Word on the street was the race was going to be ran backwards. I have only ridden the course once and that was racing it last year. I'm getting super old and my memory was faulty on what the trail was like anyways, so I wasn't sweating the direction change like some of the locals. I knew with what little rain we've had the course would be fast, I do remember the trail had/has very little technical sections.
Onto the race...
The pro open field had 10 guys in it. Stout for a TBRA race and I was pumped to race some dudes I knew nothing about. Spring break was going on and we had a dude from Cali and two other guys from Ohio racing with us. It's pretty easy to stalk race results on USA Cycling and these dudes are pretty legit so I was stoked to race against them! Along with my teammates and friends Matt Schupp and Billy Wood, I knew this race would be killer.
The start had a pretty sweet "S" downhill curve into a grass field that led into the woods. The S turn I thought was straight ballin', I loved railing that corner every lap. I had a bobble at the start clipping in and thought I'd get a bad position on the turn however I was on the inside so I hit the accelerator and took the line sharp and help 3rd wheel into the woods.
From the gun we were haulin'! I don't know the guy that got the hole shot but he was a big dude and had good power but he faded pretty quickly. About 5 mins in we were all yelling at him to move over, which he did. I was then sitting in 2nd. Sean Leader, my buddy I traveled to Mellow Johnnys with was in the front now pushing the pace. He was riding strong, hitting the punchy uphill kickers hard but bobbled on a rooty downhill right-hander, my heart rate was kickin' and I didn't want to settle in. I took that opportunity to cut around and take charge of the lead, immediately picking up the pace a bit. I rode steady and maintained a small gap over the field on the remainder of the first lap, around 30 secs or so.
I always love the second lap. After the first lap you get a better feel for the course and know where you can push the limits and also where you can recover from hard efforts. I tried not to think about the race behind me and kept things smooth and consistent. I'm sure everyone was attacking the hell out of one another which gave the advantage to me if I could keep it smooth and hard paced for the next two laps! The course had very little climbing which does NOT suit me however, there were a few BMX style pump sections that I love racing on. I played to my childhood bike riding strengths and held on for the win!
Yeah, I'm tiny! So what!
To give you an example of how fast the course at Booker T is, I maintained an average speed of near 15mph for the race. For an XC race, and 100% single track that's rare in MTB racing to my experience. Everyone had a great race. My teammates did rad as well. Billy got 4th just missing the sprint for 3rd. And Matt rode to a strong finish for 5th.
I'm super pumped for the racing season, I cannot say it enough! My #1 goal this year is a podium position for the overall in the SERC series. This race gave me great confidence going into the first race of that series March 24th in Ocala,FL.
Congrats to everyone I know that raced! You are all AMAZING and keep the hammer down!
Holla at cha boy!
-KAT
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