After a week of riding the course, I felt pretty ready to go come Saturday morning. The course was technical and for the 15/16 group, about a 30 minute race. Due to limited bike racks, I had to descend down a 10 minute hill in the rain to the venue. Upon arriving, I was thoroughly soaked and shivering. After the initial cold, I was able to get in a solid warmup and become a little warmer. I lined up in the front row due to my second place call up, but when the gun went off, found myself about 7th coming into the rooty single-track climb. Within the first three minutes, the leading girl slid out when passing some sport men and she was forced to jump off her bike, causing chaos behind her as our group scrambled to hop off and also run. Out of the corner of my eye as I ran, I saw two girls ride by, slipping into first and second and opening a gap. That was the last time I would see the leader during the race. I was able to run into fourth position. It took a little while to pass the junior and sport men ahead of us, but eventually I got around them and moved into third place. From that point on, I worked to catch the two leaders. Due to the tight single-track and sparse climbs, I found it hard to make up time. As soon as I would pass someone in front of me and push for a few minutes, I would wind up behind another person and be forced to wait until the trail widened briefly or they pulled over to let me pass. I was pretty frustrated with the amount of people on the course, as I felt good but was unable to go anywhere near my desired pace. I had also realized pretty soon into the race that my contact lens was in inside out, causing my right eye's sight to be entirely blurry for chunks of the race. With four kilometers to go, I caught the second place girl and rode her wheel looking for a pass. On a slick root downhill, the lens folded entirely, blinding me and I went down on the roots. I hopped right back up and continued, but unfortunately I lost the girl's wheel.
Looking back on my race, I should have realized how crucial the start is in such a short, crowded course. I finished in third, happy to have podiumed but also a little frustrated to not leave everything I had on the course. I still learned tons and had an awesome time racing internationally!
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I was pretty jet lagged from flying in two days before and two nights of minimal sleep but super stoked to be racing internationally. The course was unlike anything I had ever raced before and I was slightly intimidated by the sheer technicality of the course. It was full of rock faces, ladders, steps and root staircases, all slick from the constant rain. A breakdown of the downhill portion of the course! Unfortunately, we were assigned to race one lap of the course which was about 5 miles, so it was basically a short track. I got in an excellent warmup and was able to line up in the front row. The gun went off and I was able to hold third place until a tough, muddy climb. Instead of riding it like the other girls, I hopped off and ran my bike to 1st place, gaining a 10-15 second gap. I held this until a climb where a Canadian girl passed me. I remained on her wheel on the descent until a man got in between us, allowing her to gain a lead. I was beginning to catch her on the final climb out, and 30 feet from the finish line we were side by side. A man continuing on another lap began to veer across the field and crossed right in front of me. I stuck my elbows out and was able to keep riding as we rammed together. I crossed the line in second place by less than a wheel length. It was an awesome learning experience to race internationally on such a technical, short course.
I was pretty excited to race my final race as a sophomore in my high school season and loved the Laguna Secca course, which was packed with a flowy downhill and a long, grueling climb. I was able to get a decent warmup in, but was a little late to my start. I realized how important it was to be early to the line, but also knew that a warmup for this race would be key due to the immediate climb at the start. I lined up in the second row due to my callup, but a mother of another racer became irate at me because I was late. I did my best to stay calm and relaxed while the director of the callups asked her to step 10 feet back from the line. The race started and I was able to work my way up to fourth place before the first descent. On the second climb, I made an explosive pass to second place in order to stay right on the leader, Hannah's wheel. Fellow teammate of Redwood High School, Sarah Ogden, followed us in third. For the first three laps Hannah and I alternated leading, trading drafts on the exposed, windy climbs. However, on the third lap, passing the girls from other categories on the climb became challenging and a few girls separated me from Hannah. My legs felt tired and I had begun to have slight stomach cramping from the heat which later worsened. She gapped me a little wasn't worried as I knew I still had the whole fourth lap to catch her. About 45 seconds now separated Hannah and I. On the fourth lap, I worked to overcome the gap. Slowly, I closed the gap down so that she was in my view. However, I wasn't fast enough in closing it and I finished feeling really strong in 2nd place by 15 seconds. I was excited to have felt so strong mentally and physically on my final lap and to come so close to a two time Xterra World Champion. However, I also realize that I should have pushed harder on my third lap.
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