Pedal On


Hey all! So this past weekend was the legendary NorCal race in Boggs Demonstration Forest. If you haven’t been to one, imagine about ¾ of the racers and their families camped in a little over a square mile of forest. It’s pretty cool. A city of a thousand people in the woods;  a sea of canopies, trainers, bikes, and fired up teenage mountain bike racers!

The stormy weather had finally relented, and we got both Saturday and Sunday clear and sunny. Everyone was anxious to start, most of the riders were circling the staging area until they would let us in. 80% of the Varsity field was in the chute as soon as they opened it. Then…. waiting. They had to delay the start about 20 minutes because the race before, Freshman and Sophomore boys, had run long. This doesn’t sound bad until you realize that we were all there 15 min before the start, had been warming up for at least an hour, and were itching to race one of the best courses the league has to offer.  And then we sat, getting cold. Finally, they started the countdown…


GO. Up. Standing, straining, dancing with a circle of guys around me, punching forward, almost to the finish banner… WHAM. Wheel, ground, oh, shit, how’d that happen? I struggled to stand, pulling my bike with me, surrounded by writhing, swearing riders. Some streamed by the sides or clear spaces. I got hit pulling up my bike. No, come on!! My bars were tweaked past a 90 degree angle. I tried to staighten them, but I couldn’t get them to move. I needed a tool, and feed zone was a short jog ahead, so I picked up my bike and ran, being passed by the rest of the riders who were affected by the wreck. I had no idea what happened, other than all the guys in front of me went down, fast, and there was nothing I could do. Just as I reached feed, I realized my dad couldn’t give me a tool without taking a time penalty. I had to turn my bike around, straighten the bars the old fashioned way, and GO. There were only one or 2 riders still behind me, from a field of 33. I was PISSED!! This is my course, I was gonna shred. For a moment I wanted to give up. There was no way I was going to catch them. Not a chance in hell, they had a massive lead, I couldn’t even see ANYONE in front of me. No. Screw that. I was gonna catch them. So I hammered away, determined to break top 20.
And I did. I rode really hard, relentlessly. I started picking off riders shortly after I hit the single track. I raced how I knew I could, relentless, always picking off the next rider. Railing the descent, using the loamy dirt to lean deep into the corners, and explode out of them. I managed to pull myself all the way up to 17th. I was pretty happy with this, considering the start. I am excited to finally have my body fully recovered from the flu and antibiotics after the first race, and I’m ready to give NorCal champs my all.

 But before that, Sea Otter!! I leave shortly. I will be at the Grammo or the iXS tent at the venue, come say hi! Super stoked to be racing both Cat 1 XC and Cat 2 DH this time!! I’ll keep you posted.