5.5 miles with 1164 feet of climbing. I entered the Junior 15-16 category not particular sure of how I would do. I knew that the all-time record was 20:40 for Junior men 15-16, and Stephen had gotten a low 21 last year, so I was hoping to go under 21 and give the record a run for its money.
My wise friends advised me to go aero instead of light. I think it worked. The course surprised me because it was a 12-14 mph pace when it was going downhill, but then it would even out occasionally and bring the speed into the high 20s.
Dad wasn't racing, so he generously gave me the Zipp 808s. I rocked the booties and TT helmet.
I got into a good rhythm at the start, but when I looked back at the halfway point, I saw that Stephen was really cutting into the 1:30 start buffer. I realized I had been holding back a bit.
I really killed it in the last 6 minutes. The grade maxed out at 18% with 300 meters to go. With 200 meters to go, a fast short downhill began, followed by a 150 meter climb to the summit. Simply, I rode as hard as I could.
My time was 20:42, just two seconds off the record. Stephen, after dropping his chain and stopping to put it back on, roared through the finish for a time of 20:24 and the course record!
I had a very good day. I must give a big shout-out to my dad who saved the day for me! The back Zipp wheel had something in its rim that was blowing out our tubes. It took about 20 minutes of fighting with it, for Dad to be able to get it to hold pressure. I couldn't have raced without my dad!!!
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