be cramping in a 90-minute race and expect to be able to hammer a full two hours in an XC race. As for the accusations of cheating, thanks! It makes me feel good to know I went so fast that you think I couldn't possibly have done that without cutting the course. That's every riders dream. That means the training is going well and I'm already getting into the head of some of my fellow riders before the season has ever started. I assure you that I am as honest as any rider you will ever find, so give me a little credit when I finally get one right.

Male Open Overall Podium

Female Open Overall Podium

Singlespeed Overall Podium

     After the podium, I went straight to Shawn and gave him the money out of my envelope. I slapped it in his hand and said it was for Kendall. He had no idea I was going to do that. He didn't care how much it was. He was instantly grateful that I would do something like that for his daughter. The look in his eyes was of true gratitude, like nothing I have ever seen from something I did. He gave me a big hug and told me I was a true friend. He just couldn't believe I would give my spoils to someone else.

     As bike racers, we strive for that feeling of getting to the finish line first. That surge of adrenaline you get when you take the win and knew you were the best that day is hard to top. But let me tell you, no win can ever compare to the feeling of giving Shawn that money and knowing how much it helps the James family. It's one thing to donate money to a charity, but until you have looked into the eyes of that person when you help them you truly have not experienced the joys of giving. I am so grateful for my blessings. I am even more grateful for being able to share my blessings with others.

     Later that day, Kendall called me on the phone and thanked me for the money. She said she wanted some new toys so I told her to go get whatever she wanted with it. I raced for her and so that money was all hers to do with as she pleased. A few days later, Shawn invited me to go shopping with them, but I was at work and couldn't make it. Kendall bought some new toys at Toys "R" Us. She maximized the money by using coupons and discounts. I thought it was great that a kid of that age was learning how to be thrifty and smart with her money. It was pretty cool to see the pictures Shawn sent me. Kendall is a happy girl and I think cancer has met its match.

Kendall shopping for some new toys

photo by Shawn James

Quite the stash Kendall got on her shopping trip

photo by Shawn James

     Shawn posted on Facebook about what I did. I don't really care that everyone knows. I did it for Kendall and Shawn, not for the attention. The attention should be on Kendall, not on me. But I do appreciate the kind words of everyone. It is nice to hear that there are some people out there that think I am a decent guy because I strive to be. I try to set an example for everyone out there at every event I go to. Being one of the faster riders often brings a lot of attention my way. I hope I am setting a good example not only for the youth coming up in our sport, but also the adult riders. Those kind words sure sounded a lot better than all the talk about me cheating at the race.

     This race wrapped up my winter schedule, but also kicked off the real season. It is just one week until the GSC Series begins in Macon. We are starting the season by racing five of the first six weeks. I don't plan to make it to the SERC opener in Newberry, FL as I feel six straight weeks of racing may be a bit too much for the start of the season, plus I don't think I will have the funds for a trip that expensive. I have not heard anything about our sponsor budget at Riverside yet so right now this is all coming out of my pocket. Florida is a long, hard trip for us anyway. I'm just glad to be able to do at least one of the series this year. More from Macon coming soon!