Granoque and the Creek of French

So it's been a little while since we last talked. Racin' has been going well lately, my results have been getting better since Fairhill. I took the week off before Granoque since I had just gotten done with a big training block, and going into the race I knew I wasn't going to have that snap in the legs. The day before Gunnar and I headed down to help out with the racing they were putting on and to do the 1st TT ever put on at the estate. The running race was pretty intense, actually it was quite the opposite. From what I heard it was the one of the strangest start any bike racer would ever see, calm is a good way to explain it. Even after they were given the 30 second warning the runners were still completely chilled out. Weird. After the start I headed down the finishing climb to meet Jake D. to do some water and heed feeds for the runners. I will say that more then 1 person took the heed and poured it over their head.... maybe their body would still absorb it, or most likely it would just get sticky and gross. They all did a entire lap of the course which is about 7 miles, they did it in just over an hour, I think that if I was an in-shape runner it definitely would have been a awesome trail run. Then it was time for the pre-ride and TT. Both were awesome, the TT was a quick 15-20 minute shortened loop on the regular XC course. I did my best and ended up 10th? I think, not sure on that one but it was an perfect opportunity to open up the legs after having a week off. Later, Scottie, Gunnar and I headed down to the river to do some swimming, the water felt amazingly good, it was incredibly hot out and the water was an awesome way to cool down, probably good for the legs too. Everyone packed the venue up for the night and Gunnar and I headed back to Jeff's house where we were going to stay for the night. We took some naps, washed some bikes, got some ritas, and played some gamecube, fun night. The heat didn't seem to want to let off even at night, I was down to my boxers, with a window open, no blankets on and was still hot, but somehow I still slept really well.




The next morning we were up bright and early to cram everything back into the VW and head over to the venue. I raced first so after helping set up some P A system stuff it was time to get myself ready. Even with it being early it was still hot and humid, never fun with a somewhat exposed race like Granoque. I felt good and was about 7th into the first piece of singletrack. It wasn't long until we started catching the enduro guys. I got stuck behind one just as I entered some more single track luckily it wasn't a very long section and I was able to get around him pretty quick. I soon settled into a rhythm and for the first half lap I was doing really well and was very happy with how I was riding. But pretty soon after I started to feel the pace and started to get sloppy, I wasn't riding the rocks very well and lost contact with the group I was with because of it. I went through the second lap and was happy to get water dumped all over me. Second lap I seemed to get a second wind and was able to get some guys, still sloppy riding but I was able to get through it and ended up 5th.





^ Yes Aaron is still wrecking the Mid-Atlantic Races, another awesome win for him!



This past weekend was French Creek, another average race. The morning of was the annual spring flea market at the velodrome, always a good time even if you don't buy anything, I saw some awesome hand built track bikes and even bikes with really really old wooden wheels. I only spent two dollars on a hand pump for rides and my mom was happy to get sunglasses for Bad Andy, Thanks! Once we got to the race I quickly got ready and started riding around, did I say how windy it was... EZ-up tents blowing everywhere and even a tree, we'll get to that later. So off the start around 4th into the woods and I was feeling really good. Stayed with the lead group up the first long climb up to the top but as soon as we hit the descent I got stuck behind a fully rigid single-speeder, I respect that and the fact that he was in my class but he would not let me pass. I definitely lost a good amount of time on the leader and Jacob. I was on the chase and started catching some people, a very deciding point in my race was during a climb I over shifted up front and my chain dropped off, I was on a steep climb and had to walk watching the two people I was with get away. By the time I got back on I could no longer see them and started the descent at the top of the climb. Someone caught me and I rode back and forth with him, he would get a gap on the climbs and I would catch back on during the descents. In the last mile or so I had a few second gap on him but he made a move that I couldn't respond to, he got away right before the finish I wasn't super stoked about that. I'm definitely going to learn some stuff during this season. I've had sprint finishes in my past 2 of 3 races in this class and had I stayed with him during his attach it would have been 3 of 3. I'm really pumped for the next race, can't wait!