Georgia State Mountain Bike Race #2

This week I decided that I wanted to try a mountain bike race. The Columbus Cycle Club plays host every year to the Georgia State Mountain Bike Championships Race #2 of an 8 race series. It is held at Flat Rock Park, which has a pretty technical and challenging 10 miles course. I thought about doing it last year, but I didn't have a bike at the time. So this year I have been looking for a bike to buy, but with not much luck as the monetary funds are rather low. So I decided to ask brother Kent if I could borrow his bike. To my surprise he obliged and let me take it out for a spin.

I picked up the bike on Tuesday and took it over to the park to see what happens. It was my first time ever on the bike or the course. I had no idea what I was doing nor did I know where I was going. So I just tooled around and found my way around without getting too lost. It had rained a couple of days before so the course was pretty wet in some spots, but not too bad. Kent told me that he had never taken the bike off road before, so here was my chance to show the bike how dirty it can get. Not only did the bike get dirty, but I had quite a bit on me too. My first ride went good and I survived the course. But I really needed to get some more time on it and hopefully with someone that knew what they were doing. I talk to some friends at skate practice on Wednesday and they tell that some guys are going out there on Thursday to ride the course, so I decided that I will try to meet them out there then.

Well Thursday comes around and I head out to find out who is riding. I meet up with Gabe Jr and he tells me that some guys are already out on the course. So he calls them and they tell him that they are headed to the bridge and we should try to meet them there. So we hop on the bikes and head out. Gabe doesn't tell me who we are going to meet, so I don't think much of it. So we see them coming off of the trail onto the road right at the bridge so we hop in line right after them. I am here just to try to figure out the trail and maybe get a few pointers while I am here.

So we head up the trail and are going at a pretty pace. There is a girl leading us up, but I have no idea who she is. She soon starts pulling away from us and has a pretty good lead. Now I am really wondering who the hell this girl is. She is strong. Well about that time, the guy ahead of Gabe starts pulling a gap and before I know it he is gone. So I am now all by myself again! :( Oh well, all is good I guess. Well it was good until my chain comes off. So I put it back on and start riding again.

I am now in one the most technical and hilly parts of the course. I am going up some steep hills when the chain comes off again. Now I am starting to get really pissed. So I put it back on and start again. Now the gears start to shift/hop around on their own. I am really pissed and decide to head back to the car. As long as I am not getting on it really hard, the bike/gears do fine.

Well I get back the car and find Gabe and tell him of my problems. He tells me that he can fix it for me if I could bring the bike to the shop on Friday. So I agree and ask him who those 2 people were that we riding with. He tells me that it was Jose and Nikki. Jose and Nikki?!?! They are the top male and female riders in the state! No wonder they left me in the dirt!

So Friday comes and I take the bike over the The Bike Shop of Columbus and get Gabe to check it out. He tunes it up in about 10 minutes and I am on my way. He assures me that it is not going to give me any problems during the race on Sunday. So to check it out, I go the park on Saturday, just in case. He was right and I have a good, slow paced ride just to hit the high points of the course.

Well Sunday is now here and it is time for the races. I get up around 7:30am and head over to the park. The pro bikers are to start at 8:30 or so I though. There is a 50% chance of rain, so I bring all of my rain gear and my Georgia canopy just in case. I set up camp and go over the start line to see what is going on and to see if I know anyone that is there.

I do see alot of the CCC members and so I talk to a few of them before the racing starts. The first races of the day are the kids. They are just too cool! I didn't even know that they made mountain bikes that small. They are only going to 1 or 2 laps around the green 1 mile loop of the course depending on their age group.

The next groups up are the pro men and women. They are going to do 3 laps around the 10 mile course. The last groups to go are the beginners, which I am in the 40-49 age group. We hit the trails at 11:30am.

So here we go. We line up at the start and I get on the front row. The whistle blows and we are off. I hit the trail in about 5th place out of 14 guys. The trail starts out with a slight down hill and then back up hill. My legs are already burning as I start up the hill. I know that they will be fine after a while so I just try to keep up with the leaders. The first area of the course is relatively flat with about half open area and half wooded.

We come out of the first area and go through the finish line gate and have to turn a sharp 135 degree right and head down the hill to the chicane. The chicane is a twisting snake-like path going from side to side down what looks like a drainage ditch. It is very fast as we are flying from side to side. Alot of on-lookers are there to see all of the action too. It is not a hard section, but it is somewhat technical as you really have to pay attention to what you are doing.

The next section is a long couple of switch-back going up the side of a hill. It is not that hard, but it does have a lot of loose rocks all over it. There are also a couple of gullies that you have watch out for. At the top of the hill is a fallen tree that has been cut for the bike path to go through it. It is only about 3 feet wide so you have to be careful here too as it is on a slight left hand corner. You don't want to catch your pedal on the tree.

Over the top of the hill is the dreaded rock garden! I had a lot of problems with this area the test rides I had over here, so I was not looking forward to it at all. I told myself it is better to walk the bike through it than to get hurt. So I hit it flying just like the leaders right in front of me. My adrenaline is pumping so hard I don't even slow down. I have absolutely no problems going down through the rocks. A guy right in front of does though. He hits the bottom of the garden which is a steep drop-off over a series of large roots. You have to basically jump it with all of your weight on the back of the bike. Well I don't know what he did wrong, but all I see is him going head over heels flipping into the woods. It is a huge reality check as to the dangers of the race, but I keep on riding ahead. I don't want the loose the leaders.

I am now at the hardest section of the rock garden, climbing up the hill. I have only seen a couple of the pros do it earlier in the race. It is very steep and technical, not to mention the loose rocks and leaves covering the path. So I immediately jump off of the bike and run it up the hill. There is a large crowd watching us on top a large boulder near the top of the hill. My friends Butch and Kathy are there to cheer me on too!!! YAY

So I fly up the hill and I am gasping for every breath that I can get. The top of the hill is flat and drops off slightly into the next section.

The next section is again pretty technical with some rolling hills and a sand pit. So I have to maintain a good pace going into it as I don't want to bog down in the sand. The sand is all chewed up from the earlier racers and is a total mess mixed with some mud too. I hit it fast and don't bog down too much. I just keep my legs moving and power my way through it. It is a relatively short section with a few tight turns and a couple steeps narrow hills on the other side. I blast through the hills and hit the switch back a little too fast. I get a little bit off of the course but am quickly back on it and heading back up the hill again and to the next section.

This section is pretty flat with a slight down hill most of the way. It too can be fast, but you have to watch out for the roots and rocks. It goes down and back with 3switch backs. The hardest one is at the end where you have a hard left hand turn as you are going up the last part of the hill back to the top. This section doesn't give me any problems and I blast right through it.

The next section is pretty easy with several switch backs through some dense under brush and trees. At the bottom is a drainage creek with some rocks piled into it for us to ride across. This could be another problem area, but isn't. I am still right behind the leaders and hanging tough. My legs are feeling a little washed out by now, but I am able to get a little rest going down the previous 2 sections. The next sections are open but long and hilly.

The first part goes through a small group of small pine trees as we hit the first of many hills. We quickly come out of the trees and hit the open area. It has several rolling hills. Some of the down hills are very fast but the up hills are rocky and pretty steep and long. I am actually able to pass a guy going up the first big hill! YAY. I have always been strong on the hills.

We entry the next section and I have a good lead on the guy that I passed. This section is pretty technical and has several steep dips criss-crossing through a drainage ditch. This is where my chain came off the other day, so I have to be careful here. So far so good and I blast through another section with no problems.

Next comes the flat rock section. It only has one technical spot and it is a rock that you have to jump up on over a 16" vertical rise. I have never been able to complete this and have chickened out many times. But I have to do it if I am going to keep up with he other guys. They are starting to pull a good lead on me by now. So I hit the rock full speed ahead. I make it over the vert, but as soon as I try to pedal up the tires spin out and I go down. No problem as only the bike hits the rock and not me. I quickly hop back on and take off. Right around the corner is a pretty steep climb over some small loose rocks and then a steep decent down the other side back on to the flat rocks again.

The guy that I passed has now caught up to me again and is right on my tail. He follows me for most of the way through the large open area as we head back towards the main area. We go down a steep hill and he passes me right after the bottom. But wait, it is not him after all. It is someone else from the group that started behind us. WOW, he must be really fast.

So at the end of the open area is a very technical and tight section of heavy woods. You have to be really careful here as a tree will just out and grab you handle bars before you can blink your eye. I am about halfway through the section and another guy comes up behind me and wants to pass. So I pull off wide going around a switchback and he passes. Well I keep going and then another guy comes up behind me and wants to pass. So I do the same thing and guess who it is. The guy that I passed earlier. He has finally caught me and is ready to go. So I get through this section again with no problems, but I do pass a guy and one of the steep hills and I see a guy sitting on the ground fixing a flat. What a bummer that would be!

So we come out of this section and head back over the creek and up the right side of the hill and to the long flat straight-away. I am thinking ahead and hoping that I might be able to catch some of the leaders here. Well by the time I get to the top of the hill to the flat area, my legs are about waisted! I have almost no energy left in them except to just maintain a forward motion. Luckily there isn't any of my competitors right behind me to pass, but I have the feeling that I am now not going to be able to catch anyone ahead of me either. They have a large lead on me by now.


I have my tent and chairs set up near the end of the long straight-away and am hoping that Butch and Kathy are there by now to cheer me on. Yep, there they are. It is so nice to have friends to come out to support you when you are trying to kill yourself!~! LOL Well in the blink of your eye I am gone and into the next section. Only 3 more miles some one yells! YAY, the home stretch. Hopefully I don't completely run out of steam in here.

This section is the last new section before we hit the first section of the race again right before the finish. It is real flat but very technical with a lot of switch backs. It can be very fast if you are willing to take the risk of a tree grabbing you. I am almost all out of energy, so I decide that I have a good lead on my next competitor and am going to take it somewhat easy through here. Well as soon as I get that out of my head and guy catches me and wants to pass. I look back and see that he is not in my age group and let him go. Another guy soon catches me and again he is not in my age group and I let him go. Well I have had about enough of this passing and I am ready for the race to be over, so I hit the gas again.

I hit the last (first) section and there is only one guy in front of me that I can see. Now I have new challenge, catch that guy and try to beat him to the finish line. The race is on and I am catching up to him. We hit the last down hill and am flying to the finish line. I am right on his heals and we go through the last dip in the trail but he gets me at the line. After we cross the line I realize that he is not in my age group and all that effort at the end was for nil, but it was fun.

The race is now over and I think that I finished in about 5th place. I am looking for my friends and wanting somewhere to sit down and rest. It is really amazing that I can exert so much energy for an hour and still be able to stand up and talk~! LOL

I think that I had a really good race and will probably do more of it in the future. The final results are in and I come in 6th place in my age group(40-49). Not too bad for a first timer I think. My official time was 57:33. My heart rate monitor averaged 172 for the race.

Click here for the Results