Oak Mountain in Pelham, Alabama is a killer venue to have a bike race. This race was our final race of the year. The series hosted by chainbuster racing and dirty spoke productions started in Feb. and ran until Nov. it has been a fun ride this year chasing riders in Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama. I like the broad spectrum of racers and regions that show up to race in these races.
We brought our daughter 5 and son 3 years old to compete in the kids race. They were awesome. We rolled out on single track through the hills and these kids were tough as nails. They fought up the steep stuff and bombed the descents like seasoned pros. They even took a number of spills and handled them all with great poise. Mom and Dad were very proud and honestly surprised at how our kids rode in the mountains of Alabama.
My race started shortly after the kids were done. After a bit of a hairy start, (a wide bunch trying to fit down a narrow path kinda thing) we started to spread out and settle in for the pain fest that was about to begin for the remainder of the day.
The rock sections we climbed were great. They required choice lines and even power distribution to get a good run up. My favorite type of course by the way are ones that allow you to use bike handling coupled with power elements and a few sketchy type obstacles for good measure. I hope we use this course next year as the final race because it was challenging and rewarding at the same time. I ended up with a picture perfect race from start to finish getting the lead and holding it till the finish. Great job to all those that turned a lap at oak mountain that day. I am really content on winning the series championship for 2011 this year. Lots of work and time invested this season paid off with sweet dividends and top results. I can’t wait for next season to crank up. We have some of the strongest and nicest riders around and we are all gunning for a top step finish at every race. Hoo yah boys and girls enjoy the winter season and we will see you guys in the new year! Happy Trails, Chad.