Mississippi MTB Racer: round 2

the 2nd round of the SERC was this weekend in Columbia, TN. this race is on a great trail that is maintained year around...and Saturday on the pre ride that was evident! the trail was flying and was really fun! unfortunately the rain moved as predicted Saturday night and dropped plenty of moisture to destroy the chance of some fast lap times. it dropped about 2-3 inches and rained right up until the racing started. the temps we're bad at all...but the damage was brutal.

the course was horrid...just full of sticky, nasty mud and throughout the entire course...no place had missed out.

the race went well for me though...i tried to keep it steady and upright while maintain the little momentum that i was caring. when we started out it was wetness through the field but as soon as we hit the trails...bam!!!...muddy as hell...and as i said, non stop. i entered the trails 5th place behind andy johnston. the leader was gone...the other 4 of us were together for a bit. 2nd place slipped gears at one point and was gone and not much longer did the other guys fade back and outta sight. i hung on to andy's wheel like glue! i knew he is faster and was content to sit on. about mid way through lap 1, he went down in a slick turn and i went by....i didn't attack but just rode my pace...and i did create a gap but by the time we were just about to come out of the woods, he bridged up and we went through together for lap one.

as we entered the trails for lap 2, i bobbled pretty bad on a downhill section and lost contact...it seemed he put some effort down b/c i was riding the same pace but wasn't pulling him back. i did put my nose down and rode...hard as possible without sacrificing my handling skillz! it worked work b/c by the time we were came back out of the woods for the end of lap 2, i had bridged back up to him...i felt great! wasn't tired and had one lap to go!

i would enter the woods for the 3rd lap in front of andy and just rode my race. i slowly pulled away from him and before long he was out of sight. the lap seemed to fly by and as i passed racers in other classes and got closer to the last 15 minutes of racing...i rode up on a dude getting his tyre fixed...i mean right as i came up, he finished his work and come up behind me and went right around me...now, i knew that he was the leader of my cat but he didn't know what class i was...so he ask and i told him...he took off! i couldn't hold his wheel but just stayed steady and drove forward...he was quickly out of sight until the long, flat section of trail that ran along a field. I could tell i was gaining back on him...but was it fast enough? there was only a mile left...but as we entered the last little climb before the end of the single track, i bridged up to him and went right by...he was shot! i took off...and pulled off the victory!