Hi Team,
Hope you are enjoying the summer weather and getting lots of good riding in! My season is now in full swing, and I spent the last 7 days competing in 4 UCI xc races in Montana and Canada. It was a last minute trip, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to race on my favorite courses and chase UCI points before the World Cups this fall.
After a full week at work, I flew out to Missoula on Friday afternoon. This gave me just enough time to ride the course with my friends late in the day. I was staying a family who owns the local bike shop, and we spent the evening at a vintage bike show in downtown Missoula. My race wasn’t until 5pm on Saturday, so I went for a morning spin up to the venue to support my friends in the junior race. My legs felt great but it was very hot, so I kept my warm-up shorter and rode from the house to the race. I also made sure to pre-hydrate with electrolytes to prevent cramping, and raced with ice socks and cooling dump bottles to keep my core temperature down. The start was as hard as always, with a sprint straight into a 10 minute climb to the top of the course. Knowing that it was going to be a long hard race, I managed my effort on the first climb let the leaders ride away. Although this was a tough decision to make in the moment, I knew that many of the riders ahead of me were going over their limits and would blow up eventually. I made it to the top of the climb just outside of the top ten, and dropped the riders behind me on the descent. On the second lap climb I could see a lead group of eight riders up the road, but I settled into my own pace and worked my way up. Every lap one or two riders would come off of the back of the group, and I would try to catch and pass them before the singletrack descent. Before I knew it there were only three riders up ahead, and I was in the battle for the podium. Our chase group watched the leaders attack each other as we rode consistently and tried to catch them. I managed to open a gap on the descent before the last lap, and started the final climb at full speed, until both legs started cramping and I got caught. After a painful yet exciting last lap I came across the finish in 5th for my first UCI elite podium!
The Missoula XC weekend is conveniently followed by several Canada Cup races in Canmore the next week. I was able to find a ride from Missoula with Caleb Swartz, and we drove his camper van up north together. We split the 7hr drive into two days, and camped on top of a mountain in Montana before crossing over the Canadian boarder into BC and Alberta the next day. We arrived in Canmore on Tuesday afternoon, just in time for a huge thunderstorm during the course preride. The course is steep and covered in rocks and roots, making for some very challenging technical riding especially in when wet. However, the weather improved and was beautiful for most of the week, making for dry and fast conditions. The first elite xc was on Wednesday evening, and I lined up on the third row prepared to compete against a fast field of Canadian and American racers. Unfortunately the rider in front of me missed their pedal, and I was pushed towards the back of the field at the start. I sprinted to make up as many spots as I could, but was still far back in twenties when we hit the singletrack bottleneck. I stayed calm and recovered on the descent, and then took the first opportunities to pass on the climbs. I was checking off riders one by one, and moved up into the teens by the end of the first lap. I was descending faster than most of the riders around me, so I tried to be smart and either pass before the top of the uphill, or allow a small gap open up and then close it on the downhill. I found myself at my limit on the climbs, but was consciously saved a little bit of energy to successfully ride the most technical sections of the course. I found my flow and settled into a pace that I could hold for the full hour and a half, counting down the laps. The UCI officials made a mistake with the lap counter so we all finished a lap earlier than expected, but I was still happy to place 11th after nearly catching the top ten!
The next day we raced in the short track at 7:30pm. The late evening races make for long days, but I kept myself busy with camping, working remotely, and spinning on the trails. My legs were tired from the race the day before, so I did a longer warm-up to get ready for a short and hard race. I was lined up on the third row again, and didn’t have the best luck at the start. The course was relatively simple, with fast straightaways and a few tight corners. The guys on the front were hammering for the first few laps, causing the race to string out into a single file line. After several full sprint efforts just to hold onto the wheels, I was unable to continue closing the gaps and fell off of the front group. After slowing down for a few laps, I found a good chase group to race with and we had our own battle with each other. I sat in for most of the race, and then attacked on the last lap to finish in 21st. Although this wasn’t my best short track, it was fun tactical racing and didn’t take away too much from the more important xc race on Saturday. After another two days of perfect weather, a rain storm rolled in and the temperature dropped to 40 degrees just before our race. Luckily I was able to warm up on a trainer underneath the Bear National Team tent, and stayed dry and warm until taking my extra clothes off just before the start. I had a slightly better start from the second row, and after a hard effort up the first climb I went into the singletrack around fifteenth. The cold air was tough on my lungs and legs, and I struggled to push the vo2 max power required for the steep climbs. However, my legs started to come around after a few laps and I began to move forward. As the rain showers continued to wet the roots and rocks, the descents became increasingly challenging. I put more focus into the technical descents not only to gain time, but also avoid a flat tire or crash late in the race. A few other riders had unfortunate mistakes and mechanicals, but I stayed upright and finished in 10th!
This last week was some of the most fun bike riding and racing I have done in past few years. I am happy to come away with my best results of the season so far, earning a total of 38 UCI points! If I am able to accumulate a total of 80 UCI points by the end of the year, I could race for LGBRC in the U23 World Cups this fall. But aside from the results I am grateful for the experience of racing my mountain bike in these incredible places. I am looking forward to some local California events before national championships next month!