12 hours after I turned in my final paper I was on a plane back home. I got to Berkeley and turned around two days later to go to....a bike race! What a surprise! However, this wasn’t a race I was participating in. I was going down to the High School Mountain Bike State Championships with my high school team. I was going to help them out and also help the league put on the races. I had a blast that weekend and spent most of it on my mountain bike. I had been missing dirt riding after all the road in Walla Walla. I was stocked to get dirty again! I also met Mackinzie who will be going to Whitman this year and is planning on joining the team!!! YAY!!! I believe she finished in the top 5 of the girls Varsity race! She’s fast!
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| helping at Stat Champs |
After that first weekend I rode my bike a ton and started getting back into shape for the summer part of my season. I did a race down by Monterey in the 3/4 combined category and got my butt kicked. Turns out the racing is a bit faster down here... I ended up going off the back and then throwing up. Not good. I decided to pull out and get in better shape before I raced again.
Fast forward a month and I was on the line for a Cat. 4 crit. I was in a bad position on the final lap and ended up mid pack. While the result wasn’t good I was happy with how I felt. The next week I was at another crit and managed to finish 7th. I’m really happy with this result because there were 48 people in the field and I produced a good final sprint (not my strength). The final straight was probably around 300 meters long. I came out of the final turn around 10th passed a few people and didn’t get passed by anyone! This is one of the first times where I’ve done ok in a sprint so I’m happy with the modest 7th.
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| Menlo Park GP |
A weekend after that I was toeing the line at the Albany Crit. The race is about half a mile from my house and goes around my old high school! This was my priority race for the summer and I was hoping to get a good result. The course was a very tight 4 corner crit with a slight incline. The finish line was on a slight descent as was the last corner. It was going to be a hairy finish. I got a bit distracted and ended up having to start at the very back. Not good for a tight course like this. As soon as we started we were strung out. Hardly ever more then 2 or 3 wide. There were around 60 people in the race so I needed to move up a lot! It took me two laps to get to the top 20 or so and I stayed there for the rest of the race. The rest of the race was just trying to conserve energy (being as close to the front as possible without doing much work). I took one pull and followed a couple of attacks but that was it. With 3 laps to go it stated getting pretty fast and nasty. I fought for my place and managed to be in the top 10 with half a lap to go. There was a solid attack on the back straight and I jumped without thinking about it. Around 6th through the second to last turn. Moved up a bit on the short downhill straight. Came out of the final (downhill) turn in 4th place FLYING. I was probably going 2mph faster than everyone else. I then sprinted with everything I had and moved up to 2nd place using my momentum. The guy who attacked with half a lap to go was still in front of me and I was catching him! Unfortunately he still got to the line before me. It’s frustrating to be so close to a win but I am still very happy with second in a big race like that.
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| 2nd place! |
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| Tired but happy |
After the Albany Crit my racing was done for the summer but I continued to ride my bike a lot. I had almost forgotten how amazing the roads and trails in the Bay Area are. There’s and abundance of tight single track, flowy descents, brutal climbs and breathtaking views. I explored new corners of the area I call home and found a few new favorite roads. All in all it was a great summer of riding and racing!
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| Flume Trail in Tahoe with Dad |
