Ducktown Tennessee

Another weekend another race! Yahooooooooo. Nate and I loaded Saturday May 3rd and headed to the Ocoee Whitewater Center in Ducktown Tennessee. As usual we drove in rain most of the way over. I was not looking forward to another muddy mountain bike race.

We arrived at Thunder Rock campground @ noon and decided to ride the course in the misty rain. The start was a little chilly but once we began climbing I warmed up and actually felt good. Goneriding had done an excellent job marking the course and we had an awesome time preriding the trails. We finished our preride washed our bikes and ourselves off and headed to Copperhill TN for some Mexican food.

After lunch we headed to Van's house in Blue Ridge where we did some laundry I took a nap and Nathan surfed the net.Van arrived we socialized and had some excellent lasagna Van had brought then it was off to bed.

Sunday dawned with Sunshine and fresh air. Wow what a day, and no rain!!!!!!! Nate raced the early race which gave me time to get organized in my usual unorganized way for my race. I was a little concerned on how my race would play out with Van and I being so equal last time. The only difference being that I would have fresh legs this time since I had not done a metric the day before.

They announced the call to the line. I lined up and planned to go out quite hard since the start was ~1/4 mile uphill on pavement. After this it was single and continued to climb ~6 miles. The whistle sounded and we were off. I went and settled in right at my LT. We hit the single track I had a gap, I pushed harder to crack those behind me. While it is a 6 mile climb there are some slight downhills allowing recovery, assuming you have trained your body to recover quickly(cyclocross). I settled in and started attacking the course, accelerating out of the corners and ove r the rollers. I carried my momentum through the turns and on the downhills. Wow this was a different race than the previous week. I looked back and no one was there. Had I gone too soon to early? Oh well I was commited and wanted to stay out of sight. Crested the top of the ridge then it was a long descent on a gravel road to Thunder Rock Trail. I despise gravel road descents.They scare me!

I made it down safe and sound through the start/finisn line and on to my second lap. Wow my legs felt a lot different this time up the climb. I felt sloooowwww. I forced myself to push harder. I remembered the previous race when Van bridged up. I was determined not to let it happen again. I had to go hard but I also needed to be careful. I did not see anyone behind me but i still had to keep on the gas. I hit the gravel road descent and made it to Thunder Rock Trail. Down thunder rock to the road then the long haul on pavement back to the finish. I put my head down and pedaled as hard as I could and finally under the finish banner.

What a great day and perfect weather. Next race athens ga?