Racing at HOME.

Helen is all smiles in spite of her tumble.

I very rarely crash on my mountain bike. I have been doing this a long time and have figured out that falling off hurts and should be avoided. With that being said, when I do happen to crash, I do it BIG. I guess I make up for all the small "near misses" that I have.

3 of 4 on the Pro women's podium!!!

After camp I was really tired. Actually, that doesn't even begin to describe how one feels after a week of trying to keep 36 kids safe on the bikes and focused. I slept for as much as I could for the day and a half before the race but the underlying fatigue was still there. Oh well, it was my home trail so I KNOW it, I was just going to have to use my home field knowledge and hope it made up for the lack of sleep. Emily and Helen were in the same boat. we decided that it was "no expectations, just have fun" and that was the goal.

Amanda, Paula and Catherine finished off the squad for the weekend. I was hoping that if my body failed me I had a number of strong teammates that would be out front racing.

Catherine is getting used to that top step.

The race was a pavement start for about 2 minutes with a fast turn into the woods onto some technical rocks almost immediately. I knew I wanted to be in front going into those rocks so the plan was to get the hole shot. It worked. I nailed my start and was in the lead, hammering in my big chain ring and the WHAM!!!! I was on the ground, bike nowhere to be found. Paula slammed on her brakes and I yelled for her to keep going. It took me 3-4 minutes to collect myself, my bike, determine that the helmet was a total loss and decide to try and chase back to the leaders. At that point all the single speed racers had passed me and I had a LONG way to go to get back to where my race was. Great. From what I can tell, my tired brain, along with the dusty loose trails, allowed me to drift a little too far to the outside and I hit a tree. I was going to be sore as soon as the adrenaline wore off so I'd better start pedaling.

I was pretty shaken up and wasn't sure if I had it in me to finish but figured I'd pedal for a lap and see how it went. I hate quitting races so me and the dented helmet were off. It felt like it took forever to work my way through the singlespeed racers (who were all very nice, thanks guys!!). I eventually started seeing the back of my field again. For the first time I started believing that I had a chance of getting back to the front. I was pretty sure that Anina and Paula were long gone but I might be able to squeak into third if I could push myself. I passed Emily (who was really tired after camp) and then Amanda. Amanda looked great and was flying!!! After the first lap I had ridden myself into third place. I was also starting to feel the crash. I guess the adrenaline was wearing off. OUCH. About half way through the second lap I saw Paula ahead. Damn. I was really hoping she was winning. As I passed her she told me I was close to Anina. I ended up finishing in second three minutes down. Not bad for a girl who sat by the side of the trail for at least that much time. Paula was third and Amanda was 4th. AWESOME ride girls!! Emily finished in spite of her exhaustion. Great job sticking it out. Catherine won her race (no surprise there). Congrats. We are waiting for you in the Pro/Expert field next year...

Helen had a great race. She rode smart and strong (in spite of her exhaustion) and was poised for the win when she fell OFF the rock bridge 2 miles from the finish. OUCH. She lost the lead but collected herself and limped in for second. She was rashed from head to toe and her hip is very bruised but she rode a great race. CONGRATS!!!

I love racing at home. It is nice to sleep in my own bed and have friends out there cheering. Maybe next year we will be able to race without being so tired. I really want to win this race one of these years. This is two years in a row with second place...

Thanks for reading.