A few short weeks at home after our U.S. trip and I was off again, this time Europe-bound! More specifically, Andorra (located between Spain and France, smaller than Marin), for World Championships in September. My family and I arrived a month early, not only to have a family vacation but also because my parents are racing a few weeks before me. I spent a week exploring the beautiful country before packing up a rental van and beginning an 11 hour drive. Destination: Montgenvre, France, where the last race in the World Junior Series was taking place. The trip out of town didn't go as smoothly as planned... We spent hours in a local bike shop dealing with a mechanical problem until early afternoon. Finally, we got back on the road, only to get stuck in three extra hours of traffic and drive straight into a thunderstorm, setting our arrival time at midnight. Our hotel was beautiful The next morning, we were greeted by an ominous sky and rain. The course awaiting us was different than anything I had ever seen. Picture a soccer field in the rain. Now picture that field pitching straight up and down with nasty traverses across. Add a few hundred bike tires chewing it up, toss in some rocks and you pretty much have the course. It was messy to say the least. I had never ridden conditions like it and struggled to get off my front brake enough. After a few slide outs on the mud, I brightened at the realization falling didn't hurt! Nonetheless, I was intimidated by the unpredictable nature of the terrain. Race day dawned and I was back on the line. However, my nerves left me: I knew that chaos would ensue imminently in these conditions and all I could do was my best. We started fast, predictably. I quickly fell back to mid-twenties. Within the first climb, I was running. As soon as I could, I was back on my bike. I nailed the first downhill but the traverse after was clogged and I was back on my feet. The rest of the race continued in similar fashion: run, ride, ride, slip out, run, ride and push, push as hard as possible on the climbs. I held my initial position more or less throughout the race. I crossed the line in 29th, certainly not the position I was looking for, but all I had to give on a challenging course. Instead of the technical aspect of the course working to my advantage per usual, this time, the technicality cost me. For whatever reason, I wasn't riding with the confidence and skill needed to excel on this course. All in all, it was a phenomenal learning experience and I was thankful to have my dad and brother with me for the first time during an international race. Of course- not to forget the delicious French cuisine... The race was an adventure- the right amount of challenge- and never boring... Later that day, our rental car broke down, and since it was both a holiday and a weekend, everything was closed until Monday. So we got a few extra days in the French Alps to explore, and it turns out there are worse places to be stranded. Now, I head back to Andorra for a few weeks before World Championships!
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