Ground beats face.

Well I feel like I got hit by a truck.  I picked a fight with the ground yesterday and I lost. It started off as a nice ride with dad. We were heading up the hill to ride some single track. We were literally just feet away from the trails when my foot clipped some old fencing hidden in the brush and I went down. Face smacked the ground, thankfully I landed in a pretty soft spot with no rocks. It it was instant pain. Dad was a ways ahead of me so I had to scream for him to come back. He decided to call my mom to come and get me. From that point on for the next 20 or so minutes I don't really remember anything. We had to ride from where I crashed about a mile or so to where my mom was getting me. Once we got there I started to remember things, but I still don't remember getting there. Thankfully there is not much damage. As far as I know my bike is ok as well as my helmet and glasses. My face has a few scratches and I am a bit sore, but nothing broken thank goodness. What a great way to spend a Saturday. 

Race #2: Mankato

Well another great day of racing yesterday at the second Minnesota Mountain Bike Series race Bluff Riders Charge in Mankato. It was an early start to the day having to get up at 5am so we could get there for my brother's race at 9. James had a great race, he looked pretty darn pro and was 2nd off the start. He ended up finishing 9th out of 12 and came across the finish with a bunny hop and a huge smile. I could not be a more proud big sister. He just needs to learn to shift and he will be even more kickass!. 

For my race, I couldn't ask for better conditions. The weather was perfect around that 65 degree range and a cool wind. The trails were like heaven, fast and flowy. My first lap wasn't to hot, took my legs a while to warm up. I rode most of the first lap on a friend of mine's wheel. Towards the end of the first lap I was able to get around Corey for a little bit. The 2nd and 3rd laps were really fast. Corey and I were going back and forth and just flying through the single track. Going into the 4th lap I was still ahead of her and in 3rd place over all and it wasn't until the last mile or so that Corey got around me and took off. She had just enough juice left to hold me off by about 30 seconds and I finished 4th overall and 1st in age group again (out of 1). Seems to be my number so far this year. Overall it was a great day not just for me, but for the team! Now I have two weeks off to get ready for the next race in Redwing. PartyOn!  

Race #1

First race of the summer yesterday up in St. Croix Falls WI. The kick off for the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series was put on in such a wonderful manner by the Woolly Bike Club. On the drive up my dad and I were frantically checking the rain radar because they were call for nasty rain. Neither my dad or I wanted to deal with the after math of such a race. But things were looking good, in fact when we arrived at the race the sun was starting to shine and the temperature was climbing. Getting out of the car I was greeted by Team Hollywood Cycles, the best teammates a young racer could ask for. After a little bit of chill time we decided to warm up and check out the single track. Decked out in our new Podiumwear kits we were looking fast and ready to go.

Warming up the single track was perfect, a little soft for the rain the night before but still super fast. My legs we not all there during the start of my warm up, but after a few sprints they were feeling good. Heading to the start line was amazing because for once I had more than one women on my team racing expert. We had five fabulous, fast Girl Fiend women in the expert class, and on top of that four other women in the field. It was amazing seeing so many women on the line. I got third call up for finishing third overall last summer. The race started pretty solid for me, took the lead off and was able to hold it for a good while before I dropped back into third position. For the first and second laps I was able to work with one of my teammates, I'd take the single track and she's take the flat open road. It seemed to be working pretty well until I snapped and she took off leaving me in no man's land for the last lap. The last lap hurt like a son of a but I was still able to pull off a fourth place finish. I am happy with my finish as well as my fellow Girl Fiend and Hollywood Cycle teammates. We swept the Comp and Elite categories. I look forward to the next race Mankato in two weeks...finally some hills!!