Just like the previous race, the Upper Elementary Boys started us off.  Each of our boys moved up, which means that for the Albermarle race, they’ll be even better placed than Stokesville.  Henry, the youngest of our boys in this category, is definitely taking after his older brothers and moved up three spots from 38th to 35th.  He is currently sitting in 33rd overall out of 47 competitors. 

Mitchell moved up two spots from 24th to 22nd and is currently sitting in 21st overall.  Exactly 7 seconds separated him from the 20th place, and I would be willing to bet that he will break the top 20 for both his individual and overall placement at Albermarle!

James is the big news in this group!  Last year, he placed 25th at Stokesville.  At Miller School last week, he showed he wasn’t kidding around by placing 8th.  This year at Stokesville, he has moved into 3rd place!!! He is currently sitting in 5th place overall, but it looks like he’s not going to stop there.   What do you think – is this guy looking for the first-place podium?

Next up:  Lower Elementary Boys, and Dean Jones showed up ready to race!  After his last race, he wasn’t sure this was something he wanted to do.  However, he was familiar with Stokesville, he now knew what to expect at this race, and he made it in plenty of time to pre-ride.  His only regret:  He said he wished that he could race with Margaret – his favorite frenemy.   I caught a video of him at the starting lineup jamming to Believer by Imagine Dragons and knew he was ready to race.  He moved up one spot to 8th place out of 14 competitors, but because he’s shown up to both races, that places him in 7th overall!

Our RSC Middle School Boys A group were definitely on time for call-ups this time!  They were ready to make up for the last race and were happy to be a lot further up in the call-ups than the last race!  Despite all of their training, though, the race didn’t go as well as they had hoped.  I want to reiterate that the Stokesville course is pretty brutal, and even the best climber is put to the test at this race. Add to this fact that there were almost 70 competitors in this field, and if you are not at the very front when the horn goes, you have very little chance of placing in the top ten.

Rowan was a bit nervous going into the race, and those pre-race jitters may have depleted some of his energy, but he continued to give me his beautiful smile anytime I cracked a joke to calm him down.  He dropped 8 places to 24th, but get this:  his brake was having mechanical issues and he did the entire race with his brakes rubbing!!!  Not bad for someone racing with their brakes on!  He’s still looking good for overall at 18th out of 71 racers!

Jack looked so strong through the entire race, but alas, he dropped one spot to finish in 19th.  However, when they line up at the next race, it’s five per row, so his starting position isn’t really affected. He’s just ahead of Rowan overall at 17th!

For the first time since I’ve been watching Noah race, he actually looked like he was getting tested.  Noah and Henry Adams (CRC, and a friendly young man) went back and forth last race and did it again this race.  Ultimately, Henry crossed the line before Noah, putting Noah in a 10th-place finish.  He is currently tied for 9th in his overall points.

Jackson has never raced Stokesville, and if you don’t know how to race this course, it can eat you up. Remember what I said at the start about needing to get to the front of the pack when the horn goes off?  I wasn’t able to see Jackson at that point, but I would be willing to guess that he got caught in that bottleneck.  Then, to make up for it, I’m guessing he raced as hard as he could to catch up to the front pack, but didn’t account for the endless climbing.  Regardless, I saw him come down the homestretch and was so impressed at how strong he looked!!  Setbacks happen, and he will most definitely make a comeback at Albermarle!  He dropped down to 23rd, but is sitting in 18th overall out of 74 competitors!!!  That’s awesome!

Cole is right on the precipice of breaking the top 10 (out of almost 70 racers) in Middle School Boys B!  Folks, he is one to watch!  He’s solid, focused, and a strong rider.  He moved up a spot to 11th place, and the racer who beat him out of that top 10 was only ahead by 4 seconds!  SOOOOO CLOSE!  He is currently sitting in 12th overall, but that is likely about to change.

Well, I misspoke in my last update when I said that Lila would be representing RSC  Middle School Girls A by herself.  Rachel Reynolds felt that her knee was ready for some action, so she decided to show up to the hardest of the VAHS races.  She had to start at the back of a pack of 19 girls, but her smile never wavered.  She took off fast and stayed as close to Lila as possible for most of the race!  It’s always easy to spot Rachel in a race because she wears the funnest long socks!  Rachel held on behind Lila for most of the race, and eventually got a bit tired (who could blame her?) and finished in a very formidable 7th place – with her smile intact!!  Rachel is currently sitting in 19th out of 20 girls overall, but will most definitely be moving up!

There’s not much more I can say about Lila than I did last time.  The difference in her demeanor from last year to this year is so wonderful to see. That nervous girl is gone and she has become a fierce competitor.  While we were hoping that she would take that top podium spot for Stokesville, it stayed just out of her reach.  However, there was only a 30-second gap between the first-place racer and Lila, who placed 4th again.  The next race could easily see her overtake all three girls in front of her!  She is currently sitting in 4th overall.

This year’s Upper Elementary Girls is a fast group of young ladies.  Their times are comparable to the Middle School  Girls A times, and that’s saying a lot!  Brynn is in my practice group, and as I said last time, she doesn’t say much, but she comes ready to work hard.  The Stokesville race was no different, other than the fact that she did not seem as nervous now that she knew how these races work.  The climbing was tough, and when you have no teammates riding along with you, it becomes that much more brutal.  Brynn raced hard and only gave up one spot in the end, as she finished in 13th place.  She is currently sitting in 13th place overall.

And now onto Dean’s favorite racer, Margaret, in Lower Elementary Girls.  I had to have a talk with Margaret last week at practice because she is a little TOO competitive.  Sardine said that in the Miller School pre-ride, another rider asked to pass her, and Margaret flat out told her “no”.  Actually, I believe her exact phrase was, “Hmmm, let me think about it. NO”.  Then at practice this week, she wouldn’t let one of our older girls pass her for the entire practice.  This competitive spirit is a fine line because we want to foster it, but at the same time, there’s a time and place for that competitiveness to be put into play.  I told her that it’s best to do her “blocking” in a race, not a pre-ride or practice.  Sardine superseded me and told her that it was probably o.k. unless she held up the other racer for a long time – then it’s best to have good sportsmanship and let that racer pass.  I think Margaret didn’t like that suggestion. I really wish we could fast forward ten years and see the carnage this girl will leave in her wake!  This category had more than one sweep since the girls were so young and spread out.  Margaret ended up with one of them behind her.  He said that he had been sweeping for many years, and she was by far the most fun racer he’s ever had the pleasure of sweeping!  As for her effort – she moved up a spot to 2nd place and currently sits 2nd overall!! Woo-Hoo!!

Bray took this week to assess his health and felt that he was able to race Stokesville. As he waited for his name to be called up (which he knew would be last due to his previous DNF), I asked him how he was feeling.  He smiled and said “Good!  I’m feeling really good!”  The Varsity boys group is big, and in a group that big, there is almost always a crash right at the beginning that ends up splitting the group.  I watched as riders went down and saw Bray stay upright and maneuver through all of the falling bodies and bikes.  It was impressive to watch!  Unfortunately, in this group, those few precious seconds are HUGE.  There would be no catching the lead group, but he didn’t give up.  On the toughest hill, I watched as he passed four racers!  With each lap (4 in total!), he continued to move up.  He put everything into this race, and by the last lap, he was spent.  His back was in pain, but he put 100% effort in all the way across the finish line.  I hope that he recovers well enough and takes care of his back pain because I think we would all love to see what he can accomplish at Albermarle.  In total, he passed almost 20 riders to place 25th!  He is currently sitting in 42nd out of 48 riders overall, but if he takes care of his health, that is going to change!

Well, I guess Teagan didn’t like my comment about how consistent he was in always placing between 32-39, and he made me eat my words. In a race that saw a lot of riders struggle and fall behind, Teagan did just the opposite – he continued to move ahead.  In truth, he did stay consistent in that, while others started to tire and slow down, Teagan continued to stay the pace.  He moved up 9 spots and took 28th place!  This puts him in 31st overall.

Sardine knew this wasn’t going to be an exceptional race for him.  Once upon a time, he was a wiry, strong climber that dropped his competition on every hill.  He has since grown ten feet (or so it seems) and is putting on more muscle to be a stronger Downhill competitor.  Well, this was an uphill competition.  Sardine has a way of racing that reminds me of a cross between a chicken and a cobra because he swings his head back and forth when he’s pushing himself hard.  I saw him doing this through the whole race, though at the end, he said it wasn’t as bad as he was expecting.  He even managed to move up a few spots to 22nd, and is currently sitting in 21st overall.

I’ve been coaching Drew since he joined the team many years ago as a young kid.  Eventually, he became too fast for me and moved on to a group better suited to his speed and ability.  I’ve watched him train hard every year, only to have mediocre results.  This year, I think it’s clicked.  I asked him if his bike was fixed after last week's mechanical. “Yes.”  I asked him if he felt good.  “Yes.”  Are you ready for the hills?  “Yes.”  Then he smiled.  He was ready to show us what he could do.  He raced hard and moved up three spots to 16th, and while he didn’t break into the top 10, there were less than 30 seconds between him and the 10th-place racer!  It’s going to happen!  Drew is currently tied for 17th overall.

Have y’all ever watched Sophie Nicely put in huge efforts?  Have you watched her just chill out?  Her facial expression doesn’t change.  This girl is unflappable!  She is just so cool and relaxed, and she makes it look so easy.  Sophie didn’t let this climbing race intimidate her, and in fact, she moved up two spots to take the 3rd place podium!  We need to cheer extra hard for her at Albermarle because it’s the home turf for the 2nd place racer!  Sophie is currently sitting in 3rd place overall.

Well, second verse, same as the first for our Sophomore girls.  Only this time, we weren’t as surprised by the race results.  Actually, I may have been a LITTLE surprised because Ally is now on the Downhill team, so I thought that this climbing race might be a rough one for her.  It wasn’t.  She finished almost two minutes ahead of her second place competitor and teammate, Georgia.  

I also was a little concerned about how Georgia would do in this race.  It’s one thing to be able to put the hammer down in a normal XC race, but it’s a very different level of fitness to stay strong in a climbing race, especially when one has been focusing on wrestling not riding.  But there was no competition (other than Ally).  Georgia finished almost THREE MINUTES ahead of the third-place racer!  Both girls are sitting in 1st and 2nd overall, respectively (no surprise there).

Our lone Freshman Girl, Sophia, started in 6th place and held onto that spot throughout this tough race.  I have not had the opportunity to ride with her, but all of the other girls praise her in saying that she is a very strong rider.  Clearly, this is the case as she didn’t give up any spot on a course that saw so many lose their starting place.  She had a two-minute gap on the 7th place girl and was only about a minute behind the 5th place racer… so close!  The Albermarle course is a brand new one for us, but I hear from some of the people that it’s a very flowy course.  If that’s the case, we might just see Sophia take podium!  She is currently in 6th overall.

Elliot Owen is our Sophomore Boy, but he had a prior school trip that precluded him from racing at Stokesville.  Even with missing his race, he is sitting at 35th overall out of 41 racers.

RSC OVERALLS

Elementary Girls - 14 out of 22

Middle School Girls - 8 out of 32

High School Girls - 3 out of 46

Elementary Boys - 4 out of 22

Middle School Boys - 5 out of 32

High School Boys - 13 out of 46

Honorable mention:

Ian Jora was on our team until the family moved to Blacksburg, and he joined the Blacksburg team.  He still rides under the JTRG umbrella on the Gravity team, where he will be racing at Massanutten this coming weekend.  Ian should have been racing with Sophomore Boys, but he wanted to challenge himself, but instead of moving up to JV, he decided to move up to VARSITY!!  He looked awesome in the first three laps, but the fourth lap zapped him. Regardless, he moved up from 28th to 26th – right behind Bray!

Quinn McCrary has been on our team for many years and has a half-brother that he competed against on a different team.  He has since moved to the Monticello team, but he will always be part of RSC as far as I’m concerned.  He is an incredibly nice young man, and is always positive about racing, regardless of how he places.  Quinn moved up from 65th to 64th in the Freshman Boys category.

Henry Schumm – who doesn’t know that name?  Do I even need to explain this kid?  He’s a phenom.  He toys with his competitors and then leaves them in the dust on the final lap.  He’s destined for an awesome future.  He moved up to Varsity a couple of years ago because the competition was better for him.  He technically is on the RSC team, but for the first time in Roanoke history, a high school is sponsoring a mountain bike racer.  He was able to get his high school (North Cross) to sponsor him in his racing, which is why he now wears his school kit.  That’s an impressive feat as many of the coaches (past and present) have been trying for years to get a high school to have a mountain bike team, and it was never even given a second glance.  Nice job, Henry!  They are lucky to have you!

Parents and Coaches:  We truly cannot have such an amazing team without all of your help.  You put in countless hours, volunteer time, planning, feeding, driving time, and let’s be honest, this sport ain’t cheap!  Thanks to all of you for caring so much about our team and helping to keep us moving forward!