Trail To Trail Race

I was really looking forward to this race.  Coach Chris teamed me up with a roadie.  And I was able to practice the MTB course ahead of time with the Cycle Youth boys. I wanted to say thanks to Cody, Sam and Morgan for taking the time to ride with me.  I know I'm not helping you guys get faster, but you are certainly helping me get stronger.  So...thank you.

Race day...I was pumped and couldn't wait to hit the single track for an awesome day of racing........  Until, I started hearing stuff about my teammate.  Not only was he supposed to be some super amazing roadie, he biked across America, and rode 70 miles to get to the race on Sunday.  That's just crazy, so all the excitement I was feeling in the beginning, turned into this monstrous bucket of nerves.   There was no way I was going the let my teammate down, so I added about 5,000 pounds of pressure to my already monstrous bucket of nerves...which I'm pretty sure was a terrible way to start a race.

It was a mass start ...and of course, I was toward the back of the bus.  No worries though, the nerves and pressure kind of left me and I was pedaling away hoping for the best.  Well...I shouldn't have hoped  for the best I should have hoped for a miracle.  After my 8 mile lap, we were in 6th place.  Not so good considering there were only 6 co-ed teams. I do have to say that (to make myself feel better) 4 out of the 6 co-ed teams had men doing the mountain bike part of the race.  So there was no way I could come close to competing against a man. Unfortunately, Kent had some catching up to do if we were going to make it on the podium.

After my lap, I had a quick snack, rested a little and then decided to head back up to wait for Kent.  What I didn't realize is that I only would be waiting for couple minutes.  I was shocked to see Kent return from his 30 mile ride so quickly.  This man was unbelievable, like a super hero or something.  He bumped us up to third place.

After Kent's hard work, there was no way I was going to let anyone pass me.  So I pedaled away, finishing the race in 3rd place.

Thank you Kent for an awesome race!!! Maybe we can do it again next year???  Hopefully I will grow a little, get stronger and faster, so you won't have to work so hard.