The Game Changer

These past couple of weeks have been action packed with traveling, racing, and of course lots of biking! It's hard to believe that nationals has already come and passed but I am left with a new sense of determination. 

I haven't blogged in a while so first of all I need to give a quick summary of my season so far... Between road training with Centurion Next Wave and Mountain bike racing as a Specialized Ambassador, I have been challenged again and again but the biggest challenge has been discovering what type of racer I am. 

Every race my coach (Rob Holmgren) asks me to make a list of things that went well, "learning opportunities", and things to do next time. With that, I've analyzed things like having a better start, pushing on climbs, and even just thinking positively about myself. The goal with this is to make every race better than the last. Sometimes it doesn't work out that way but over the course of my season I've found ways to improve as a racer and as an athlete. 

My race in Baie St. Paul with Team Ontario was a breakthrough for me... I had a shorter warm up with some prehab and I was finally able to go full throttle through the entire race!! With some new faces on the course it really was a fight for every position.. I finished the race feeling quite satisfied with my performance. 

After this race we headed up to Ste. Felicien for Nationals....

Team Ontario stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes away from the race which turned out to be quite the adventure..
I found myself cooking eggs using an old electric frying pan (secretly in the bathtub) on our second day! By the end of the week we had the whole team making delicious dinners out of ice buckets from the hotel!! 

Gunnar and Noah working the skillet...

The course in Ste. Felicien was a short, technical lap that was easy to flow through and go crazy fast. This was definitely one of my favourite courses beginning with a speedy start loop, into flat technical single track, them up a long rooty climb that lead to the beginning of the descent. The course design team threw in two very steep technical sections to the downhill which I found incredibly thrilling... I would pick my line, feather the brakes if needed, so that I could shoot out of the bottom corners! 

Race day came quickly and I found myself sitting on that start line, ready for a fight. Poised, ready to attack the start, I thought back to all of my races this season, the good and the bad that came from them... And I pictured my perfect race. 

One minute to go.... push past your comfort zone, believe in yourself on the climbs, know that you have the potential for greatness.... 
30 seconds to go... Look ahead.... See yourself taking off the line!
15 seconds.... Whiteout.... Pounding heart beat...
And bam, I'm off. As I had expected, our start took my breath away, we flew up the first climb...  fast enough to forget about the pain in my legs, then sped down the rest of the start loop. I was sitting about seventh at this point... Aching to make my first move. 

We reached the first double track and my legs were screaming to put some power down. I grit my teeth and let my legs do their thing.... The rest of my first lap I surprised myself again and again by how much I WANTED to keep pushing.. To keep feeling the pain in my legs.

I was gaining on 3rd until my second lap where I took my usual line on a rock garden but because of the rain I slipped and flew over my bars and landed with my bike still connected to me. 

Zoom... Zoom.... Zoom.... I was losing places... I stood up still shaking and hopped on. It took the rest of my lap for me to regain my focus and recover from the crash. 

The girls of Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta were right there within my reach... "TIME TO GET THE MOVE ON, YOU CAN STILL DO THIS!!!!" I immediately stood up and snapped back into character. The race wasn't over yet. 
Coming into my third and final lap, focusing on my cadence and rhythm, I was picking up speed and gaining time. Riding up the final climbing section to the descent, 5th and 4th were right in front of me... It was time to make my move. My brain was screaming no, my legs were aching but something in the pit of my stomach loved it when I stood up and put everything I had into the next 3 minutes. I road the descent smoothly and quickly and with my last bit of energy sprinted to the line. 
It wasn't a win, but 4th place was a special type of win, just for me. 

I named this blog post the Game Changer because I believe this race was exactly that. I believed in myself and in my mind, I was able to achieve greatness. Racing has always been a way for me to challenge myself and improve my abilities as a rider and person. Maybe crashing during the race was a setback, maybe I could have had a better result if I hadn't crashed... But ultimately, I learned that even when I feel defeated, I have the power to decide my fate. 

So in other words, look out for me at the final mountain and road Ocups this season, and during the upcoming cyclocross season! I'm ready to lay the hurt down again!! 

Thanks to the OCA's Sean Kelly, Peter Glassford, Mac Arthur (our wonderful mechanic), Molly Hurford, and Cayley Brooks for taking me on another phenomenal project! The racing could not have gone smoother without your support! Thanks to my parents for sending me on this two week adventure and for believing in me! Special thanks to my coach Rob Holmgren for helping me this whole season, I guess the race homework isn't so bad after all... And thanks to my sponsor Specialized Canada for constantly providing me with support!

The Greatest Team in the world! Congrats to everyone else who raced!