What started as a dreary early-morning drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains ended with a beautiful, sun-soaked afternoon of fun and racing at what Coach Mike fondly refers to as the Hogwarts School of MTB, AKA Miller School of the Albemarle. The kick-off race to start the annual VAHS (Virginia High School) series began cool and cloudy with a slippery pre-ride returning a few muddy riders to the Revolution (Colonial Revolution Youth Mountain Bike Team) camp including one bike repair for our team stuntman, Carter. As the sun began to break through, and course conditions became perfect, Coach Rick led our first wave of Elementary racers to the start line. For those that have not been before, this course contains the largest climbs to start a race of all 5 venues and our youngest riders tackled the challenge without hesitation. The day progressed with excitement and cheers as the waves of middle and high schoolers hit the mountain. It was superb day for the Revolution, a large gathering of coaches, parents and family members (several four-legged) watched on as over 20 teammates completed the course, some doing 2, 3 and 4 laps of the 4-mile course. Lots of snacks were consumed along with an abundance of smiles, laughs, fist-bumps and high-fives.
Amongst all of the fun, the Revolution was also able to post some pretty nice results. In the largest division JV Boys, with 120 racers, the Revolution placed 3 inside the top 20! The middle and elementary school boys also represented with 3 more inside the top 20. And as history often repeats itself, the Revolution ladies once again rocked the field with all of them finishing in the top 7 of their respective divisions including 4 podium spots and 1 young lady getting to don her first leader’s jersey ever!
What a start to the year for the Colonial Revolution! A huge thanks to all of the parents and coaches that work hard to make our team a success on and off the race course!
(Article: Coach Randy, Photo credit: Shelly Liebler)
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