Feeling the Pain Cave

    I'm a slacker mom blogger! I haven't had the time to really post alot lately so I am going to give it a shot today...unless I get interrupted! 

    It's a little hard to post a full fledge race report per J-man's point of view so I always give you my point of view, which if you know me and if you have EVER seen me at a race I am chasing him around the course as much as I possibly can usually with Camera in hand and screaming my lungs out! I scream nothing but good things though so don't judge. 

Jordan has bumped up his cycling in the past year. This year for cyclocross (which is his favorite of cycling) he started the season as a Category 4. Cat 4 is beginner or in his case a bump up from Junior category. He won the first 4 races in Cat 4 and as any 13 year old (at the time) should do, he catted up to a Cat 3. A little bit of a different world in Cat 3, stronger competition and 15 minutes longer added to his race time of what used to be 30 minutes. His first Cat 3 race was his birthday weekend. Talk about excited! This kid was outta control and could not wait! I on the other hand as a mother was internally freaking out... What if 45 minutes was too long? What if he did horrible and got discouraged? These are common "mom" issues and his coach informed me he would be fine. He won the MSG Cat 3 weekend and the following weekend we were off to Cincinnati. Ok he did good at home but, this is a big race. Alot more riders and harder course. First day he got 13th with a flat, 2nd day in the pouring rain and 30 degrees he got 1st!! First? Holy Cow and the 3rd day he got 4th! He had a strong sprint at the finish for this one too. I was in shock! He was training hard and I could really tell it was helping him. The following weekend was Derby City Cup in Louisville, KY. This course was SUPER hard and the preview for World's in February. This field was a Cat 2/Cat 3 split. So he was really gonna get a taste of racing with the Big Guys! We showed up and pre-rode the course and he loved it! Sand pits, flyovers, run-ups and off camber sections. This kid with mountain bike skills was in heaven. Until you throw 119 other guys in the mix... then things get a little difficult. 

First lap J-man got a great start, but BOOM sand pit disaster. He got tangled up with another guy (who might I add cussed my 14 yr old up and down) and he just fell behind. There was alot of running the bike and bottom line a huge field. 35th out of a start of 119 and only 95 finished. This was a dose of reality to J-man. He said "Mom that was the most physical course I have ever done" I could see the wheels turning in his head. He walked around and studied the course and the riders for the rest of the day. He knew what he wanted to do for the next day. He got a great start and moved his way up the group pretty quickly, he had started 25th both days. He ended up with a 10th place finish which was AMAZING! 

    Ok, fast forward to last weekend and after a few weeks off we raced at Mars Hill and he won the Cat 3 race. So if you know cyclocross you will know what the word Sandbagger means! Ha... my 14 yr old Cat 3 was being called a Sandbagger! So, what do you do? Put in for an upgrade of course. Gah, I was freaking out inside! 15 MORE minutes to a race! I was concerned he couldn't be there mentally, physically it would be a struggle, but Cyclocross Nationals are in January and why not? Good training... Again, this kid was the happiest kid on the planet! You would think he was getting a new puppy or something. 

   Race Day! One of the perks of Catting up is a later start time. I was stoked, thinking ok we can sleep later and not have to rush. Yeah right! J-man woke up at 6:30 am and started cleaning his bike, packing his bag and eating breakfast! 9:30 am we were at the course. Start time 2:15. Finally he lines up with some Crazy Fast people! Pro 1/2 Category ain't no joke people. 17 riders and 1 hour. I pretty much thought I was going to puke! Can you imagine how he felt?

J-man, Matt Russell, Drew Bailey, Nolan Tankersley, and Drew Hager

    Jordan got an ok start and he held on for awhile. You could see the pain in his face about 40 minutes in. This was a longer and way faster race than he's ever been in. It was pretty awesome to watch. He may not have finished top 3 but he rode his heart out. He got 14th out of 17th, but if you were there to watch him you could see that regardless of how much his legs hurt him he was NOT giving up. 

If this picture doesn't convince you he was in the Pain Cave then I don't know what would. He rocked it though! He finished his first Pro 1/2 Race and he was hurting so bad he couldn't walk. Lesson's learned: 1) Don't go out so hard 2) Train more. Day 2 of MSG weekend he got 3rd out of a smaller field but he rode alot better than the day before. He rode with Nolan and Drew. Two of the fastest kids out there! He kept up for a minute and then fell back, but he was riding alot different and held his own. Nolan is amazing... I can't figure out where he gets his Energy! I wish I could bottle it up! Drew...he's a strong rider and that kid can kill it! J-man strives to ride like these two one day....

Next stop: Hendersonville for NC Grand Prix and then it's the Road To Nationals! Madison, WI in January. Much fun and I can't wait.... Stay Tuned