Another race in the books! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for sure and I wasn’t sure if I was going to race the Kamikaze games or not with Brian in the ICU two weeks before. But….I made the trip, not alone thank goodness, and was stoked to have the final race under my belt.
Before I left, I made sure Brian had his cooler packed by the couch and had people checking in on him over the weekend. I picked up Dillon bright and early and we made the trek through Yosemite to the beautiful Mammoth Mountains. (Our drive wasn’t without some silliness with my little Bae!)
We showed up to the condo and met friends, Jordan Hartman, Tylor Giger and Teamie Evan Geankoplis and got ready to pre-ride. I was a little nervous for the weekend as Brian had almost died from his injuries due to a crash and Dillon broke his thumb on the same trip two weeks prior… So my goal was to have fun and, as my mom says, STAY ON THE BIKE!!
The first run went awesome, it was my favorite run of the day from the top of the mountain all the way to the bottom! It was Tylor, Jordan and I riding together and we headed up for the second run which was Bullet. It was Jordan first, then me and then Tylor…the top section went well so we headed to the lower section. Unfortunately, Jordan went super fast through this one techy section and hit a tree going about 25mph and…. I saw the WHOLE THING! I thought he was dead at first, he hit the tree straight on super fast! I waited for the next guy to come up behind me so we didn’t cause a massive pile up and I ran towards Jordan to check on him. He was definitely a little shaken up and I had him sit aside so we could do a body inventory. Luckily for us a medic was headed up the hill to check on someone else with a broken collar bone but he stopped to help Jordan out. He was super nice and got Jordan down to the condo so he could get to the hospital. Jordan had to make it a little exciting for the nurses so he decided to pass out while going in for the xray!!! Crazy boy!! He ended up breaking his collar bone and was beat up from the feet up, but for the most part was a VERY LUCKY GUY!!!
Tylor and I headed up to do the rest of our runs which went well so we headed to the condo for some dinner. I don’t think I could have had a more fun group of friends to stay with, we were all laughing and having fun the whole time!! Plus Brian joined us for the trip too. 😉
The next day all of us tried to stay calm and not get too nervous as we didn’t race until Sunday. Tylor, Jordan and I packed a picnic and headed to Lake Mary where we sat on the beach and swapped stories with a nice scuba diver we met.
The next morning we were up bright and early as our practice was from 7:00-7:45. Tylor and I were able to get two runs in and we were ready to race. I lined up first as the Pro Men and Women were the first to go. The first run was on Bullet and I felt pretty good (I heard Dillon cheering in the rock garden), I nailed all my lines and most important I stayed on the bike. The nice part about this race was that we ended up at the Canyon Lodge each time, so I didn’t need to carry extra water or my enduro hip pack!
I pedaled up to the next transfer where we got on a short lift to start the next segment, which was probably one of the more pedally segments. I felt ok pedaling through the stage, then I got to the infamous “Elevator Shaft” (Where I heard Dillon cheering again!) a super steep hill that has very deep pumice and you are pretty much out of control the whole time. My foot came unclipped about halfway through, but I was able to get my foot back on and sketch out the rest of the hill. HAHA!!
Watch Jordan’s video of me here!
I then headed up to the 3rd stage, the one from the top of the mountain all the way down to the lodge. We got to ride the gondola up and I got to chat with my new friends Amber and Kristen. We got to the top and took off for the long descent! Again, I had a good run and didn’t have any get offs and I heard Dillon cheering for me again!
I then took the last lift up for the last run of the day, I was so ready to be done!! The elevation kills me up there! I had a good last run and only had one little half tip over but made it all the way to the bottom pretty much unscathed!! I ran into Tylor who wasn’t able to finish the race due to some mechanicals, so we headed to the condo to get everything packed for the drive home.
As soon as I got to the condo I had a breakdown, I think I was just so physically and mentally exhausted from the last few weeks. I didn’t realize how much energy that all really took out of me. I saw the times and was definitely bummed I didn’t do better. I felt good and didn’t have any crashes, but my body just wasn’t where it should have been for the last race. I ended up 5th for the day and 3rd overall for the series. Lauren Gregg ended up in 2nd for the series as I only had a 3 point lead on her coming into the last race. The Rabobank Team ended up 2nd overall on the podium too!
Overall it was a great season!! I couldn’t have done it without all of my amazing sponsors especially Marin Bikes and Rabobank!! The season had it’s ups and downs, but we are so lucky to get to do what we love every day and I wouldn’t change it for the world!!
