Fastest in Harbison:

Thanks to all of the Harrell's riders that decided to race in other cities this weekend. I think the blue man group was spread between Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and Clemson. Due to the lack of racers left in Cola, I had a chance to win my first race, the RTTR.
Showed up for the race early enough to get the kids ready for their race and have time to warm up. During registration I was informed that there would be no Expert Class due to all the other races in the state that day. I was just hoping for some competition and a chance to try out the legs for the first time this year, so it did not bother me too bad. As we lined up to start I did not see anyone that worried me, but there were a bunch of new faces (unknowns to watch out for), the Justin pulled up, jump on the bike and lined up to start. At the start I took off got the lead and held it through Easy/Harder before I looked back to see that Justin was the only one left. Let the games begin. He passed me on Stewardship Trail so I just tailed him to the end of Spiderwoman. I could tell he was not doing good. Might have been the fact that he did not get a chance to warm up, or that he ate right before he got there. We were supposed to start 45 minutes later. Luck was on my side today. Coming out of Spiderwoman he let me by and I attacked. I did not see him again until we got to Crooked Pine, I attacked again. Got to the top of the climb before the start/ finish and dropped my water bottle. I had to turn around and pick it up and get going again. By then he was seconds behind. We had to go down the scout trail towards the gazeebo(new route for the spectators) and he was right there. I wondered if he was warmed up now and was going to attack me this time. I powered up the fire road and realized he was being dropped. I kept the power on throughout the entire lap and never saw him again. I think I ended up winning by minutes. It was a great day on the bike. 13.5 mph for 19 miles. I hope I feel this good throughout the season.
On another note: Both of my children raced for the first time this weekend. The race was 1/2 mile around the gazeebo on actual trails. In the class were 2 -12 year olds, my 7 year old daughter, my 5 year old son, and a 4 year old. My son, Logan, finished 2nd right behind Rebecca's son, and Hannah, my daughter, finished 3rd. Logan was racing on a Raleigh fully rigid single speed with a coaster brake. Beat that Toby!
After the race my son said, "Dad, my heart is going to blow up and my lungs are burning". I responded, "Welcome to racing son".
It does not get any better than that!!!