Knobscorcher mountain bike race, Tsali NC

Race report: Knobscorcher (Tsali Trails, NC)/Southeast Regional Championship Series (SERC #2), 31 Mar-1 Apr 2012

I’ve decided to try the SERC race series this year—more races, wider variety of venues, more competition. Tsali is on the south side of Fontana Lake which sits at the base of the Smoky Mountains—a beautiful setting. Being an early season race and part of a few different race series, it is well attended. Saturday was an individual time trial on a 4.4 mile course. This started at 4 pm, but I drove up early in the day to avoid traffic, get a nice camping spot, and have time to pre-ride the course and still have time for a nap. The trail was wet earlier, but was drying nicely by race time. Racers started at one minute intervals, with pros and experts going first but in no particular order. I didn’t want to be passed, so I let all the pros and some young experts go before me. I went all-out everywhere I felt I could without crashing. I knew it would take some time to complete all of the racers, so as soon as I finished I got something to eat and went out to pre-ride the 15 mile cross country course I’d be riding Sunday. I enjoyed the pre-ride and settled down for a nice camp meal, relaxation and to bed with fingers crossed that the thunder rumbles didn’t portend a wet night, hence wet trails on Sunday. I ended up 1^st in 40+ experts and 12^th overall in the time trial.

Sunday dawned foggy with a thick coat of dew, but no obvious signs of rain. It was very nice to see many old friends and many unfamiliar faces at the start line. We had 30 racers in the 40+ expert class, about twice the norm of races I done in the past few years. The start went up a half mile or so dirt road, with a high speed fight to stay toward the front. Despite having trouble clipping into my pedal, I managed to be about 6^th spot going into the woods/singletrack. The pace did not let up, and many corners/root crossings were slick and treacherous—it looked like it had rained! I managed to work up to 4^th position by about half a lap, and was leading a small group chasing two guys ahead by one lap. We were really moving, completing the lap in just over one hour flat, but with two guys ahead no chance to ease up. By halfway through the second lap it was me on the wheel of Rick Pile chasing Tim Zimmerman just out of sight who was chasing Eric Marland—but didn’t know it since Eric has opened up a gap almost from the very start. I attacked Rick on the last big climb a few miles from the finish, but I couldn’t catch Tim (he’s from Florida and has been racing all winter!), and ended up 3^rd place 1 minute behind Eric and 30 seconds behind Tim.

I really enjoyed the race—great competition, great trail, and a fun place to spend a weekend.