FSC #8 Alva

With my sister's gymnastic meet on Saturday and the park not allowing dogs, I had actually planned on skipping this race.  But after looking at the standings, I started to get a little worried.  There's a lady racer that has been creeping up the ladder, and I'm scared to death she's going to steal my 5th place (in the series)  away from me.  I can't let that happen, I've worked way too hard. So after Kiki's meet,  my Dad and I headed to Alva.  We ended up driving almost a total 6 hours there and back just for a practice ride.  But hey, it had to be done.

Alva was not at all what I expected.  I heard it was a easy fast smooth course with some technical sections during the second lap.  Well, I definitely wouldn't call it easy. With it's constant ups and downs, rocks, and tight twisty turns, I found it to be a beater. And unfortunately, these are the kind of courses I struggle with when racing against the women.  They just have so much more power than I do and most of them are on 29er's.  So I was back to being stressed.

Sunday morning came too quickly. And it was time to get in the car for another 3 hour journey back down to Alva.  There was 10 of us lined up to race.  After the whistle blew, I felt like I was on a scooter and everyone else was on a motorcycle.

  I was 8th getting to the singletrack. And oh man did I have some serious catching up to do. Trying not to get frustrated, I began making my way through the course.  Some racers I was able to pass pretty quickly while others I was stuck behind for a little while.  I finally made it to the 4th position and was able to keep my spot throughout the rest of the race.  Now if Holly (the leader) would have been at the race, I would have been in 5th place. Still good in my opinion, but I gotta tell you it was nice to move over a spot.  And maybe one day, I can actually get off the ground and be up on those podium steps:)

LOVE the new team helmet, thanks again LeRoy!!!

Awesome pictures by:  Robin La Manna, MTBmike.com, Christie Burnett