Vail:SoCal race # 4

Sunday morning my sister and I woke up early and got ready to pre ride the course. On the pre ride we scouted our lines and stopped a lot on the Varsity add on to dial in our confidence on the tarantula decent. I really enjoyed how the course was layed out and I was pretty exited to race later that day.

After pre ride we chilled out at the team pit and got everything set up. Once it was time to warm up I got all my gear and got my legs spinning. The sky started to clear up and the sun was beating down, it was hot! I decided to put some ice cubes in my back pocket before we lined up to keep cool. I was fortunate to get a call up and had a front line start.

The first lap felt really short and I was sitting in fifth place, with my sister just seconds behind me. I was really close to making it up marine core, but I had to run about 10 feet of it. I could see people not to far in-front of me so I really tried to pick my pace up, but my legs said otherwise, they were starting to feel the effects of a double race weekend.

Second lap my sister and I switched from fifth and sixth through out the lap, we each would switch off leading in an effort to catch fourth place. I felt really confident on tarantula and I felt like I was flying down the single track. By the end of the second lap Hayley and I were  neck and neck!

Third lap seemed to be the most painful lap of all. I made my break from Hayley on the first fire road climb and was alone the rest of the lap. I could see fourth place really close to me but I was unable to catch her by the finish of the race.

I finished fifth place! I can't wait till league finals in a couple weeks to push my hardest and give it my all. I'm so proud of all my teammates and thankful for everyone that made this race run so smoothly. Stoked to race for the next three weekends and happy to have a double 5th place race weekend!

Golden State Series: Bonelli

On Wednesday the Devo team met up to preride the course, it was my first time riding in Bonelli. The course was a little challenging, with some steep hills and bumpy down hill, but I still was exited for the double race weekend to come. On Saturday I woke we early, ate breakfast, packed my things and left to the race. When we got there we registered and hopped on the trainers. I was sure to keep hydrating because I knew it would be a hot race.

Every cat one girl started together on the starting line, this made it a little tricky figuring out who was in my age group. Mid-way into the first lap I felt my legs start to get in the rhythm of racing and I started to pick up my pace. I could see a girl ahead of me that looked my age, so I set a goal to catch up to her before the end of the first lap. I caught her right before the last decent to the finishing area, and managed to create a gap. It was starting to heat up A LOT going into the second lap. Second lap I felt much more comfortable on the descents and my legs felt better on the climbs. The heat was starting to get to me, but I thought just one more lap. Going to the third lap I switched out my bottle and stared with a good pace on the climb. My legs were starting to get tired, but I saw another girl, so I increased my pace to catch up to her. The rest of the third lap it was a battle between her and I. The second to last steep climb she got in front of me and I started to fall back, but kept in mind that the finish was not even a mile away. Before the last descent to the grass I sprinted to the single track and secured my spot in front of her. The finish was full of many twists and turns, and once the straight away opened up I stood up and sprinted to the finish!

Once I finish it was immediately time to start the recover process for Vail on Saturday. I did my cool down then I went to check the results, and I got 5th place. I was happy with my placement because it was an improvement from the week before. After packing up, we got Chipotle and made our way to Vail for the high school race the next day!

Keyesville: SoCal race #3

After Fontana's race on Saturday I then set all my focus on recovering and preparing for racing Keyesville the next day. The drive to get there felt forever, but once we got to our hotel room I ate dinner, rolled out and went straight to bed. I set my alarm earlier than normal because Hayley and I did not get to pre-ride the day before, like we usually do, so we planned to do it early that morning. Once we woke up we ate breakfast and set off the ride the course. I really liked the course, which made me exited to race on it in just a couple hours. As I waited in the team pit watching my teammates race I began to feel really nervous because I really wanted to get podium this race and do better than the last two races. Warming up I concentrated on my goals for the race and my legs surprisingly did not feel too sore from racing the day before. Lining up I was lucky to get second row right behind my sister. I kept stretching and moving on the start line, so I wouldn't cool down, and then we were counted down to start my third Varsity race!

Lap 1: The race took off and the top six stayed together until the beginning of the first climb. I then moved in to fourth place behind Madysen Rails, Mead Plum and Hayley Richards. On top of the climb Madysen broke off , and it was Hayley R., Hayley B., and myself in a pack for the rest of the first lap. I couldn't believe that I was in third place and my goal was coming true, but I knew the race was far from over and there was much more work to be done.

Lap 2: The start of the second lap was us three in a pack trying to catch Madysen, but as the top of the fire road approached, I made my move and sprinted to the single track, going in second place. My sister, Hayley B., followed shortly behind. I could not believe we were in second and third, my goals of just getting Podium seemed to turn into keeping second place for the rest of the race. My sister and I worked together the rest of the second lap and we flied through the course. I could hear my family and teammates cheering so loud as we passed them, and I felt even more determined to keep up the pace.

Lap 3: As Hayley and I started our last lap I knew we had to speed up or someone might catch up. It was fun to work together the whole lap pushing ourselves to go faster. The climbs felt longer and my legs began to feel the effects of racing twice, I wanted to slow down, but then I thought about how amazing it would be to be second and third together on podium. As we came closer to the finish I knew we would have a sprint finish. The last straight away before the finish was defiantly the hardest segment in the whole race because I tried to stand up to sprint but my legs hurt too bad so I sat down and gave it everything I had left.

I finished second and my sister finished only three seconds after me. When I crossed the finish line I felt so happy knowing I gave the race everything I had and didn't give up. I also felt happy knowing my sister and I both accomplished our goals and worked together to achieve them. Not only did we both get podium,but Yucaipa got first as a D1 team. I am so thankful for the people who helped me get to where I am at right now. Keyesville is defiantly my best race so far and I will never forget it!

Golden State Series: Fontana

Going into the weekend I knew it would not be easy because I would be racing both Saturday and Sunday, but I was exited to challenge myself on my first double race weekend. On Wednesday the Devo team all met up at Fontana to Pre-ride the course, we all did a couple laps and made sure to practice our lines for the more technical parts of the course. The rest of the week leading into the weekend I focused on hydrating and mentally preparing myself for the back to back races ahead. Saturday came quickly and before I knew it I was registering to race my first Cat 1 race! Before this race I had never been to a race outside the SoCal league, except for a couple Over The Humps and a Kenda Cup, so It was all new to me. As the race approached closer it was time to warm up and stage. The start was on lose gravel, so I made sure to pick the right gear to prevent myself from slipping out. once they counted us down it was time to race...

The start was off to a very fast pace making it hard to keep up with the top pack. As we went up the road climb and single track I knew this race would be challenging because of the long climbs and technical down hill, making very little time to recover. On lap one I managed to pass a couple girls on the single track climbs and kept my position on the decent. The downhill was a little intimidating but I remembered to focus and keep on the lines that I practiced on Wednesday. The last little hill on the lap was full of lose rocks, which made it very hard to get up, so I had to run up the hill due to not getting enough momentum and being in too hard of a gear. Going on to my second lap I got a water bottle from the feed zone because the weather was heating up and I did not want to get dehydrated. My second lap I kept the same position and kept up my pace, hoping no one would catch up. It went by very fast and before I knew I was Sprinting to the finish line around the corner. I ended up getting 6th place, which I was not thrilled about, but it was still a very fun and exiting experience. After I did my cool down, it was time to go straight into recovery mode for the race at Keyesville the next day.