Mountain bike race held at Dauset Trails
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Team Cartecay riders line up to start the race at Dauset Trails.
Storms and falling leaves led to slick race conditions for Team Cartecay riders, having the effect of playing chutes and ladders with wet bike tires on roots at the Dauset Trails Sunday, Oct. 11.
In spite of challenging conditions, two facts remain. First, all three Cartecay squads continued their bid for a successful season with Cartecay Composite ranked 5th, Cohutta Composite ranked 7th, and Gilmer High School ranked 13th overall after three races.
Additionally, the Georgia Interscholastic Cycling League is setting a high bar for how to preserve and improve on a mountain bike race season that seemed destined not to happen due to COVID-19.
Race results continue to herald the competitiveness and commitment to excellence of Team Cartecay riders.
Podium finishes included Jayden Calabretta placing second in the freshman boys category, Emma Moore earning third place honors in the JV I girls category, as well as Clare Moore and Evangelina Giet snapping up third and fourth place, respectively, in the eighth-grade girls category.
Other noteworthy efforts included Skylar Ramey, who placed sixth in the JV II girls category, Louisa Alonso putting in a solid eighth-place finish in the freshman girls category and Tanner Attebery of the GHS squad putting in a strong effort to improve by 20 places in the JV II category.
The Georgia League called on Team Cartecay’s welcoming and gracious character to help ensure three other Georgia League teams had an opportunity to race given impending storms that threatened to curtail race activities.
The Georgia League compressed the league race schedule and offered Team Cartecay an opportunity to host riders within their heat, giving Gilmer, Habersham and Rabun counties an opportunity to forge new friendships at the start line.
“One of our favorite things about the Georgia League is meeting other student athletes across the state,” JV I Cartecay rider Lorenzo Alonso shared about the experience. “With COVID-19 guidelines, we’ve missed that part of our racing season since the league switched to a time trial format. Getting the opportunity to host other riders was awesome.”