Yargo recap.....

Well, back to the grind after a great weekend of racing. Heres how it went down:

Ended up hittin the road on Friday with Radd to head up to the Ft. Yargo XTerra (Saturday) and the Southeast Regional MTB Race (Sunday). After taking the LONG SCENIC route (thanx mapquest) we finally made it to the park around 7ish on Friday. We jumped out and went straight out for a preride - nothing like going from sitting in a truck for 6+ hours to climbing hills on the bike!!!! The Xterra course was laid out and since that was my main focus - I just wanted to preride the first part of the bike course and then the check out the run course. It ended up working out perfectly b/c Dave Berger (of GoneRiding) had set up the run course to use the first 3 miles of the bike course, so I got in about 30min preride on the mtb then jumped back out to run the last mile of the run course -this really helped me to visualize the last mile of the run, so that way I knew when I would be able to push the pace. The course was all around the huge lake and was super fun and in great shape - I knew it was going to be a great race. After some pasta at Ruby Tuesday, me and the Radd-ster headed to the hotel for some rest - we were going to be back at the park for an 8am start.

As we arrived on Sat morning, I realized this was going to be bigger than Miami -and this race only had one distance so everybody would be starting together - MASS STARTS ARE FUN........not. Luckily, the race started in the water and I didn't get caught up too bad in the "salmon spawning traffic". Had a decent swim and just kept a steady pace - I knew that there would be a couple of dudes that I wasn't going to touch in the water - namely Craig Evans, Bruce Gennari, and good-ole Fannin. So I figured that I'd settle in for the swim and then reel em in on the bike. This worked perfectly as I started pickin people off real quick on the bike - but I didn't catch Gennari towards the end of the lap and I NEVER even saw Craig (he ended up puttin down a 47min lap compared to my 49min lap........ dang!!!), so headin into T2, I was in 2nd overall - with Gennari and another guy within a minute or so behind me. Now, I've been somewhat working on my run, so I truly wasn't dreading this run as I normally do. I went out and just tried to settle in to a comfortable pace.....not an ez thing when you're runnin up and down hills with a bunch of dudes chasing ya!! My heartrate stayed jacked for the first 10min and that's about when Gennari came by as well as the other guy, so now I'm sittin in fourth - just knowing I've got Casey Fannin back there somewhere. I try not to think about it and just concentrate on going forward -and i feel like i'm actually running kinda fast. So then I come to the last mile, which I had scouted out the night before, and its downhill towards a bridge over the lake and then back along the lake towards the finish line. Its right then that I sense somebody coming up on me - I don't look back - but just keep on running ---- arggh, FANNIN!!!!!!!! He comes by me and as always, throws out some encouragement, and then (as always), proceeds to drop me. I try to rev it up a bit - but doesnt help - I end up 5th overall - just about 30 secs behind Casey. But this scores me 1st place AG since Craig voluntarily pulls himself out due to being a pro. That dude seems like a class act - its fun to race with a pro, just to see how you compare (usually its pretty humbling - but I'll have something for him if he's at First Coast!)

Then Sat nite we hit up the Athens Twilight Criterium to check out some roadies doin their thing. This place was packed with drunk college kids, drunk mtber's, and some sick-fast roadies. We walked around a bit and found some Italian restaurant (with no AC) to grab some grub - I had to remember that we still had to race on Sunday - and that it was going to be a 2-1/2 hour suffer-fest in the trails. So we scored some pasta and had a couple of Terrapin Rye Ales and then watched the crit. Rashaan Bahati ended up winning the sprint - but i'd say that all of the dudes that finished that race, deserve some props. I'm bettin that they were going at least 30-35 mph the whole 90 min!! CRAZY. So anyways, we mustered up some self-control and left the bikes and beer party that was Athens, and headed back to our hotel. After sleepin in we awoke to a rainy morning. At this point, I decided that I wasn't going to race in the mud, and that if it kept raining, then I would just run support for the crew. Well, once we got to the park, the rain let up and I of course got swept up with being at the race, so I decided that I would race after all . I knew I was gonna be in a world of hurt, but figured I might as well support the race (since the Berger's truck broke down) and get my butt out there. The race started fast and I planned to just go for as hard and as long as I could - I found myself sitting third with Trent Maddox and Ray Billings pulling me around. Their pace settled in and I hung on until midway thru the third lap. At this point, they either picked it up or I backed way off - or maybe a little of both : - )

I let a gap form and then decided to ride out the last half of the last lap solo - and then about 2miles to the finish - a guy from my class comes up on me - and I got nothing for him - he cruises by me up one of the climbs - and then I sit up and cruise in for fourth (30-39 Expert). All in all not a bad showing for the weekend - Radd won his sport race despite some pressure from a guy from Tennessee and Char won her race as well. BigBlue finished up strong as he's setting himself up for the Bump and Grind in June. Well, thanks for reading -

Next race = Beaches Fine Arts Sprint Tri on May 17th..........

- sbc