Date: March 12, 2000
Event: Spring Series #1 AMBC/Gainesville, FL
Class: Senior
Category: Pro
Length:26 mi
Time: 1:53: 22 (59 seconds back)
Conditions: Sunny - 60 to 70 degrees
Bike: Razorback HT
Tires: Hutchinson Python Golds

Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

Considering I had done a very hard effort race the day before I always do a cool down or a spin in the evening to help recovery. I also made sure to get in a decent warm up before Sunday's race.

In the last two months how many hours a week have you trained?

Probably about 18 hours a week.

Were you strong from start to finish?

Absolutely not. On the last lap I bonked like a Champ. Matter of fact the pace seemed pretty easy for the first lap. I could have gone a lot faster for the first lap but upon looking at the data from the race, I like to figure out my lap times - consistent lap times are usually an attribute you have when your fitness is good. Things are going well if you can run at your top race speed with consistent lap times for the whole race. My lap times went down with the last lap being almost a minute slower than my first. Usually I'm able to maintain my lap times. The first lap is usually a little faster - that's expected. Everyone's sprinting off the line and going bonkers jockeying for position. Anyway, I bonked on the last lap.

When did you put the hammer down?

My team mate Salem Mazzoway took off at the front of the race trying to keep the pace really fast so the other two guys would chase and it would force them to be on the defensive. I then could basically just follow them and that sort of took the ball out of my court. I could just draft off of them. It was a pretty fast course and there were some sections of drafting in it. I felt very comfortable with the pace. As a matter of fact I felt like I wanted to go faster after the first lap. I felt pretty antsy and I wanted to race. I knew that Sea Otter was next weekend and I wanted to do decent so it was time for me to do my own race so I just took off and got as much as a 15 second lead on the rest of the field.

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

For the most part I was happy but I think the prize purse wasn't exactly what they advertised. They had said that they were going to have an increased prize purse since it was an AMBC event - but I think it was about typical instead. This is a semi-national race and there were guys who came down from Georgia, I was there from Maryland - you came down from Delaware....they had advertised more of a prize purse than they usually have.

What was your prize for first place?

Cash

If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

I would have had my GU(s) in my jersey pocket rather than trying to get them in a feed that's twenty miles an hour. I couldn't get a feed to save my life. I kept slapping them out of people's hands, I couldn't get them. I ran out of water on the last lap also cause I couldn't get my water bottle. With one lap to go I saw one of my team mates with a GU - so it was like "I gotta get that" - so I went to the left to get the GU - and Emily was on the right with my water bottle - and I missed it! GU with no water is not exactly the best combination. Had I had my feed - it would have helped a lot on the last lap.

Is there anything you would like to add?

It ended up still being a really close race. I ended up a little less than a minute back, and not too far back from second place. It ended up being a tight race and that's what I like. It ended up a great day of racing. Nice weather - great course - tough competition and a well run event.

My roommate Eric Keim caught up after a little while and we had what appeared to be a pretty decent gap. We were looking to open that, but I guess the speed caught up with me. It was my first race and in the first part of the race the perceived exertion seemed like I could go faster, in the middle of the race it seemed pretty hard and Dave Irving and Andy Johnston caught up. In the end, I'm with these two guys and they had put in a few hard efforts in an attempt to drop some of the people that we were with. By the middle of the race we had gotten up to a group of about six...including Experts, Semi-Pros and Pros. By the end of the race I was just holding on for dear life on the last lap when they were attacking and I just splintered on the last two miles I guess.

Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

Besides not getting my feed - that's about it. I raced a pretty smooth race. I don't think I over exerted myself.

How do you rate the course?

I thought it was a really fun cross country course. I was impressed with the fact that it was Florida definitely. It was one of the cooler courses I've been on. It was unique with that really marine blue water in the quarries. The cliff sides, coral rock. It really seemed like a course in Hawaii or something. Like a lagoon in Hawaii. It had a different feel to it than the other riding I have done in Florida. I thought it was a great spectator course. There was probably about a mile of viewing area that you could see from the start and finish area if you just walked a few steps. You could see different sections of the course. It allowed for really good spectating. I think that's an important thing - to be able to watch the race and see the action going on. I thought it really had some good appeal in that way too. It had some good single track. I thought a lot of the single track was fun. The one real steep downhill - that was a fun downhill!