Cat's Hill 13-14 Win

The Course: For my age-group the course took around 2 and half minutes per lap. There is a climb every lap. For around 75m there is a 23% grade followed by a false flat. Next there is a short flat section and then the downhill. The finish is 150m after the last turn. About 1.4km each lap.

The Race Coaching: I was in the 13-14s and we only did 3 laps. I received some excellent coaching before the race from teammate Larry Nolan and from my coach, Clark Natwick. From Larry's experience with the race he told we that the first one into the last turn usually won the race. The plan was to attack every time up the hill until I had a gap on the field.

The Race: Alexader Freund from Davis attacked straight from the start. We caught up to him after the hill. On the second time up the hill an Above Category rider attacked. We caught him also at the top of the hill by the park. Throughout the race I never went further back than 3rd in the pack in order to avoid getting behind a slower rider on the hill. On the last lap another Above Category rider attacked near the base of the hill. He had a large gap. After the steep slope he had a 7m gap on the field which I was in. I chased him through the false flat and by the turn his gap was down to 5m. On the short flat section around the park I was going much faster than him. By the second to last turn the gap was down to 3m. I remembered what Larry said about being the first rider into the final turn. I went full blast down the hill and he veered right to avoid a bumpy section. I went straight over the bumps and passed him. I took the final turn fast and won the race. I thought they were on my wheel but didn't want to look back. It turns out that I had a 30m gap on the second place rider.

Some of my advantages:

I had Sram shifting which helped setting up for the turn into the Cat's Hill. The section before the hill is fast and riders need to shift quickly. With Sram I used the double tap system and shifted during the turn. This helped me not lose positions during the flats or on the slope.

On a hill like to Cat's Hill you know the difference between stiff bikes and whippy bikes. I used my Specialized SL2. The bike was solid under me as I went all out on the hill.

I had great coaching. If I wouldn't have received all the coaching from Larry and Clark I wouldn't have done as well. I went all out on the decent because Larry said that after the last turn it is too late to change your position.