Race Weekend

It was a solo adventure this time around as B came down with Strep Throat the week before. I'll admit some trepidation about going by myself since the race was 5 and a half hours away but I had made a commitment to this little series so I headed out Saturday morning. The trip up was pretty uneventful except for a traffic jam on I-75 and not being able to find Yargo State Park when I finally got to Winder, Ga. I stopped at a Walmart (of all places) to get directions and then had to stop and ask again when I got into the park. I had a nice headache by the time I got registered and unloaded my bike. Two other riders from Tallahassee, Dan and Paige, had already made their practice lap before I even started mine so I made sure they knew I was there just in case something happened. You begin to think about those kind of things more often after you turn 50, things like: where my insurance card is, and who could drive me home if I couldn't drive. Anyhoo the practice lap was relaxing, the course was beautiful (the local club had swept the trail), and I was able to find the Jameson Inn without too much trouble.

I found Paige and Dan again at the hotel and we went across the street to a Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. Other than the waitress forgetting Paige's order it was about what I expected for Winder, Ga. on a Saturday night. The Jameson Inn was, well, let's say different, than the Hampton Inns I normally stay in. I remember hotel rooms looking like that in the 80's when I was racing FTR hare scrambles. In fact my room probably had the same furniture in it that it had in the 80's, including the bed. The train tracks ran right by the hotel so 3 times during the night I got jolted awake by the horn as the train crossed the highway. My fear of bed bugs kept me thinking I felt something crawling on me but when I turned on the light I couldn't see anything. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We made the trip into Athens, Ga. after dinner to see the Twilight Crit. Just finding a parking space was an adventure. With 55,000 people, most of them drunk college kids, the race was fun to watch. I did get a little tired of hearing "oh mygod!" and "hey man let us across the street" while they chain smoked cigarettes. I have no idea who won, I had to call BW and find out how the format worked. I'd like to watch it sometime when I didn't need to get up the next morning and race my mountain bike. We got back to the hotel around 11:00.

Race day was a cool 60 degrees with some light clouds. After a "breakfast" at the hotel I left for the park. I just don't sit around and wait very well. I missed not having B with me. He enjoys these races and it just wasn't the same without him along. I warmed up and went to the line. 16 old guys in my class! We were lined up two deep. Fortunately I had a spot at the front and got off to a 3rd place start. I knew the riders in first and second had finished behind me at West Point so I settled into their pace until we got to the first open section and I went to go around. Just as I moved left another rider came by me, pushed me back in line, passed second, then first, and put me back to fourth. Crap! We freight trained through the next single track section and as soon as we came out onto the gas line climb I passed third, then second, and got onto first place's wheel. Unbeknownst to me I had brought another rider around with me and he was right on me as we started the climb. Now I thought the rider in first had introduced himself to me on the line as being 68 years old. So I thought "he can't keep this pace up, he's gonna blow soon". Wrong. I was the one who was gonna blow up if I didn't back off. I never saw the guy again and no he wasn't who I thought he was. Third place had finsihed just behind me at West Point and he kept me honest until about the half way mark where I was able to get a little breathing room on a couple of climbs.

I managed to stay ahead of third place and had a comfortable margin at the finish. I won some neat stuff and didn't feel as guilty (now why would I feel guilty?) about racing the base class as I did after West Point since I had gotten beat soundly by first place. I stuck around and handed water to Paige and Dan who no doubt have their own race stories to tell. I left before they finished as I was itching to get on the road to home.

The promoters wife asked me "where are all the other Bikechain guys?" to which I could only shrug and say "I don't know".

It was another great weekend. I love the trails we've ridden so far. They are so much better than some of the stuff we ride in Florida. I hope everybody is healthy for the next one.