WORS #1 and a New Coach

Finally the first mountain bike race of the year! I am so pumped for the mountain bike racing season to start. I rode up Saturday morning with my new coach Joe Maloney, I have been working with Joe for about a month now and it has been awesome! He has really helped me take my racing and training to the next level and I hope to work with him for many years. If you are looking for some one to help you become a more complete and faster cyclist you should seriously consider Joe! 

I rode a couple of preride laps and got the secret lines down. I hung around until the Schmidts got to the race and then I rode a lap with them. I left with the Schmidts and we went out for a fantastic dinner and then I stayed with them for the night which was fantastic because then I didn't have to drive up in the morning. Me and Andy Schmidts race started at 11:30 so we had plenty of time in the morning. Andy and I warmed up and headed over to the start line. Don did the count down and we took off, I was 3rd up the first hill and stuck on seconds wheel as we flew down the first couple of hills and into the bowl. Andy was in the lead but slid out in the 180 in the bowl. I briefly took the lead but Andy and the other guy caught back up and passed me. I passed second place in the fist section of single track and dropped him. Andy took off and I didn't see him again. My legs did not feel great and I could not get any speed going even in the single track but I made due. It was all single track for the second half of the lap and 3rd place caught up to me every lap on the first climb but I would drop him again in the single track. He finally held onto my wheel part way through the last lap and I knew I could beat him if I could be ahead of him going into the single track. I jumped ahead right before the single track and took off, I got a few seconds on the guy in 3rd and finished strong. It was a fantastic first mountain bike race of the season and look forward to many more! I was second in my age group and 3rd overall in the sport category out of over 200 riders! Huge thanks to Joe Maloney and the Schmidts for helping me to be able to race this weekend!