The End

It's over. I know it was a short series and maybe the competition isn't as tough as Florida but it was still fun. Much better than most of the moto series I have run.

The trail in Helen Ga. was hilly to put it mildly. When we got there Saturday afternoon it was a pleasant 75 degrees and was even cooler when we finished an hour later. I just thought I had ridden hills before, but this was real mountain biking (at least that's what Dan K. kept saying). Nothing technical at all. Well maybe a couple of switch backs with roots but I managed to clean everything so they must not have been that big of a deal. There was one hill I don't think anybody in our crew cleaned but that was just because it was steep. I couldn't decide on my race strategy for the next day. Should I hit it hard right from the start or pace myself? I had no idea how I would feel after an hour of climbing because we had never ridden this much slope in a race before. I decided I'd ride with Robert (my nemesis) and let him set the pace. I needed to beat him plus put somebody between us to lock up the championship so I thought if I could push him at the beginning he might burn out. The fact that I might burn out never entered my mind. It probably should have.

We had dinner in Helen that night on the front porch of a steak house and watched the bizarre parade that is Helen on a weekend. The crew seemed pumped to be there. Good times.

Sunday was cloudy at first with clearing forcasted for later in the morning. Still almost fall conditions compared to what we had left behind in Florida. There were 11 old farts in my class, including the SERC series first and second place riders. I had a bad case of the nerves. The start went down a grassy hill, across a bridge, then immediately started climbing. Robert got to the bridge just in front of me and we stayed like that for the first 2 miles. I noticed he was taking longer and longer to recover after we crested the hill tops. When I took a chance to look behind us I could see another rider coming so I went around Robert on a nasty climb and never saw him again until the finish.

I managed to fall on BOTH of the switch backs with the roots. Traffic was terrible with riders walking on almost every climb. I had to tell myself "just 5 more feet, just 5 more feet". On one hill I almost just said the heck with it. It was hard. I don't look foward to doing 2 laps next year and I'm impressed with PP and Dan K. for doing 2 and 3.

To get to the finish line we had to cross the same grassy field and climb the hill we had gone down at the start. It was a steep bugger. I looked behind me when I got into the field and didn't see anybody close. I wanted to make sure I didn't have to push up the the finish so I rolled easy across the field, shifted back into granny, and crossed the line in first.

I pulled off to the side to see where Robert was. I was sure he was right behind me. He had been close at every race this year and it never occurred to me he wouldn't be right there. Then one of the SERC riders came in, then another. Wow, I had won this thing!

Robert eventually finished around 8th. Still good enough to lock up second in the series.

Like most things you accomplish that you think are a big deal the actual winning wasn't as much of a rush as I had imagined it would be. Don't get me wrong I'll brag about this for years but the fun was in the hunt, not the kill.

B got a 7th in his class. He beat my time by 4 minutes which put a big smile on his face. PP got a fourth. Dan K survived on a single speed. Paul J survived.

The banquet and series awards presentation was scheduled for later that afternoon. I'll cover that tomorrow.