Well yesterday was the 4th race of the FSCS up in Gainesville at Hailes trails. We got there at about an hour before the start. I went to register the team and then quickly got ready so I could go warm up. well it was about 10 minutes before the start and I decide to go take a leak over by the trees, about 20 feet from the trail, and then get on the starting line. well as I am riding over by the tree line, a nylon cord wraps up in my cassette and Mark Gerard yells at me to stop. Unfortunately it was too late. The dérailleur hanger was ripped off and thats when my heart rate hit a new record. well Martin Cox was parked right by where it happened and says, "hey you wanna ride my Scott?" Well knowing that my bike was inoperable I was didn't hesitate on taking him up on his offer. Well now its 9:23 and Dave Berger is calling us to the line, and there weren't any cranks in Martin's hard tail, well about that time Ricky Knight rolls up and tells us that we need to get to the line, and then realizes whats going on. Well needless to say thanks to Martin's amazing generosity and Ricky's help, and sending two people to go hold up the start, we both made it to the line just in time. Well the Shifting is different on his bike than on mine, he has dual control levers and I have rapid fire. Well I knew how to use em but of course right off the start I end up shifting the wrong way and lose several spots. For those of you that have never raced a Pro/expert race, the starts are just too hard to explain. I use to think it was tough back in sport getting the whole shot, but racing the big dogs, you give it all you got and end up mid pack going in the woods, and your heart rate is screaming! So basically I went in the woods pretty far back. the first few miles weren't that hard of a pace, but my heart rate was so high and I was just dying, that I couldn't move up. That pretty much carried on for the first 3 laps, where it felt like I was giving everything I had, and I was going half the speed I should of been. well the lead 30+ experts caught me on the end of my 3rd lap, and i stayed with them til just about my 5th lap. having the faster pace to ride with and knowing I had several guys in my class within a minute up ahead, really helped me to pick it up, and it seemed like my 4th and 5th laps I was rolling alot better. well going into my last lap there were 4 guys in front of me within about a minute. Ryan walsh, Sean Crichton, Luke Rozanski, and Jamie Knight. I caught Jamie at the beginning of my 5th lap, who was rolling out for the first 4 laps, and deserves some major props. I could see Luke up a head and stayed about 5 to 10 seconds off of him til about the last mile of the race. As I am chasing him down we end up catching Sean and slowly get away from him. well for those of you that raced it yesterday you remember quite well the zig zag up and down the mounds at the end of the lap. This is where I finally get on Lukes wheel, and Ryan is there cheering me on. well we are about half way through the zig zags and I just lay into it and get around him. we still have to zig back one more time and then its pretty much a straight shot to the finish. well he is right there on my wheel up the climbs and I knew he was about to try one last time to get around but i managed to keep him behind me coming out in to the open field, and I sprinted my legs off to stay in front and beat him.
I would like to Give a big THANKS, to everyone that helped me get a bike together for the race. Thanks Martin for letting me borrow your bike! your the man! and Ricky Knight for helping out, and everyone else that I didn't mention thanks alot!
Well it was definitely a crazy yet still a fun weekend of racing. As far as team about bicycles, our results were:
Kent Lofton 40+ expert 6th place
Ryan Woodall expert/pro 1st place
Regan Woodall expert/pro 11th place
Victor Alber expert/pro 7th place
Anthony Hutton sport 19-29 9th place
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