West Point

It didn't feel as good as I imagined it would. I got more of a rush getting third place at the Tom Brown race in last year's Florida Series than I did getting a first this past weekend in Georgia.

The trail at West Point (which is just outside of La Grange Ga.) couldn't have been more perfect for me. And I'm not just saying that because I did well in the race, in fact I commented Saturday afternoon after our practice lap how much I enjoyed the ride. It has a hard clay surface with quite a bit of elevation change. There was a brand new section about a mile in length that looked like it still had rake marks on it. No it didn't really flow that well, it was like Red Bug without all the roots. The thing that made me the most relaxed was the fact I didn't need to get off my bike any where during the lap. I know you're surprised that a rider of my caliber needs to push once in a while but it's true.

Truth be told any little bit of scary looking technical stuff sends me to my feet so I was confident and happy after Rupe and I finished our lap on Saturday evening.

Aesthetically it would be hard to find a prettier place for a bike trail. It's situated on the edge of West Point lake, they had just done a control burn so there was no underbrush on the edges of the trail, and it had just enough roll to it to make the climbs a challenge. I took the whole fam up with me since most of the crew had elected to drive up Sunday morning. We got a room at a very expensive Hampton Inn in La Grange (I have a fear of bed bugs from lesser establishments) and after getting cleaned up we found a Long Horn Steak House and proceeded to consume mass quantities of red meat. The big meal combined with a couple of beers meant I didn't watch much of the movie back in the room before I was sound asleep.

Sunday was cloudy at first and a very pleasant 58 when we left the hotel after eating breakfast with all the folks at the Hampton. The Hampton Inns do seem to attract an older (yea than me) clientele that really do like their breakfast bar, they get a little aggressive if you get between them and the bacon. Scary.

The white wave (us slower riders) were scheduled to go off at 11:30 so we watched the more talented Rick, Tim, Danny, and Paige ride in the 9:30 race before we started warming up for our start. This would be Rupe's first race in the Junior 15-19 class and the first time he would line up right behind me, or so he thought. Somebody in our class hollered "let the juniors go first" so Dave took a vote, nobody seemed to mind so he moved them in front of us. I just knew I'd be able to catch him even with a 2 minute lead. Or so I thought.

"15 seconds" my mind goes blank. "Go" and then I spend 5 cranks of the pedals trying to get my other foot clipped in while everyone else gets in front of me. Fortunately it was a quarter mile dirt road before we hit the first single track. I was surprised as I moved to the front that nobody challenged me. I hit the first turn with only 1 other rider close on my wheel. My plan had been to go at almost my maximum pace for the first couple of miles then back off a little in the new tight section. My "plan" didn't take into account my thighs getting a good burn going so at the second road crossing I let the guy behind me go by.

Okay, seconds not so bad I thought, BJS and SteveA said I should be able to win easily but what do they know? I couldn't see anyone behind me as I started to catch the Clydesdale's, then the Juniors, then all of the sudden I was on first place's wheel. How did this happen (he told me later he just went out too hard and popped)? He let me by right before the new section.

Every now and then I could see Rupe through the trees way ahead of me and every time I started to catch a black and white jersey I thought it was him; but I never caught him. On the last big climb from the lake the locals call suicide hill I got a little queasy at the top of the power line. I knew it was only about a mile of tight single track to the finish so even if second place managed to catch me I planned to just ride wide until we hit the paved road to the finish but he never got that close.

So I won. Rupe beat my time by 30 seconds, which is the first time that's ever happened. He finished 6 out of 11, just one place away from a medal. That's the first time I've ever finished first so I don't know why I'm not more pumped about it. Anyhoo, I enjoyed the ride and we're both looking forward to the next round in Winder.