MTB Team rolls through Lock 4 Race

Steve Smail, Amy Dortch, MTB Team Coaches
The USN Mountain Bike team continued its 2-wheeled roll forward at its third 2024 race at Lock 4 trails in Gallatin on Sept. 22nd, marking the midway point of the competitive season. The MS team collectively finished 10th of 26 teams as a result of strong 8th grade performances, while the HS team managed to finish 20th out of 30 teams, even while missing some of its core teammates at this race.
Rather than intially giving you the “coaches” report that really is a sideline and post-race perspective, here are words from 8th grader and new teammate and racer Allen Chen, which will paint a much clearer picture of what it means to keep your focus and heart rate maxed out for an hour or so…
 
To kick off race three, we started off on pavement, riding up a steep uphill climb. When the race started, I pushed as hard and fast as I could, trying to pass other riders. As I did, my energy flew out of me, leaving me no choice but to sit back down and push. A few riders passed me. After the steep uphill tiring climb, we entered the woods - the easier part. My energy came back to me, but I was still panicked because I worried if I could make the 30 minute cutoff mark for each lap. I told myself, “just follow the person in front of you” - so I did. 
But then, the person in front of me fell, leaving me with blank space in front of me. So I tried riding and gliding smoothly to take time away, but the rock garden was the next challenge. I slowly rode up the rocks, making the people behind me fall back further. I rode faster and made some distance from them, but got more tired on the steep uphill climbs, making me ride slower. I really wasn’t feeling it when I got to my second lap, so when I finished the race, it was 2 minutes slower than my first. I finished with a 28 minute first laplap and a 30 minute second laplap. Now, looking back, I think I could’ve had the energy to do better, but it's harder than it looks, racing 9 miles and going at your limit. You get tired eventually, and have to go slow on uphill climbs. In my next race, I’ll make sure to actually try my hardest and keep a steady pace. For the remainder of the season, I need to work on both stamina and speed.
 
Along with HS cross country, the MTB team has one of the longest sports seasons, with 5 races spanning more than 2 months. Allen, like many other riders at this point in the season, are just starting to hit their peak fitness and skills, but races will quickly reveal differences against so many competitive racers from across TN. At Lock 4, an unusually humid day took its toll on our multiple lap racers, but that didn’t slow down sophomore Charlie Blau flying through a sub-26 minute first lap and Freshman Maggie Weiss pulling out an equally stunning 27 minute first-lap performance. Weiss finished in 5th place for the day, moving up into 4th in the overall standings this season. Blau had an unfortunate “mechanical” on his 2nd lap, which put him in 29th position. Both riders finished their 2-lap races in about 55 minutes, with other great 2 lap rides under an hour from freshman Seth Hauser (58 minutes, 17th place) and 8th grader Allen Chen (58 minutes, 25th place). Freshmen Adeline Miller, Asha Guha and Aidan Harris also put in great 2-lap rides for HS, while Elsa Absi, Brianna Castro, Clio Cherry-Pulay and Charlie McNulty all finished 2 laps ranging from 63 to 83 minutes. Suzie Zhao, Rohan Ramachandran, and Basil Broemel all completed one lap, along with Mac Perry, Sylvie Mackler, Rosie Hauser, Emmett Cheney and Barry Chen, with Perry posting a sub-35 minute lap for 7th grade girls. In the endurance sufferfest category of JV Boys running 3 laps, Seniors Tate Green and Quinn Dehner raced for 90 minutes or more, surviving the heat of the day and 3 trips around the 4 mile loop with multiple rock drops, rock gardens, and tricky eroded downhill sections. 
 
For HS, Weiss, Miller, Guha and Blau posted team points, while MS points came from Absi, Castro, Perry and Allen Chen. Overall the MS team has moved up into 11th place for the season overall standings, while the HS team dropped into 20th as we missed race veterans Hannah Mackler, Avery Savona and Leo Frein. MS missed the Van Zandt brothers as well as both Brooks Lukach and Peter Weiss as they continue to recover from injuries. In addition to Maggie Weiss overall in 4th, Aidan Harris and Seth Hauser have moved into the top half overall out of nearly 80 freshman boys,  and Elsa Absi sits in 7th out of 20 spots. Other highlights include significant improvements over last year's times on the same exact course and similar conditions by: Adeline Miller (5% faster and double the distance); Aidan Harris (15% faster and double the distance); Seth Hauser (~10% faster); Basil Broemel (~25% faster); Mac Perry (~20% faster); Clio Cherry-Pulay (5% faster and double the distance); and Charlie McNulty (both ~20% faster and double the distance!).

The team travels 4 hours east to Panther Creek State Park for Race #4 on October 6th.
Keep up with the overall standings and race-by-race details here:
https://my.raceresult.com/308432/results
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