What's Up With Brent:

He is in Colorado training with Drew Edsall of Endurance Factor. He is attending some races and getting ready for Nationals. BuildingChampionCyclistsFL is proud to say thanks for the donations. A modest amount of funds were provided to Brent to make this trip a little easier in todays economy. THANKS.

Red Trail Racing Urban MTB Crit

I had a great race at the Lakeland Downtown Urban race held by Red Trail Racing.
The pace started up pretty quickly on the first lap as I led out for a consecutive 4 laps with a group of six riders. My chain came off going down the stairs on lap five resulting in a solo crash on my part opening up a manageable 20 second gap. I was able to regain contact with the group before the end of lap and recover. No harm done, just a little road rash and a broken shoe.

Things began to settle in with everyone trading pulls until Regan Woodall stretched out the field with some hard pulls. I seemed to really excelled going down the garage in the turns were I could put a gap on the group. On the last lap the pace dramatically jumped going up five story garage. This is where I attacked along with an AJ's rider just before the turn around to go back down. The AJ’s rider was slowing down in between the turns so made my move and cornered hard during the garage decent. I came out of the garage with a 2 sec gap. I hammered as hard as I could go and never even glanced back. I ended up winning by a wheel into the S turn before the finish line.

It was one of my favorite victories with many friends and acquaintances watching and supporting the racers. I ended up with the fastest lap time trophie with the time of 5:04.
Thanks to my coach Drew Edsal with Endurance Factor with supplying me with a great training routine and the motivation to ride.

Brent's 2009 Plans:

As of February 2009 Drew Edsall of Endurance Factor coaches Brent.

A races include:

SERC race at Ducktown TN on May 3, 2009
Bump and Grind in Alabama on May 31, 2009
National championships in Colorado on July 16-19.
Brent will be requesting funds from BCC for NATS.

Thanks

2008 Update and 2009 Plans:

This years Florida State Championship Series has been very informative. I’ve learned what I need to do for next year to place at least top five. I want to thank Gone Riding and all the sponsors for what they have done to make this series possible. I also want to thank my sponsor “Bents Cycling” and Kurt Leveret for coaching me during the fall season. I had a good season without any mechanicals and injuries; finishing 7th place overall for the series. I enjoyed competing with the fastest in Florida and hope to join them next season on the podium. I’m hoping to obtain a professional coach to lead up to nationals this upcoming summer at the racing age of 19. I plan on staying in the 19-29 Cat 1 class and training for a possible win or good placing at nationals. Plan’s for some endurance racing in January and February are in the development stages and a spot on a road racing team is in full effect. I also plan to race some of the South Eastern Regional Championship Series races along with hand full of local races. I’ll be searching for some sponsors for this upcoming year to support my extensive racing schedule. Any help will be beneficial.

July Update and Nationals

First of all I want to thank BCC for all the work with the organization and the funds you have collected to help us prepare for nationals. I also want to thank my sponsor, Steve Bent, for all his support. I also want to give special thanks to Ricky Knight and his Mother for loading and hauling the trailer to all the events. Also, thanks to Grannidie for getting the house in Vermont and letting us use her trailer and vehicle.

The camp in Brevard, College was a great learning and training experience. The 30 hour week was fun and at some points challenging. I placed in the top 8.

The New York Nationals were a wake up call concerning the nations best. I placed 10th in the cross country race out of 16. It was ridiculously fast with long steep climbs intermingled with tight single track. I felt really sore and slow. I just couldn't reel in the two opponents in front of me. I hung in there and finished it out. The short track race was even faster but I felt a little better but still didn't do as well as I wanted, placing 13th out of 18. The course was awesome and I liked it as my first short track race.

Vermont Nationals
Let's just start off by saying that I never ridden such a hellish of a course as Vermont. The course was fun If you weren't racing it but during the race within my four brutal laps I have never been in so much of a controlled state of pain. I can't really tell you If I felt good because I was in a constant state of agony. I placed 15th out of 32. It was as hot as Florida but the factor of near stationary climbing threw a curve ball into my minor understanding of "mountain" biking. However I could take the heat unlike 6 or more that were DNF's. I guess 15th in the nation for 15-18age group is not so bad.

Props to my teammate Jamie Knight for 2nd at both sport duel slalom and downhill. Also props to my other teammate Adam for winning his cross country division as a beginner. Also, props to Steve Bent for second in his expert cross country division.

Training Update

I'm excited about going to the USA Cycling MTB camp at Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina starting June 29 and ending July 4th. For this seven day session I will learn aspects of health, training, and racing tactics. While at the camp, two time trials and a short track race are held. If I place top three I have the opportunity to go to another camp in Colorado. My goal is to place top three. I also hope not to get injured for the following three weeks in which I will compete at Nationals in Vermont and travel back to North Carolina for the Fontanna Dam Jam.

Bump and Grind Update

Sunday Jun 1 - Race at Bump and Grind, In the Junior 18 and under race there were only three people in my class. Just me, Jamie, and one other. Jamie and I began to battle it out at the middle of the race during the long jeep road section. He caught me on the down hill making a clean pass. Jamie opened a gap and I did not caught him till three miles to go on the first lap. I attacked, passed him again but he hung on and we crossed the first lap finish line at the same time. Starting the second lap I crashed entering the woods while attempting to put my gel bottle back in my jersey pocket. He attacked and four other riders from a different wave moved in front of me. I picked them off one by one while riding as hard as I could in order to catch Jamie. I caught him on the jeep road about an hour later and he stayed on my wheel until the down hill in which my chain came off balling up behind the derailleur. It took me a minute or so to get it untangled unto which I pressed on to try to catch Jamie again. I caught him with a mile left to go and I was not able to pass him in the woods. It was a sprint to the finish in which I never could get around him. I felt that if the sprint road was longer I might have been able to beat him. It was an awesome race and I give him props for a great and smart race.