Well, the season ended not quite the way I would of wanted and I didn't ever get first place in a race, but I still did better then I have ever done before.
After Gainesville, we raced in Alafia, which is near lakeland. It was a tough race, I got real stressed out due to the pressure of having an entire field of riders chasing me down. Man I was truly the man in the middle with people in front that I cant catch and people in back that are trying to catch me. I ended up in fifth place and I was happy about it, cause like I said, I was stressed and I didn't feel well.
After that race we went on down to believe Florida which is near Ocala. A course that suited my ability to ride tight twisty terrain. But a bad wreck early left me with only one rear brake and I did the best I could finishing 5th again, which I was not terribly unhappy about. The race after that was Oleta River state park in miami. Now there is a trail that I always seem to do great on practice day and then the day of the race, I bonk and fall apart. Well history repeated itself and I fell completely apart race day. Manage to salvage a ninth place. What I didn't realize was that at one point I was in 3rd place. But when no one tells you what's happening and your having a bad race. You just hang in there and do your best.
The last race was a chance to redeem myself. I went into it feeling better then ever and feeling good refreshed and ready to kick butt and take some names. I wanted some retribution. There was one rider I had to beat by three places to get in front of him in the overall standings and one guy that had to beat me by two places to take my spot. Well I went out as hard as I could, got right behind the one dude I needed to beat, but another rider from another class caused me to crash and I was never able to catch him again. I spent a good 8 miles fighting back and forth with one rider that I wanted to beat from the Alafia race. He was some guy who had just started showing up to the last couple of races and really got my goat cause he flew by me like I was standing still in Alafia. Well I say it was that guys lucky day, cause he managed to get some serious lucky breaks. Everytime I would shake him, I would have a slip or a fall or a mechanical and he would end up closing the gap. He then shook me and I was never able to catch him again, I was amazed. I almost think he cheated cause I cant see how we could of been fighting tooth and nail the entire race and then he just disappears in the end. I was baffled by the whole thing. All in all I felt great after the race and finished 5th again that day and finished fifth overall in the standings and got the prizes that I well deserved as well as a plaque. My team mate Jason managed 2nd place overall of which I was very proud of and truly felt I had a hand in helping him achieve his spot, by giving him opportunities and putting the pressure on the other riders. Awesome season, my best ever, cant wait to do it again in 06. I have already made plans to race more races and stay fit over the course of the year versus waiting till July to start preparing for the fall series. An added bonus I have included a pic of me and my new girlfriend the love of my life, my heart and soul. She is part of the reason my legs were so on fire, she shared so much with me and really gave me the motivation to spark a fire in my racing.
