Race Report & Pics: FSC #1 2015 Tallahassee

It's finally here! Been a long, hot Summer of hard work, training and a little fun to boot, but ready or not, the 2015 FSC is here!

Lots of changes went down over the Summer. We added some friends to the group, some guys still race, others just love cycling, but we're all friends so we still ride together as Eclipse Racing no matter what colors we wear on race day. Which leads me to yours truly, Eric G, and Boyco joining up with some of our old friends on Mack Cycle's new MTB team.

The old gang, and a few more, all together

The toughest part of the kickoff weekend is the long drive from South Florida to the State Capital in Tallahassee. We changed it up from our usual routine and actually left on Friday afternoon and it really paid off. Instead of arriving tired on Saturday mid day, we had a relaxing morning and hit the trails for some comfortable shakedown laps. This course is a nice mix of climbing and descents. After an opening double track climb, racers are kicked down the Cadillac section that's pretty much wide open bench cut single track, with some bumps and roots to keep your brakes from getting too bored. Throw in a few A & B lines and it's definitely a section to make some passes. Later on Walley World kicks the racers over a perfectly groomed double to hit a nice wooden wall that usually draws a crowd, encouraging the racers to "Get some wood!!"

Walley World

Race day weather was perfect and the races went off quickly. With so many of us in attendance, we'll pick a few random results to talk about. Vic started in his Elite class, a combined class of all Expert 19-49 races. While they'd also be scored in their respective classes, this is where you can find the fastest racers in Florida. After lap one he was mixed in with about the Top 11 riders which then started separating out. After three laps he was battling with another racer between 7th and 8th place. He managed to pull away from his chaser to end up in 7th on the day, and 4th in class, landing him in the always impressive 40-49 podium! The story of the day was Bob McCarty, who popped his chain coming out of the gate, Fixed it in a few minutes, and chased back to finish 5th on the day in the Elite division. No less impressive was Bob's teammate, Doug DeWeese, who took his first overall Elite victory on this day!

Boyco set off in the XC2 19-29, 18 deep which includes contains some of the fastest junior racers in the state. Looks can certainly be deceiving with these kids! After the shuffle of the start, Boyco had just missed the lead group escape and was part of the a chase group. By lap two it was down to a trio and it became a strategy game. Evenly matched through most of the trail, Boyco snuck away with a small gap on the last twisty section to charge to the finish line ahead of the others for 8th place.

As for me, well it started well at least. My XC2 30-39 class was a bit smaller than usual with only 9 racers. I stuck to the group early and tried not to do anything silly. I made a move to get into the Cadillac section first from the group I was with and it worked, so that was fun, but after that I got swarmed on a climb and got sent to the rear. I held everyone close for the better part of 2 laps until my old back issues kicked in and I fell off the pace. Kept it upright the rest of the way, didn't finish last and well, had some fun. The form isn't bad, but I can't shake this injury.

As of this writing, FSC #2 in Jacksonville already passed and was a muddy mess! Elite winner on the day was Bob McCarty with our Vic Nelson grabbing 7th overall again in Elite and 3rd in class! FSC #3 is coming THIS weekend and we'll be at the always awesome Alafia River State Park for that one! Stay tuned for more pics and reports! Enjoy some of the pics below and thanks for following along!

 

Great kickoff to the 2015 FSC. Mostly ITT, Kids, and White wave pics here. Don't forget to like our page on the way out!
Posted by Mack Cycle Mountain Bike Team on Tuesday, September 22, 2015

FSC 2012 kickoff weekend is HERE!

There's been eight months of training, pain and suffering, injuries, recovery, losing weight, gaining weight, dropping body fat, gaining muscle for racers all across Florida. From the beginners looking to improve, to the Pro's trying to stay on top, the last 8 months of sacrifice and hard work (or lack of it) come down to this weekend and the next few months that follow. The best in the state know one thing...The FSC is here!

It all starts at Tallahassee this weekend. Fast and flowing with constant elevation changes. If you're not going up, you're going down. Nothing too steep in either direction, but a blast in EVERY direction. Throw in Kudzilla, an extended downhill run, brilliantly carved from the available terrain, and a killer finish on a BMX course to tear up the racers legs just before the finishing straight. If you have a weakness, this trail will expose it.

It's a long season. Gone Riding takes us to nine exciting races, all at unique trails. Alafia, Hailes, Markham, and many more. It all starts now. See everyone at the races!!!

Check out some Kudzilla action below!!

FSC #1 2011 - Tallahassee Race Report & Photos

FSC #1 is Here!

Eric here with our race report for FSC #1. After the long summer break Florida State Series is back for 2011. Everyone's had their time to train and participate in the off-season training races, so now it's time to line up and see who worked hard and who needed to work harder. (Guess where I wound up??)

Julio and I made the trip to Tallahassee and were really looking forward to it. Last year was my first visit after a long summer recovering from my broken ankle, and promptly ended 3 minutes into the race with a torn rear tire. So I figured the course OWED ME! Saturday was the fun/recon/Time Trail day, pre-riding the course and catching up with fellow racers we hadn't seen for awhile and then lining up at the end of the day for a Time Trial. After spending the Summer racing around South Florida, I forgot how many racers we see from the whole state. It was great seeing everyone. Julio skipped the TT, so it was up to me to represent the team. I didn't want to burn my legs out so I started pretty fast, but backed off a bit when the going got tough. Just used the TT to get to know the course. I wound up 17th in the big XC3 30+ class.

XC3 30+ Start

Sunday rolled around and conditions were perfect. Starting temps must have been in the low 80s and the trail was in perfect condition during our warm up. 34 Racers lined up for our class and off we went. I promptly butchered the launch and took forever to get clipped in and wound up way back right away. Julio managed better and wound up in the Top 10 going into the first trail. Undulating is an accurate way to describe the course as you're constantly climbing or going down. Nothing too steep in either direction, but enough to separate the racers according to their strengths (This would come to play later for me) Since I was already 20+ riders back I knew I wasn't going to gain any ground early. I followed the quick pace and passed when I could but wouldn't force anything. I'm not the best climber so I couldn't be as aggressive on the climbs, but still managed to gain a few spots.

I thought to myself at least Julio is doing well, and then I saw him fixing his bike on the side of the trail....Not good. Turns out he took a minor spill on a sandy turn and dropped his chain. By the time he got rolling he was behind me and a long way from 6th where he was. Despite the setback, Julio fought back and picked off riders quickly and came through lap 1 in 14th. The descents and technical sections suited me, but the climbing was a weak spot. I decided I'd back off a bit on the climbs and not waste unnecessary energy. My strategy worked out as my new good racing friends Pablo Valdeviso, Kirk Ivy and I went at it for pretty much the entire race. They'd catch me on the climbs, and I'd try to pass them as they recovered going back into the trails. Back and forth we went until the final major climb after the Kudzilla section where sure enough Kirk passed me then I jumped around him going back into the trail as hard as I could. I'd manage to hold them off through the end for 18th. Julio had a quiet solo lap and finished 14th on the day.12th-20th were within about a minute of each other, so a better start might have given me a better result.  Not the results we wanted, but at least it was a fun tactical race for me.

Ryan Woodall:
Fastest Mustache in the South

The pro's lined up and were flying at the start. I managed to catch a view of eventual race winner Ryan Woodall putting down an attack that got him the gap he needed for the victory. Watching the fast guys in action is always interesting, but when you can catch a defining attack it's pretty impressive to see how it all goes down.

Enjoy some pics from the Yellow Wave below. Feel free to keep any you find of yourself. Thanks for following us. Our next stop will be in Gainesville for FSC #3. See you all then!