Keyesville

This weekend was fun, tough and very challenging. Saturday consisted of openers in the morning, haircut in the early afternoon and off to my girlfriend, Ally's prom. It was a whirlwind day. We had a great time, my girlfriend looked stunning and we had a fun time dancing and playing poker but Sunday morning came way too soon. I didn't get home until Sunday at about 1:30ish in the morning and wake up was at 6:45. I definitely felt a little groggy and out of it. We packed everything in my truck, picked Ally, my trooper girlfriend, up on the way for the two and a half hour drive to Keyesville.  When we got there the venue was packed. We had to wait about 20 min for the Freshman to go off before we were allowed into the main area. We thankfully had a spot "sort of" saved with the Debruhl's but it was definitely a tight fit. People were parking everywhere and anywhere. It was a bit chaotic. After we got settled we hung out with Devin Debruhl and Levi Mason for the time before the race and they filled me in on the course conditions. When we were just about to watch the girls go off we heard that a young rider, Will, from the Simi team took a hard crash that knocked him out. I found out after the race that he had broken his collarbone, 2 ribs, and pelvis and they were monitoring his head. Sending my thoughts making sure that he is okay and heals up fast. At about 12:30 I started getting ready to rock and roll. I was able to grab a call up from Vail a month prior. The start was easy, no one sprinting off the line. We all rushed through the water up to our first climb. The top five pulled away from me a bit and I tried to hold on but I wasn’t able to and was in no man's land. The trails had way more ruts then last year and they had to make some new lines around them. On the back side of the mountain, the wind was a crazy crosswind pushing me across the trail. It felt like I was side ways. With all that went on Saturday, I was feeling rough and I couldn’t get myself up to speed and kept going backward with each lap. The course itself was awesome and fast. It was filled with steep climbs and technical downhills, which I normally love, my body just wasn't having it. Hearing and seeing everyone on the sides of the course is always crazy to me, seeing that I know so many amazing people and they know me and were cheering me on, despite my performance, made me so stoked knowing I am part of this amazing community. I did finish the race in 15th which is not what I was looking for here.  I did, however, take a lot away on what I need to work on in the future, sleep and rest being one of them. On our way down the hill we got stuck in a full traffic jam right at the bottom of the canyon because of a fire. We made the best of it by doing Chinese Fire Drills and hung out with all our friends along the side of the river waiting for it to clear. Just another opportunity to make more memories.  Once we finally got through we had dinner with the Debruhls, Gamberuttis, Richardsons and Levi Mason. It's always great to relax and be with my racing family for dinner. In the end, the weekend was hard because I did more than usual but the racing was fun. I came out with a lot to work on over the next two weeks with new goals set for Socal finals and States. Always a big thank you to SoCal Devo, Ellsworth, ESI, Tasco, Kenda, Ridefast Wheels,  Physiophyx, Rudy, Canari, Scicon, Gup and my coach Daniel Matheny.