SERC and the Sea Otter

It's been a while since the last update. Sorry I've been living the dream in Brevard.

I'm missing quite a few weekends amount of work. So let me catch you up.

I'll start with the SERC race in Bryson City, home of the Knobscorcher mountain bike race. I was unable to attend but heard all about it from Tristan. The trails were in good shape with the white wave packing in the little amount of rain making the course very fast and a mix of tacky dry. Almost all members of the Sycamore Team were running the Specialized Fast Track LKs for their low rolling and predictable cornering.

There was a huge field of Pro Men lined up. Over 35 riders took the start. After a hectic start Tristan held the lead group for the first lap. After getting gapped on the start of the second he tried to bridge back up to the leaders. He didn't make it but he got within 15seconds of pulling back Thomas Turner before the finish.

Wes held it down for the most of the race after having a challenging training block the week before the race. He finished a lackluster 23rd but got in some good training.

Chris Bennett had a very good result in his first Category one race after the new category changes. He trailed Travis Mullen for most of the race before cracking in the last few miles. Steve Griffin also had a good result at Tsali. After being sick and almost not racing he pulled out a 15th in the Cat 1/Senior Expert class.

Donnie followed his solid result at Hobby Park with a podium (5th) at Tsali talking after the race he said that he was excited to get back out to the Tuesday Night Worlds ride to work on some intensity and show "the young guys" how to ride.

Continuing doing the things he wants, Chad Banner finished 7th in the Cat 2/ Senior Sport race. He was followed by Phil Bennett in 12th and William Murr in 18th. Michael Ansari held it down in a very competitive 30-34 class in 18th and Kell Bond finished strong in the Cat 2/Senior Sport race.

MTB Race News did an excellent write up about the race and you can find it here.
The Brevard College road team competed at Lee's McRae the same day. Things look good for the Tornadoes heading into the conference championships. Marshal pulled in a top 10 in the road race and Matt St. Marie finished 12th in the uphill time trial. The girls fared well too with all of them making the podium at one time or another.

That was three weekends ago.

Now Wes returned from the West Coast and Sea Otter where he finished 9th in the Pro Super D. A very good result from the King of Pisgah.He followed it with a 79th out of almost 130 riders total in the cross country two days later. Chris Herndon also made the trip out and returned with a 20th in the dual slalom after crashing on the dry, dusty course.

At the same time the Brevard team was hosting the collegiate conference championships. The team time trial's 6th place put the Fighting White Squirrels in 3rd overall at the start of the day. The road race cost them a few positions after they missed the move of the race and valiantly chased for the remainder. Park Baker sneaked in a surprising 2nd place in the Men's C race and the dominate duo of Joh Tuttle and Jami Perry put them at the top of the leader board. Julia Tellman held it down against a very strong field of up and coming U23 riders.

The crit was a show case for the team. In downtown Brevard, they raced around the twisty circuit for several laps attacking and putting on a good show for the hometown fans. Baker and James Chaput had to pull out of their races due to mechanical problems. Tyler Crotts and Ryan Forcyth picked up the reigns and held them to two solid finishes in their first critrium experience.

The girls once again dominated with Joh taking the win after breaking away with Jami halfway through the race. Julia finished a strong 3rd to the delight of her fans.

Tim Reinhart struggled after a hard race the day before and slipped in for a top 20 finish.

The Men's A race was one of the most anticipated races of the weekend. Tristan took a solo filer three laps into the race and held the field at bay. Once caught, the break of the day was formed with no representation from Brevard. After losing time to the break and eventually getting lapped Tristan attacked with one lap to go with St Marie following and finished 8th and 9th respectively.

Lots of racing for the people in North Carolina and several weekends on the road. It's not going to slow down any time soon. Sorry I was not a prompt as I usually am with writing but I will have to improve. Just like these young (and old) athletes need to improve themselves.

Back for more soon.
Alex exists.