Big Buck GNCC

April 13, 2008  - Union, South Carolina

Awesome conditions greeted us at this years version of the Big Buck GNCC.  I have to admit that I'll probably always remember this place as the site of my first GNCC podium finish and I was definitely looking forward to coming back and giving it another go this year!  With a few frustrating rides lately, I was hoping to put in a strong performance here and at least get back up on the podium.

My bike fired almost instantly when the green flag flew and I was fortunate to get off the line near the front of the pack.  As everyone jockeyed for positions through the first few turns, I was content with being in 4th or 5th position.  As soon as we got into the woods, however, I wanted to get towards the front of the pack and get on a pace with the leaders.  Thad and Kailub were also up front and after just a little bit, the three of us were able to break off into our own little pack.  We spent the next few laps all swapping positions back and forth and I can honestly say that I don't think anyone wanted to lead!  At times it seemed like we were having a slow race through the woods!  I'd be in front and try to let Thad around so I could follow him for a little bit, but then he'd slow down and Kailub would go by both of us!  It was pretty funny, actually.

At around the halfway point I got a pit board saying that my teammate Dustin was closing up on us.  He's been riding awesome this year and has proven that he can really turn it on during the last half of the race.  Knowing this, I decided it was probably time for me to try to make a break for it!  I put my head down and tried to focus on riding fast without making mistakes.

As we headed into the white flag lap, I got a pit board saying Dustin had moved into second place and was around 15 seconds back.  That's not a whole lot of time but I still felt like I had a lot of energy left in the tank and could fight back if anyone came up to challenge.  Unfortunately, however, not too far into that last lap I decided to change up one of my lines and ended up getting stuck.  At first I couldn't believe what had happened and I just wanted to get out of there and get going before I lost any positions.  It was not to be, however, as both Dustin and Thad went by while I was held up.  When I got going again I rode as hard as I could in hopes of catching them, but they were too far ahead so I had to settle for third place.

I can't say that I'm not extremely disappointed with the outcome but I know that it was just a simple mistake and that those things happen sometimes.  I guess I should also mention that there happened to be a cameraman right there when I got stuck so it just might be on film for all the world to see!  I know I'll probably cringe when I finally see that one on TV!

Congratulations go out to my Monster Energy FAR teammate Dustin Gibson for his first win of the year.  Even though I really wanted this one for myself, it's at least good that the team was able to score a win.  With Thad finishing second, it was also the second time this year that there's been an all blue XC2 sweep of the podium.