where I left off

Last time I posted was right before the Tallahassee FSC race. Ill try to summarize and bring you up to speed on the current events.
Tallahassee wasnt a very good race. I had a lazy week of riding right before and it cost me an 8th place finish. I just couldn't perform like I needed too. Ryan brought home the victory as this was his last XC race of 2008. what better way to end a season than with a win?

next up was Alafia, round 4. Tallahassee got me fired up and I got a solid 2 weeks of training. I even put on a lighter saddle and cranks for that extra edge! preriding the course went really well and I knew I would be able to roll the course good, and I felt like I had a good snap to my legs. BUT... Sunday morning as I get to the track and I am taking my bike off the rack, I go to squeeze my rear brake, and it is gone! I try pumping the lever to see if I can get some braking back, but nothing happened, other than brake fluid leaking onto the lever. Needless to say I raced the entire Alafia race with no rear brake. I got the holeshot, and lead the first mile or two, but once bounds victor and martin got by I just couldnt quite hang onto their wheel. I slowly watched 5 guys ride away from me as I ended up with a sixth place finish.

Miami was Round 5 and ended up being another 6th place. I felt decent power wise, but I am still learning how to flow that course and just couldnt keep up with the lead group.

Now starts my sickness Saga... I started getting a cold and all that sinus junk right before the Alva race. I also decided to try a new gel during this race which probably wasnt a good idea. I didnt have a good start but managed to stay close to the front group for a little while. on the second lap my stomach turned south and I found myself throwing up on the side of the trail. I started calming back down and picking it back up on the third lap, and then had a pretty solid 4th lap. I managed to pull out a 7th.

Next up we headed to Gainesville at the San Felasco trails. Preriding was great. the sun was out, the trails were in great shape. Race day on the other hand... the flood gates opened up and it suddenly became a nasty mud race, as well as a cold front right behind the rain. I was still recovering from having a cold, but excuses aside I just didnt have the power or what it took to keep up. I walked away with another 7th place finish.

after a couple weeks off and getting better we had the final race of the Series. It definetly helped that it was at Santos! I was able to pull out a 4th place finish. I was leading the last lap up until about 2 miles from the finish. I ran out of gas and came in about 30 seconds back.

I finished 4th in the series after a rollercoaster season. I am very happy and thankful I am able to compete at this level and be one of the front runners. I thank my Lord and Savior for giving me the ability and chance to race. My parents for standing behind me and supporting this crazy dream. Matt and Julie Goforth for letting me ride for them and all there support through the year. Kurt Leverett for his advice and talks. Drew Edsall for his advice and testing. Martin Cox for all the road trips and bein a good friend. everyone else that I know I am forgetting! And of course my brother, Ryan Woodall. I couldnt have done it without you!

update

coming soon...

I apologize...

First off I am sorry to anyone who might actually read my blog. I know it has been a long time, and frankly I just lost motivation to write. but I will bring you up to speed on what has happened since my last post.

Ryan and I headed up north on a road trip starting with the "East Coast National" at Wyndham mountain in New York. It turned out to be a super awesome course! I was able to pull out a XC win and finished 2nd in ST. The next weekend was in Vermont for the National Championships. This course didn't favor me as well as the New York course did but still was able to pull out some decent finishes. I finished second in the XC race by about 10 feet( I was leading and then was out descended at the finish and lost the sprint) and got 5th in the ST race. The last weekend of our adventure was in Fontana, North Carolina, for the Fontana Dam Jam. This is always an awesome event! I had a decent saturday night short track finishing 8th or 9th and then Sunday was my first Pro/Semi Pro race. I led the first quarter mile and then needless to say I ended up in 10th( out of 11). My performance took a plunge after the first two races but I wasn't complaining.

Now on to the most recent happenings!
Two weeks ago was the first Florida State Championship Race in Gainesville, FL. After a really bad start I was able to chase up to the 6th spot and hold it steady to the finish. at first I wasn't too satisfied I will admit, but then after seeing the all star cast of riders we had out there, I am not complaining.
Now today on the other hand, well it was... SAAAWEEEEET!!! The race was in fernandina Beach at some awesome trails! My start was definetly better, and I soon found myself in a pack of 4 including, Robert Bounds, Trent Maddox, and Martin Cox. After trying to race smart for the first 3 laps, heading into the last lap I attacked going into the woods, and was able to stick it all the way to the finish, and came within 5 seconds of catching Andy Mills who finished 2nd! So I guess what I am trying to say is, Today was in my opinion my best career finish. I just can't wait for the next one in Tallahassee in two weeks....

Nationals update coming soon!

I am working on an update from New York, Vermont, and North Carolina. It should be up soon.

building momentum

Sunday June 29th was the 7th round of the South Eastern Regional Championships, located in Chattanooga Tennessee, up on raccoon mountain. Before I get into the race, let me fill you in on the previous few days.

Thursday my Parents and little brother flew in from Haiti for about 12 days to try and finalize some paperwork with the adoption for my little brother. So its been really great getting to see them, and the also brought our grandmother up from south florida with them. Friday Luke Rozanski and I were at the bike shop bothering Ryan while he was at work, trying to figure out how we are gonna car pool up to the race with one civic that has a two bike rack. We then decided that we needed one more person to help balance out the cost of gas and hotels to make it cheap. So jokingly I tell Anthony Hutton that he should skip work this weekend, and come race with us. He took it pretty Seriously, and called his boss and she said sure go ahead. To keep from boring you too much about the prerace, the moral of the story is, we ended up with 5 guys in the race van headed to chattanooga at 8 o clock friday night.(my dad was the 5th) We drove til about 1am and crashed just south of macon. The next morning we got on the road around 9:30 and finished our trek all the way to the course, with a few stops along the way.

Saturday, June 28th The pre ride

This place is awesome! everything about it! the drive just to get to the trails was super cool! Anyways, we slowly got our stuff together and got registered, and hit the trails. the course had a long road start which didn't matter how well your initial start was. The first section of single track is very rocky, rooty, and technical. After that it got pretty flowing with a lot of short rollers that kept you pointed up hill. pre riding this section felt easy, but after three laps it is very deceiving. after a few miles of that you come to a road crossing where it start to point downhill for a little bit, with super fast tight and twisty single track. this course was almost all single track, which was fun but also limited passing and good hard efforts to make time on. the rest of the course only got better with more rocky sections and screaming fast descents, as well as some amazing views. The course length was just over 12 miles, and after guessing our pre ride time we knew it would be a long three lap race.


Sunday June 29th, The Race


The morning of the race. There is nothing like waking up to the alarm clock realizing its race day. Knowing that in a few hours you will be starting your race.
We got up around 8am and got the van packed, and headed to the waffle house. 3 eggs, grits, and whole wheat toast for $3.50. Can't beat that price! after a hardy breakfast, we head to the track with our adrenaline pumping harder and harder the closer you get there. We round the corner and I can see the start and finish line, and the beginner wave all lined up ready to attack the course, my heart rate goes up. No matter how many times you have raced and no matter how big or small the race, it always excites me just thinking about racing! We finally park and I start getting my stuff together, putting on my kit, putting air in the tires, lube on the chain, bottles filled, etc. I get all my stuff done and I am ready to warm up about an hour before the start. "perfect" I have been wanting to get a longer moderate warm up but lately I have run out of time and end up getting about 20 minutes to warm up. We go spin for about 40 minutes and then finish setting up Dad with all the bottles. after getting all that sorted out we head over to the starting line with a few minutes to spare. I had a strategy for this race, and pretty much stuck to it the whole way through. on the last lap, I started to fade about half way through, and then 5 miles from the finish I ran out of fluids. I watched Wes Lamberson ride away from me and onto a strong victory. Congrats Wes! I somehow managed to hold onto second, coming in blurry eyed and about to collapse from dehydration. I was bummed at first that I wasn't able to finish strong, but I am very happy with my result and performance this weekend. my race time was 2 hours and 50 minutes! thats a long race! I would like to thank Mom and Dad for all the support and faith they have in me and my brother, I also Thank God for the chance to do this. Maxxis tires never seize to amaze me, the monorail is by far my favorite tire out , it hooks up on anything! Industry Nine Wheels! the light weight and stiffness propelled me to another good finish. And also First Endurance EFS drink mix is the perfect race formula for long hot races, to keep you performing at your best.

The next race on the schedule is in two weeks at windham mountain, in New York. Its part of the national series, and will be my first race this year at a national level. Can't wait to see what I have!

Thanks for reading!

Clemson South Carolina, the first race back...

Right now, I am sitting at my computer reminiscing about the race yesterday. I didn't meet my expectations, but then again does anyone ever meet there own expectations? But before I get into detail with the race, let me tell you a little of whats happened lately. After being off the bike for several weeks, getting my bikes fit by Matt Goforth of On Your Mark Bike Shop, a laser bike fit specialist, my knee started to come around. The pain slowly subsided and about...umm... two weeks ago the pain completely went away. Now even when my knee was bothering me and still hurting, I was able to do long easy rides, but couldn't do anything over base pace at all. Due to this I lost a lot of top end power. So when my knee quit hurting, those two weeks before Clemson I started doing a fair amount of harder rides to bring my power up. So thats where I am at right now. On to the Race!


Saturday morning I woke up at 7am to start packing the car so we could start our 8 hour trip to Clemson. we left the house a little later than planned at about 9am. I drove to the south side of atlanta while Ryan slept, and then he took over as we started the last leg of the trip to South Carolina. We got to the course just before 5, and we could hear Dave Berger on the PA telling everyone to get to the starting line for the time trial. We diligently got ready and went to preride the course. about a mile in, we got to where they were starting the time trial, so we had to pull off the trail and started talking to Dave Berger. He easily persuaded me to do the time trial, and I persuaded Ryan that I could sign him up too. well we were the last few to go off, and hadn't even preridden the course yet either. Robert Marion was holding the fastest time with a strong 19:31. Lets just say Ryan did what he had to and turned out a 19:23! a very impressive run for not knowing what he was getting into! I on the other hand would rather just say "I have had better days".... yeah....about that.....

Sunday! Happy Fathers Day first off! we woke up at 7 am and headed down stairs for some continental breakfast. I had a bagel, some danish thing, and a cup of apple juice. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but hey it was free. And I was wanting to try a new prerace eating strategy. It seems I have always had an enormous appetite before a race, so this time I decided to tone it down a bit. Well enough about breakfast. We finally get to the track and get all setup and ready. warming up I was feeling a little low on power, but still good considering. Sitting on the starting line waiting for the whistle, I realized how much I had missed doing this over the last 2 months. The whistle blew and I got into my pedal immediately! "YES!" I start hammering and get a bike length or two on everyone and then sit down and try to motor around the sweeping fire road turn. As we are headed into it I see Seth and Luke start to come underneath me so I gas it a little harder, only to send myself up into the rocks on the edge of the road, so I have to check up. I ended up getting into the single track in 6th, not bad. I was pretty much where I wanted to be. I knew everyone in front of me was strong and fast so I didn't have to worry about an early gap. unfortunately not five minutes into the race my chain decides to hate me and wrap itself up in between my crank arm and chain ring. Not knowing what happened, I tried to pedal and it just wedged harder up in there. So I pull off the trail and try to pull it out, but its not budging at all. I tried being gentle with it hoping I can work it out, but its not moving at all. So when stuff doesn't move gently what do you have to do? Thats right! I put some muscle into that thing! one foot on the bike and both hands pulling on the chain. I finally got the chain out, but I bent a few links in the process. "Great!" "Now its probably gonna start skipping and break!" at this point I could hear the 30+ experts weren't but 10 seconds behind me. So I started my long and what I thought was gonna be lonesome race, chasing the rest of the pack. I soon caught one guy in my class, and rode behind him for 2 or 3 minutes, and then the 30+ experts were knocking on the door, so I soon got around him and rode with the 30+ leaders. This was nice because it motivated both of us. They had someone to chase and I had someone to run away from. little did I know about 5 more 30+ guys were catching us, and at the end of the lap they were with us. well the beginning of the second lap I rode with them and then one of them attacked. He got about 10 seconds on us, and then I decided that I should chase him down and we could work together. So thats what I did, it took me about 3 minutes to catch him, but when I did he got on it a little harder, and we rocked and rolled away from the pack! riding with those guys was awesome because they have so much experience and are sooo smooth! Any ways, at the finish of the second lap, headed for my last, someone told me I was in 4th, and I could see 3rd up ahead maybe 10 seconds up. Oh I forgot to mention, I passed several guys on my first and second lap, but didn't think I was up into the top five. This really got me fired up and I started to hang it out more in the technical sections and downhills. But wouldn't you know, my chain just hated me! it fell off again in between the crank and the chain ring, but not as bad this time. I got it out and back riding in about 15 seconds, but now thats 15 seconds more he has on me! So stupid Regan decided to use his big chainring about 3 more times that lap, and every time I did I would hit a small bump, and bam! gotta stop and pull the chain out again! I finally stopped using my big ring, and gave it all I had in my middle ring for a 4th place finish. It wasn't as good as I was hoping for, but looking back on it now, I realized I had one of my best races yet. Thats about all I have to say about my race. Ryan was riding in third and most likely running down the leaders when he cut a sidewall down on his tire and had to walk it in. Travis Livermon won the pro race by almost 2 minutes over Robert Marion, and Matt Rotroff had an awesome race coming in 3rd. Natasha Cowie won the Pro womens race over second place Kylie Krauss, and 3rd place Kim Flynn. I would like to thank Industry Nine wheels for helping me get up the hills and having such sick engagement! I also want to thank Maxxis for the fast and durable monorail and ridgeline tires! As well as Matt Goforth of On Your Mark Fitness Center for fitting my bikes and the great training tips. And last but not least, I want to thank Mom and Dad for there support for this crazy dream. later!

photos courtesy of Matt St. Marie

its been awhile, let me explain.....

I would start off with an "I can explain!" but I will spare y'all this time. Since the last time I posted, I attempted two races. I use the word "attempt" because that is the most fitting word I could find for the havoc and destruction that ensued upon me. I know I make it sound really bad, but... to me it kinda is. I guess it was a week or two after the first Georgia state race in Macon, when I decided to try my luck at the Red Trail Racing "Urban Crit". I was pretty pumped up about it, and had a very strong week of training building up to it, but then it suddenly became my turn to be sick and get a bad cold. I tried to resist with lots of sleep, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Vitamin A, but to no avail. I was in pretty bad shape. Come Saturday morning though I was feeling pretty good, my head was clearing up, I didn't think I had too much mucus left in my head, so what do you think I did? Yep you guessed it! I drove down and entered the race! What happened during the race was terrible and embarrassing, but dog gone it I was gonna race! Starting the race I got a bad start, and struggled to move up. Mike Viertel and gang were at the front motoring away as I was trying to play catch up. well for the first lap I thought "I think I can pull up to em!" .....BOY WAS I WRONG! I hit a wall the size of the Hoover dam, and it just wasn't budging! I then realized that for one: I couldn't breath if I try to go any faster, and for two: it just aint happenin and I need to ride smart around the people I was with. and thats exactly what I did. starve my self of oxygen and then cough my lungs, starve my self of oxygen and then... well you get the point. I basically went the speed of smell and rode to a 7th or 8th place finish I believe. Alright so I got part one over with, now for the rest.



After getting well again I really started to pick up my training, and could see major improvements in power. But about 3 weeks ago, my body decided to let me down. I developed a problem in my right knee which some people are calling tendinitis, but I don't have a clue what it is. I evidentially over worked a tendon and it started to hurt... pretty bad and became inflamed. So my genius common sense told me "ok take a day or two off, and then hit it just as hard, oh its getting worse?" " What pain??" "I doesn't hurt!" Yeah, basically I was stupid and pushed harder and thought "oh it will go away".....but it didn't, in fact it got worse. Preriding for the 3rd Serc race in Winder Georgia, it wasn't very sore, and only started to hurt a little by the end of the lap. The next morning when I go to warm up, I can barely push up the hills, due to the pain. So I decide to take 4 ibuprofen (800 mg) and race anyway. Well it didn't hurt too bad during the race, I think the Ibuprofen had me in a daze the whole time, but I was definitely not in form for this race after taking so much time off. On top of that my rear brake decided to quit working on the first lap... and I kinda needed it on the downhills, but I still bombed em faster than I should have, and said "uh oh" when I went to stop. I rode in 4th most of the day, but blew up at the end and finished 6th. now a week and a half later. I have ridden once on the road bike for about 45 minutes trying to rehab my knee. It seems that all the inflammation is gone, but I started to feel a touch of soreness towards the end of the road ride, so I am taking a few more days. This weekend I plan on riding my mountain bike for quite a ways and apologizing to her for neglecting her so much.

Until next time...