Vail Lake Race 2018 NICA SOCAL

Going into the second race of the season, I felt somewhat nervous but super pumped. Not only was I starting with a call up in the top ten, but Vail lake is one of the local places I ride so I knew the course well. There were a few sections I was nervous about but knew it would work itself out during the race. This race, I got to camp with my grand parents so I was hyped that I wouldn't loose too much sleep from driving back and forth in the morning and get more sleep because of the time change!

On Saturday during pre-ride, I stuck with the other girls on my team and took it section by section. It was tough thinking about how the track was definitely not going to be the same because of all of the rain we were getting that day. On one of the little steep hills, I slid back into a rider behind me because of the mud! Besides that, the course was in spectacular condition and I knew it would be better the next day. My brother raced in the afternoon and did well for starting dead last and ended somewhere in the top 20 out of 36 so we were very proud of him. That night, I had some of my favorite lasagna, went to bed early, and thought about the course before I went to bed.

Sunday rolled around and race day had arrived. I was definitely nervous about this race and put some pressure on myself to try to stay in the top ten. I had a good breakfast but was getting nervous just staying at the campground, so I walked up with my mom to talk with my team and bring down my nerves. I also decided to stretch for quite a bit of time to make sure my muscles were relaxed and ready to push. During warm up laps, I was having some trouble with my knees because of how chilly it was so I took a little bit more time than normal and also made sure my bike was set up to its full potential. 

Rolling up to line up with my dad, my adrenaline started to push and I was starting to feel a little nauseous from nerves. I knew I'd be fine once I rolled up and started pushing though. Getting a call up was an amazing feeling. It feels so cool to be with the top group and know you earned the position! I felt proud of myself for getting into such an amazing group of riders. When the race started, it was rough. A few of the girls behind us didn't want to hold the position the top 10 had gone into and wanted to be farther ahead making it hard going on to the single track before the first climb. They then slowed way down so a few of us had to squeeze past. Luckily, we caught back up with the top group again but then someone wasn't able to make it up a short climb causing a domino affect. I squeezed past about three girls,running, and got ahead holding seventh.

On the fire road (ambulance) to the single track (tunnel of love) I was trying to conserve my energy but still push to keep up with the other top girls. A hard decision had to be made when I caught sight and gained distance on the 6th and 5th place girls- I could push hard and try to catch up or continue to conserve and try to catch up to them later on. I chose to hang back, but I later regretted that during the race. I felt good going into the flowy single track, getting passed once, and had no problem making it up air force and through the last section of the first lap, on the beginning of the second lap though, I wasn't feeling too hot.

On the second lap, I lost some time. I don't know if I pushed too hard, if my body was just exhausted, even now I don't know. I began dry heaving and ended up having to pull over for a few seconds to throw up on a climbing section. I never thought about stopping though, I knew I had to keep pushing. I hopped on my bike and continued racing. By then I was somewhat frustrated with myself because I knew I had lost time and didn't know where the rest of my competition was or how close they were. I tried to keep a steady pace on the single track, felt like I recovered some time, and did well again on the air force climb, but a girl ended up catching up to me later on and we went back and forth. She ended up pulling ahead and I kept trying to push because by that point I wasn't as tired and still wanted to make up some time.

I pulled into the finish line and took 9th (again) in the sophomore division. Being completely honest with myself, I took some time before greeting everyone to pedal some of my frustrations out before seeing my family. When I rolled up to them, I actually cried. I felt down right embarrassed afterwards but all of my emotions had built up by that point. I regretted not pushing myself to catch up with the other girls, thinking I may have done better if I had caught up, but also thought about having to take time to throw up, and then getting passed in the end. At the same time though, I had to think straight and remember that I did all of this and still remained in the top ten. I had to remind myself that it's amazing just to finish something like this and think about my improvement from last year. I also thought about how last season I dnf'd this race because of crashing badly on my pre-ride and that I kept going this time. 

It was definitely a tough race, but I learned a lot and still enjoyed myself through all the misery. God has truly blessed me with this ability and love for this sport and that there is also other races. This just made me hungrier and ready to try and conquer at the next race.