Fort Ord Race Report
I got down to the course on Friday just in time for a good lap. Things were feeling pretty good, and I felt ready for some racing the next day. After a very fun team dinner, I was able to get a pretty solid 8 hours of sleep before the brutal 6:15 wake up. I got to the course at a good time, feeling surprisingly not stressed. Unfortch the oatmeal was not ready quite as early as I had hoped, so I only ate a few bites. I had a nice warm-up on the trainer and got my bottles and food dialed in. After a quick trip to the bathroom, disaster struck! My mom said they were getting me set up on a different bike because mine was unfit for racing. I gotta say, this kinda demolished my calmness. I started getting pretty nervous and I just thought it was kind of hypocritical that the coaches have been telling us not to change anything on our bikes less than a week before a race and then while my race is staging they hit me with a completely different set up. It’s chill though, things worked out fine and the guys from Trek were very helpful to get things ready on a nice bike.
I reveled in my number 1 call up because quite honestly I was not planning on winning. My start was subpar, definitely need some sprinting practice. I was sitting in fourth for most of the first lap, feeling good overall but hurtin more than I should on the uphills. At the end of the first lap, I got passed by both the people behind me to wind up in 6th. I wasn’t loving it, but kinda wasn’t feeling the power it motivation to change it. It was pretty difficult for me to get my water bottle out of the cage so I took my first ever bottle feed and chugged some, then tossed it. My second lap was pretty chill, I didn’t encounter anyone from my race but got to see some of my teammates. I finished kinda bummed, but not altogether horrible. I was glad to see my brother at the finish and I had lots of fun heckling the other races. Excited for the season!
Lily
Bishop O’dowd, Sophomore
