The start of the race was fast and ferrous. Being that we did not hit singletrack for a good few minuets after the start, we were flying through the flat grassy sections. I was exactly where I wanted to be when we finally hit the singletrack. I was sitting in 3rd right on Alicia Fisk, one of my teammates, wheel. We were flying through the singletrack until we hit the big rock garden. Halfway though that I dropped my chain which at that point was not good for me. Jordan Horner, who was right on my wheel, was able to then get around me. That meant I had to spend the rest of the first lap trying to chase her down. I finally caught up to her, we were heading into the second lap. We entered the singletrack together. We decided rather than fighting against each other, we should work together. We were flowing through the singletrack when I decided I should take a pull. I get around here and she stays on my wheel for a bit and then I dropped her. I was then in 2nd place and on my own for the next lap and a half.
The last lap and a half I was starting to bonk, but I knew that 3rd and 4th place were close on my tail. When I got to the home stretch around the soccer field I was in no man's land going into a head wind. I rounded the corner and I saw out of the corner of my eye that 3rd place, Eleanor Magnuson, was catching up to me. I rounded the next corner and had maybe 50 ft until the finish line. I kicked it up a couple notches, but made the mistake of easing up just inches before the line. I did not know that Eleanor was right on my tail and got me just as I eased up at the line. Because of that I came in 3rd. I am still proud of my race, overall I had a good day. I am proud of all the ladies I got the pleasure of racing with. I learned an important lesson yesterday as well, don't ease up before crossing the finish line!! Can't wait for next race at Mount Kato, it's going to be another ass kicker.
Photo Credit: Kellie Bauer
