Up, Down, and All Around

Nate Killed It in Semi-Pro

So, this weekend, I did my first NORBA National race as a pro. The MX race was pretty disappointing. It was held at the backup track for a local BMX track. The track was okay in that it was flat and uphill in sections. Only 5 girls showed up to race, too. Also a little disappointing! Well, I qualified 2nd, only 0.17 off of first. In the finals, I got the snap out of the gate, but then I didn’t ride very aggressively down the first straight and into the first berm. Riding like that was good enough for 2nd place, but it left a little to be desired, for sure. It was a good lesson for me. I will be riding much more aggressively this weekend for sure! Still, though, it was nice to almost be on top of the podium for my first NORBA National race. Nate had an awesome race, too. He ended up in 3rd for Semi-Pro men after some really aggressive and strong rounds. Nice work Nate!

My First Podium at a National Race

Well, DH didn’t go quite so well, that’s for sure! Friday I couldn’t get my shit together in my head and I didn’t get too much practice in, bad mistake. Saturday I broke my brake line near the top of my fist (and last) run. Going into race day, I felt about zero comfortable on the course. Actually, the only section that felt good was the rock garden. Sunday came, and I had planned to get a good practice run in before qualifying. However, we had a few hiccups getting out the door in the morning, and I wasn’t able to get a practice run in. Needless to say, my qualifying run was essentially my first look at the course since early on Friday. The course looked A LOT different. I took it pretty slow to look at stuff and ended up crashing a bunch in the lower switchbacky section. I was fine with that and was hoping to put together a much better race run. I stacked it pretty hard in one section near the top, but I got back on the bike and got going really quickly. Things were going really well after that until right before the lower “Spin Cycle” section. Right before the section starts, there is a steep shoot. I guess my bike decided to play lawn darts with me on this section. I ended up about 10 feet off of course on top of my head. Unfortunately, it was in a really steep section, and I couldn’t get my bike back on course. At one point I was so frustrated that I just sat down. It was such a bad place to try to get back on the course. Oh well, I guess I kept my never DNF’d from a race streak alive. Don’t get me wrong, if there had been any easier way down than just finishing the race, I would have taken it! So, anyway, I ended up next to last, I think. L Bummer. Better luck next time, I guess!