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
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.
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