Petaluma State Finals

Friday afternoon I packed everything up and we started our 8 hour journey from Yucaipa all the way to Petaluma! We arrived to our hotel around twelve in the morning, we were all super tired so we fell asleep right away. Saturday morning started by eating breakfast and then heading to the venue to pre ride the course, which I was curious about because last year it was so bumpy and I wondered if it was  the same or not as bumpy. Arriving to the venue, it was cool to see how many people and other teams were there. Our pit was on top of the venue where every one was camping, which was nice because it gave a great view of the course and was not too far from the start line. The preride went great, spotting out lines to take and talking strategies. And I enjoyed the course, with all its great views and fun descents, besides the bumpy conditions. After pre riding we hung out at the pits and cleaned our bikes to get them ready for racing the next day.
 
Sunday morning we woke up early to pack everything from our hotel room and leave to the venue before traffic.  Once we got on site we went over our bikes to make sure everything was running smoothly and set up our trainers to warm up, since Varsity girls were going to take off at nine. It was weird having to get everything ready so early because I am used to racing at noon, but thankfully racing early meant no wind! We decided to change our warm up a little due to racing so early, and once we finished we quickly headed to staging. I got a third row call up, which I was happy about considering there was nearly 40 girls. The announcer then counted us down and then it was go time!

The start of the race was a solid fireroad climb that felt like forever. There were a lot of girls pushing to the front and some that fell back, causing me to lose track of what place I was in, but I saw my sister in a group not to far ahead so I tried the whole first lap to catch up. Going in to the second lap the group seemed to get farther and farther, leaving me all by myself for the most of the climb. I really pushed myself to increase my pace to shorten the gap, but I couldn’t see the group anymore. There were some close calls on the descent with all the dusty corners and turns. The third lap felt the longest and I was all by my self with no one in site infront or behind me. Going through the last parts of the course I knew I would finish in that place and once I crossed the finish line I couldn’t help but feel disappointed with myself.

My result was 16th place, which I was not happy with, but not every race can be perfect. I can’t belive how fast this season went by and how next year will be my last season, it’s crazy how time flys. I am really looking forward to next season and hoping for improvement. Overall this season was great and I thank all our sponsors and the SoCal devo for getting me where I’m at today in my cycling journey. Can’t wait till Socal season 11!!!!