The Spartan GNCC

June 10 - Sparta, KY

The near month between the last GNCC in Ohio and this race in Sparta seemed to fly by.  All I remember thinking after the terrible day in Ohio was that there was plenty of time to get ready for this race in Kentucky and then before I knew it, it was time to load up and head to the race.  As we rolled into the pits on Saturday, the weather could not have been better.  Luckily it stayed like that for the entire weekend.  I had heard they were going to add in some tighter stuff (to prepare everyone for the upcoming race at Snowshow Mountain) and was really anxious to see how it would turn out.

When the flag went up I got a pretty good start and jockeyed for positions through the first few corners.  I ended up making it into the woods in about 6th position.  From there I just hoped to be able to keep up the pace with the frontrunners and not make any big mistakes.  I got in behind Dustin Gibson which turned out to work in my favor as he had some good lines that allowed us to get by some of the other riders.  Before I knew it we were running 1st and 2nd and then all of a sudden he made a mistake allowing me to get by.  I almost didn't even know what to do up front so I just tried to keep a good pace going and see how long I could lead.  As we kept getting further and further into the first lap I just wanted to make sure I could hold the lead until we got into the pits because I thought that would be pretty cool to lead through there.  As we went through I read on my pitboard that I had 12 seconds on 2nd place.  That's not a whole lot of time but my thoughts at the time were that it's a lot better than them breathing right down my neck!  Throughout the second lap I just tried to stay smooth and ride consistent and keep this lead for as long as I could.  I knew the pack would be coming though, because that's just how it seems to happen at every race in this XC2 class.

At the end of the 2nd lap I saw that my pitboard said I had stretched the lead to 27 seconds and that I'd need to come in for gas the next lap.  I continued just trying to ride my own race but then I made a small mistake and hit my shifter on a tree.  It was bent upward and at first I thought I had just blown it but after a few miles I was able to adapt to the new position.  The end of the third lap came and I had kept the gap about the same.  The gas stop went smoothly and I was on my way with only two laps to go.  The course was pretty fun with some off camber trails and good woods sections.  The only bad thing was that some of the fields were pretty dusty and hard to see through if you got behind other riders.

The fourth lap went good and all of a sudden I saw the white flag up ahead in the scoring tent.  The pitboard said I had about a 45 second gap over second place and that's when I started thinking too much about things.  I kept trying to ride smart but I made a few small mistakes.  With just a few miles to go I heard a bike rev behind me and I turned around and it was Rodney!  I knew I was going to have a race to the finish on my hands and just prepared myself to put in one last sprint.  It was not to be, however, as he put attempted a pretty gutsy pass on me and made it stick.  Just seconds later we hit the open fields and I knew he had it unless he made a mistake.  It was so dusty that I just couldn't get close enough to him to attempt to get back by him at the end so I came across in 2nd place.

It was absolutely awesome to lead so much of that race but it was kind of a disappointment to lose it right at the end.  I have to give it up to Rodney, though.  He rode a great race and never stopped pushing.