After a not so great first enduro at Fontana, this girl was ready to have a better Sea Otter but I wasn’t sure how it was going to go since I was in bed for a whole week after Fontana, which meant I was on my bike 3 times before racing Sea Otter! I always love Sea Otter as I get to see my friends from all over the country that come to this race!! It’s my time to catch up with my favorite people!! Plus I live across the street, so it’s super easy and convenient for us to get there!

Me with Maddie, Porsha and Ryan Leech!

I felt pretty good in line for the first stage, it was the DH course that I rode once, but I knew I didn’t need to worry too much about that stage as it was the shortest. I got to the bottom of the stage and saw my time was faster than last years, so I was pretty stoked about that. I ended up riding all of the stages faster than I did last year, so again, I was happy with that. I knew I wasn’t in tip top condition with the last few weeks of illness, antibiotics and infections so I had to set a realistic goal for myself, which was to STAY ON THE BIKE and to try and beat my times from last year.

Once results came up, I was 10th. At first I was a little bummed about that, but then when I looked at the times 6-10 were all VERY close together! With all things considered running up to the race, I was satisfied. 🙂

Essence rode herself to a solid 4th place!

Brian on the other hand rode SUPER STELLAR and landed himself up on the #1 step! I was so proud of him!! He had worked super hard and earned this podium!

Brian #1, with Micah in 3rd! Way to go guys!

Our little Bae probably had one of the best podiums of the weekend, he landed himself 5th in a VERY STACKED podium with some of the best racers in the world!

My weekend wouldn’t have been possible without the AMAZING AND TALENTED MARIN BIKES MECHANICS, Gravy and Tom! They had my bikes all tuned and ready to go the whole weekend!! I am so thankful for their support!!

Gravy and Tom!

And while Dillon got to share the podium with Yoann Barelli, I got to take a quick pick with him! 🙂 <3

The first CES round was held in Fontucky, I mean, Fontana.

We showed up ready to pre-ride the day before the race and it was warm. I wasn’t feeling great because I was on some heavy duty antibiotics for a bladder infection, but I thought I would be okay to race. I figured I was just struggling because of the heat, not because my body wasn’t feeling well.

Brian and Dillon were feeling super spunky and went out on there pre-ride while I did my own. The course is a super fun course with the terrain being very similar to the Battleborn enduro in Reno, loose dirt and rocks…totally my terrain! I pretty much felt like crap on every stage and just went through them all one time so that I could get out of the heat and back to the car. It’s always better to feel bad the day before the race, rather than race day I thought!

Race Day –

I climbed up to the first stage and felt okay, I was pretty calm which is usually a good sign for me. We waited for all of the men to go, and then it was time for us ladies! I was only about a minute into my stage and I went over the bars pretty good. I looked around and there wasn’t even anything there that I could have hit, it was so strange. I just saw my face going into a bunch of rocks really quick, I somehow managed to turn my head so I only hit my chin. I got back up and finished the stage, I knew from that point on it was going to be a really long day.

Luckily I was with a bunch of super fun ladies for the race!

       Liz, Megan, Me and Essence | Thanks Called to Creation for the photo!

For the rest of the day, my goal was to stay on my bike. I made it through the day S L O W L Y, but I made it. We were supposed to stay another night to do some riding, but I really didn’t feel good so I bummed a ride off of one of my highschoolers so the boys could keep riding. That ended up being a really good idea because I woke up super sick with the flu and was in bed for a week. 🙁

Brian ended up 4th place and Dillon with a 3rd, so two podiums for those boys!!

Next up: SEA SLOTTER CLASSIC