I knew leading up to the race the conditions were going to be wet and nasty. So i borrowed some aggressive tyres from Max and started to get myself mental ready. Muddy races are also so dicey...your bike my ride well, it may not. Saturdays pre ride was awesome...the trails were tacky but perfect...but that perfect that if any more rain hits them they will blow...well it rained a bunch...all Sat night and all sun morning until about 1 lap left and then the sun popped out and it was beautiful! which was good thing cause i had a 9hr drive home.
little Jerry in his race.
going into the race i was the point leader and only Cesar was close enough to pass me for the overall so the plan was to mark him and beat him.
little Jerry in his race.going into the race i was the point leader and only Cesar was close enough to pass me for the overall so the plan was to mark him and beat him.the race started good...until the first climb, which was about 3oo meters off the start...ALL the riders were having to dismount and run due to the trail being too slick to ride. And of course...my shoes "boa cord" snapped immediately...sweet, running in mud with a shoe that keeps coming off...nice. But I pushed on and the first lap went good...running 4th and about a minute up on Cesar. the second was a little tougher...all the climbs but 2 were unridable so running became more part of the game...I don't run...and the quads and calf's were cramping every time i would jump off and try to run...plus the fn shoe was becoming a bigger problem as it became looser. But i managed to stave off any other racers and had built up a 5 min lead on Cesar...going into the last i knew it was all about damage control. the bike was starting to mess up...brakes were failing and chain suck and drivetrian issues were starting to become more frequent. I got passed on the first climb and tried to stick with Noah but he was riding strong and i dropped of his pace. i swear it felt like i was dragging something up the climbs...non stop resistance! by the time i hit the long, steep rocky climb i knew i had in the bad if i could just finish it off. My last lap was almost an hour long...it was only 7.25 miles long...but I would manage to finish 6th on the day and pull the overall off!
a tad bit muddy
george and jerry let me crash with them since all my folks backed out for one reason or another so thanks again for the hospitality! you boyz rock! below is little jerry in 3rd overall!
jerry and watching the sat night stxc race.
and so that's it for the SERC! and i'm already planning for next year and figuring out how to get better....
