Clemson MTB Race and mountain road riding

I competed in the Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC) mountain bike race outside Clemson, SC on Sunday 26 June. I like the course because it has a fair amount of climbing and ripping fast descents. There always is a good turnout, and this year was no different despite the low 90's temps and ridiculous humidity. I was fortunate to have a Twenty Niner Air bike to race courtesy of Shey Lindner of C-Town Bikes. Test riding a bike is good, but test racing one is a great way to see if it works well for you. There is a lot of debate on the merits of "29ers" as the big wheeled mountain bikes are known vs "26ers" as the traditional smaller wheeled bikes are known. I can say that I am officially hooked on 29ers. I'm just plain faster on them. My race went well--chasing and passing racers in my class and after a back-and-forth battle with the guy leading the SERC series, eventually finishing in 2nd place.

Being a relatively "flatlander" in Middle Georgia, I decided to make good use of a couple of days after the race and get some climbing (and descending) training in the mountains of SC/NC. Monday's ride was a 75 mile loop that included climbing Caesars Head and then several "grunt" climbs on East Fork road and a return over the Eastern Continental Divide. Tuesday I rode with my brother Tom who can't seem to get enough climbing. We did a beautiful route which you can see here: twin falls/whitewater falls loop. Photos by Tom here: twin falls/whitewater falls.