Monte Sano for the 5th SERC

i cant believe i haven't been here to ride yet. they have a great little state park in Huntsville, which is a very cool town, that has some great trails with lots of miles to explore. this was the first time the SERC has hosted a race here and i can saw it was a great place for a race.

we decided to stay in a cabin at the park just to make things easier on race day. the cabin was a great idea, just wish it was a little larger. it was basically one room. not to mention that our jr racer, jerry...aka "mayo" woke up Saturday morning throwing up and would continue to do so for the rest of the day...no way he was racing. the forecast for the weekend sucked all week and as the weekend got closer it got worse. i wanted to at least pre ride the course while it was dry so we headed up Friday night to ride early Saturday morning. we ended up heading out about 10a and hit the trails. wow...they were awesome...lots of rock, more rock than any race course i have ever raced and i knew it was going to ruff! there wasn't much climbing but the climbing on the trails were tecky and there was a mile long road climb in the en of the course...kinda strange..it was an old abandon mtn road but it was cool. after the ride we tooled around town, grabbed some food and checked out the local bike shops.

Sunday morning greeted us with...dry skies...only 30 miles north was getting pounded with rain...but none at the park. we didn't race until 1130a so it was a restless morning to say the least. but once it was an hour out...it was go time...max and i got dressed up and ready then headed out to warm up. we did out thing for about 25 min and then headed to the line. the classes were small...I'm telling you the weather forecast scared away everyone. we had 9 in our class but with several strong riders. the gun went off and the pace was fast...i entered the woods 4th and was riding right behind sibly. things were good and i was feeling fine...then we hit the first true rocky downhill section. not sure what happened but my handling skillz didn't make the race. i was all over the place and with in minutes i bobbled and lost time, then again and got passed...i pushed hard...and bobbled more and more and more...it became comical..i actually laughed at one point right after several cuzzwords! i cut couldn't get it together all lap...and really through out the race. i came thro the 1st lap WAY back and knew it, so the plan was to ride smooth and stay steady...i would say i did that. i only last 1 min off my 1st lap time and didn't eff up much at all, maybe 3 times...the last lap was just a lap...i pushed hard, for me, but the lower back was throbbing and no one was insight. heck i raced the entire time alone..never really saw anyone until the end of the last lap...and the last lap would also bring the RAIN..and alot of it. and low and behold, just before the long road climb, i caught the 4th place rider...i couldn't believe it. i rode up to him, we exchanged pleasantries, and then i went past him...he jumped on my wheel and as we got on the pavement, i tested him...no attack, just upped my pace..and he was fading so i increased my pace a little more and dropped him. i would ride on it feeling better, back not hurting as much, and glad to be done.

story of the weekend....jerry, aka "mayo"..ended up racing after pucking all day Saturday and not eating anything...and would lead the race until he got lost...but would still end up in 3rd! His ole man, George would pull a 2nd place and my hommie max would land 3rd after almost 2 full weeks off the bike! great weekend all in all!