Hey all! So last week
end was NorCal #4 at Boggs Mountain, the series Championships, and the final series standings were to be determined. We arrived at the venue on Saturday afternoon, changed, and hit the pre-ride. I really enjoyed the course; there was some great flowy single track, and some more technical sections (for a NorCal race). There was also a fair amount of climbing. I only did one lap, and then went back to the campsite so set up camp with my good friend, Cole West, who was camping with us. It was really cool that night, because most of the racers and their parents were camping at the venue, and it had an excited but laid back feel. There were a ton of group campsites, and some of the larger teams, such as Drake, had veritable cities set up. It was really cool. I had a lot of fun, however I would not recommend having battles with rolled up magazines. In the dark. In the forest. Or throwing said mag
azines. Yeeeaahh…. Anyway I was really happy that it quieted down around 10, because everyone was racing the next day. It was pretty chilly that night, but I woke to blue sky (where it could be seen through the trees) and slightly warm weather. My race is the last race to start, so I got to watch some of the other races. Cole's rear brakes literally blew up during his race. He was super disappointed, but he was able to finish out the lap with only front brakes! That’s skill! As soon as the Sophomore and Freshman races started, I headed back to camp to get ready to race. A small lunch, and 
then it was on the trainer, headphones in, getting in Race Zone. When I'm in Race Zone, I try to OWN the hurt locker the whole time. I rolled up to the line, in the Zone, and ready to pin it. The frontline call ups were the top 5 JV D2 for the series. Those final few minutes on the line are some of the longest I ever experience. Time slows down, senses heighten, and I wait. Then, the final few seconds. Si
lence. Deep breathing. 3 2 1…. GO!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjG1G0eCdlQ The first couple seconds are just RRAAAAA!! The fast and furious pace of a NorCal start quickly stretches out the field and I catch my pace and get to the single track in the best position I can. The lead 3, Matt Erbentraut, Curren Giberson, and Larry Smith, broke away and got a small lead on the rest of us. I hit the single track in the 6th position, and the leaders pulled away even more. The rider in front of me was slowing down, but there was no place to pass on flowy single-track cut into the side of the mountain, Then, right when we hit a technical rocky climb, without saying anything, he slammed on his brakes and tapped out! Arrrgh!!! At the crest of the hill he let me and the rider behind me, Parker Eide,get around where it was open. Parker is a good friend of mine that races for the Troja
n Composite HS team as well as the local bike shop Kinetic Cycles. I was super happy to have a friend to race and work with. We pushed each other up the hill, and passed a rider from our category and kept on hammering, pushing up and over the long set of hills. There was a steep fire road section, which planed off and turned into a steeper off-roading trial, which then planed off before you hit the long, twisty single track, and at the t
op we turned down and had a fast fire road descent into single track rollers and hairpins back to the slightly inclined fire road that was the finish and then the feed zone. Parker and I worked together the whole time, pushing each other and working through the slower JV D2 riders and the slower Varsity riders. We continued this strategy in the second lap, until about halfway through the lap, when Parker got around some traffic just before the end of a fire road descent into single track, and I couldn’t get around them for a few moments because it was unsafe, and then Parker got a gap on me, and ran away. I time trialed the rest of the lap, trying to catch back up. I turned it on for the last lap, determined to leave it all out there. I still had no one from my category to work with, so I just had to hunker down and keep working through the slower tr
affic from other divisions. When I hit the single track section of the big, final hill, I look back and saw a rider from my division. I was not about to lose my podium on the final part of the final lap, so I laid it all out. I turned on my power; I was going to hammer to the finish until my legs burned off. And that’s what I did. I slammed the hill, and then railed the single-track onto the fire road finish. I crossed the finish line and looked back and was sto
ked to see that the other rider was nowhere in sight. Parker had finished shortly before, we high fived and chatted before I headed off to cool down and eat some food. I took 5th place for the day, and 5th for the NorCal JV D2 series! I am super happy with this race, as well as my series standings, especially since I missed part of my base season due to injury (If anyone remembers my first blog). Also, Parker was wearing a GoPro, and if you want to watch the race from his POV, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi5yWUa9CKM. Now I am gearing up for State Championships in Los Olivos, and then it’s off to Nationals! I’ll keep you posted! 
azines. Yeeeaahh…. Anyway I was really happy that it quieted down around 10, because everyone was racing the next day. It was pretty chilly that night, but I woke to blue sky (where it could be seen through the trees) and slightly warm weather. My race is the last race to start, so I got to watch some of the other races. Cole's rear brakes literally blew up during his race. He was super disappointed, but he was able to finish out the lap with only front brakes! That’s skill! As soon as the Sophomore and Freshman races started, I headed back to camp to get ready to race. A small lunch, and 
then it was on the trainer, headphones in, getting in Race Zone. When I'm in Race Zone, I try to OWN the hurt locker the whole time. I rolled up to the line, in the Zone, and ready to pin it. The frontline call ups were the top 5 JV D2 for the series. Those final few minutes on the line are some of the longest I ever experience. Time slows down, senses heighten, and I wait. Then, the final few seconds. Si
lence. Deep breathing. 3 2 1…. GO!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjG1G0eCdlQ The first couple seconds are just RRAAAAA!! The fast and furious pace of a NorCal start quickly stretches out the field and I catch my pace and get to the single track in the best position I can. The lead 3, Matt Erbentraut, Curren Giberson, and Larry Smith, broke away and got a small lead on the rest of us. I hit the single track in the 6th position, and the leaders pulled away even more. The rider in front of me was slowing down, but there was no place to pass on flowy single-track cut into the side of the mountain, Then, right when we hit a technical rocky climb, without saying anything, he slammed on his brakes and tapped out! Arrrgh!!! At the crest of the hill he let me and the rider behind me, Parker Eide,get around where it was open. Parker is a good friend of mine that races for the Troja
n Composite HS team as well as the local bike shop Kinetic Cycles. I was super happy to have a friend to race and work with. We pushed each other up the hill, and passed a rider from our category and kept on hammering, pushing up and over the long set of hills. There was a steep fire road section, which planed off and turned into a steeper off-roading trial, which then planed off before you hit the long, twisty single track, and at the t
op we turned down and had a fast fire road descent into single track rollers and hairpins back to the slightly inclined fire road that was the finish and then the feed zone. Parker and I worked together the whole time, pushing each other and working through the slower JV D2 riders and the slower Varsity riders. We continued this strategy in the second lap, until about halfway through the lap, when Parker got around some traffic just before the end of a fire road descent into single track, and I couldn’t get around them for a few moments because it was unsafe, and then Parker got a gap on me, and ran away. I time trialed the rest of the lap, trying to catch back up. I turned it on for the last lap, determined to leave it all out there. I still had no one from my category to work with, so I just had to hunker down and keep working through the slower tr
affic from other divisions. When I hit the single track section of the big, final hill, I look back and saw a rider from my division. I was not about to lose my podium on the final part of the final lap, so I laid it all out. I turned on my power; I was going to hammer to the finish until my legs burned off. And that’s what I did. I slammed the hill, and then railed the single-track onto the fire road finish. I crossed the finish line and looked back and was sto
ked to see that the other rider was nowhere in sight. Parker had finished shortly before, we high fived and chatted before I headed off to cool down and eat some food. I took 5th place for the day, and 5th for the NorCal JV D2 series! I am super happy with this race, as well as my series standings, especially since I missed part of my base season due to injury (If anyone remembers my first blog). Also, Parker was wearing a GoPro, and if you want to watch the race from his POV, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi5yWUa9CKM. Now I am gearing up for State Championships in Los Olivos, and then it’s off to Nationals! I’ll keep you posted! 