This weekend was the second of back to back cross country races of the year. First at Bonelli for UCI then to Vail Lake for NICA. We started our weekend again at 6 traveling to Bonelli via RV allowing me to rest on the way down. I was able to cheer on my teammates who were doing the Jr UCI at 8, and I thought I was going to the same course. Which is what I preroad that Thursday, but they added an extra section that I’d never done and I didn't know how many laps I was doing, this was unsettling. Just before we started warming up I found out in doing 3 laps but I still had no clue what and where the extension on the course was. Anyways, I continued my warm up and headed to the staging area and started talking to some friends cracking jokes to ease the tension. Then all of the sudden everyone jumped up and sprinted to get to the line where our category signs were at, again a bit unsettling. I was able to get an ok jump and wasn't left behind. We again settled on the line joking around waiting for the race to start. In front of us my teammate Micah was all alone in the 17-18 age group so the people that organize the race had him start with us. But when it was our turn to start he went from the front of the group to the back in a literal second which was kinda funny to see but also kinda sucked. Our start was fast as usual which lead straight into the first climb which was steep and loose. I was able to position myself among the top ten and keep pace. The rest of the first section was good until I hit the added section, I had to go a little slower the first time through to see what it was all about but there was nothing fancy to it just a climb that's it. Right after that though, I saw that one section that wasn’t marked very clearly, and I was told the day prior that was not in the course, was in fact IN the course. The best way I can describe this section was two man made rock gardens, that were super janky. I took a horrible line over the first one and was able to recover for the second one, thankfully. Starting my second lap the first steep climb somehow felt longer. With the climb leading to a single track to a short gradual climb then down one of the rockiest and dusties descents I've ever seen. Every time I went through it I went just a little shower then usual to make sure I would make it down safe. The second half of the lap was smooth and fast. Last lap the only thing going through my heads was keep the rubber side down and something my mom always tells me before the race “maximum effort.” Which is from one of favorite movies to date Deadpool. It always makes me smile on the line and lets me know that it's time to go to work. I motored through the lap staying up right and getting 11th. My buddy, Devin Debruhl took home the win. Last week at Fontana my buddy, Blake Wray won. I’m able to race alongside my friend Kyle Chromy and Ethan Sanchez. It didn’t occur to me until this race that my great friends and I are racing kids from across the Nation and representing CA rather well. I think that’s pretty cool.
As soon as I finished I had to get cooled down and focused on the next day at Vail Lake. I rode around and talked to some friends about their race and then loaded up for the trek down to Vail.
We got stuck in traffic for a few hours which wasn't fun. As soon as we got there and set up my dad and I went to preride the course. The first ⅔ of the course wasn’t new but getting into the finish was tight burmed turns and a punchy little climb into a long straight away. I had to ride it twice because it was new and I had to get it a little more clear in my head. That night I went up to the main lounge area where they had karaoke. It was fun talking with friends, eating dinner under the stars and listening to my Coach Jason sing Bad to the Bone. He was one of 2 the did not completely butcher the songs. The next morning I woke up early and had to wait for my race in the afternoon. It's not fun having to wait all day to race but that's what I’ve got to do. After my trainer warm up I headed to the pits and as usual found all by friends and started talking and cracking jokes to take the edge off. Our call ups got called and we all filed in. I’m very thankful to be able to start in the front line because the dust was horrible. On the first lap for the first time this year we had the whole top three together which was Kyle Aiden and I. We had a super fast pace the first lap and were absolutely flying up marine corps hill with no problem. On the second was I was keeping true to the first but out of the first quick descent Kyle was leading and took a funny and unexpected fall in a sandy right hand turn. It held Aiden and I up so he was able to grab back on to the draft. Going into tunnel of love there was a lot of lap traffic so we weren't able to go as fast as we wanted through that section which is always is a bummer. The hardest part of the second lap was we ran into the back of a slow group right before marine core. I told Kyle to try and give them as much room as possible there was no way we could pass them in time. With having such a big group going into that section some didn't make it and we all had to dismount and run up which isn't fun. Heading into the last lap my legs were catching up to me. On the fire road up to get back to ambulance we ran into the back of a Varsity train. I decided to take a risky move through a tough rutt to the left of the group to try and break away thinking that Kyle and Aiden would think that I was crazy and not follow me, BUUUTTT they did! So I sat behind them getting some lost energy back as we all went flowing through tunnel and up air force and to the back of the course to marine. They gave a good push at the top of the climb before marine corp and put a varsity rider between us. The rider in front of me didn't make it all the way up marine corp so I had to go farther left than usual and Aiden and Kyle were able to keep that gap that was created till the end. I was able to see Aidan make his move and take his first win which was awesome to see. We all finished within 30 seconds of each other, one of our closest races yet. I had so much fun out there, it is so awesome to battle with these two. I can’t wait til Tehachapi, it’s my favorite course!
Always a huge thanks to all my sponsors that keep me and my bike looking feeling and running smooth: FTech, Esi grips, Ryno power, Physio Physx, Ellsworth, Sicon, Rudy, Kenda tires and ASG sports.
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