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Leading up to this race I decided that I would go up the day before for a pre-ride then drive back home to avoid the expense of a hotel. This meant I would drive up to the race the morning of the event. When I went up on Saturday I did my pre-race workout on the course to see what it would be like to ride it at speed. The course was over six miles and consisted of a twelve and a half minute climb followed by a fairly long downhill with a lot of blown out switchback corners. After this descent was a grass covered single track climb up to one of the two feed zones on course. A quick descent followed the feed zone, then the final climb on the course which was the steepest, punchiest section on course. This was followed by one last super bumpy downhill to the second feed zone on course which was about 150 meters from the finish line.
The night before the race I ate a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs around 7:30pm. The nerves were making it tough to fall asleep but eventually I was able to get to bed around 10:00. I woke up to my alarm at 7:30am the morning of the race to get a few last minute things done before eating my first breakfast, a big bowl of Joe’s O’s, and leaving. I was out of the house by about 8:30am and arrived at the venue an hour later.
At 10:30 I ate my second breakfast which consisted of four waffles and two sausage patties. Once I ate the nerves were really starting to kick in and I knew I needed to find a way to calm down. I decided to just sit and listen to music (The Red Hot Chili Peppers) to clear my head a bit followed by some visualization. Another thing that I find helps with my nerves and makes me race better is just treating the race, no matter how important, like any other ride. I find that I have my best races when I am ready to go out and have fun instead of focusing on the result I am trying to achieve.
After a couple hours of this it was time to get kitted up and on the trainer. I put on the NorCal Leaders jersey for the final time of my high school career and couldn’t help but get nostalgic. I thought about the past four years of racing mountain bikes and how far I have come since I started racing as a freshman. I got on the bike and started to warm up, when when all of a sudden I realized that my rear brake was rubbing. I was able to get the Oakland composite mechanic (the same one who helped me with the tire swap at the last race) to come over and help me out. He got it fixed very quickly and I was back to warming up - I gotta get that guy something in return for all of his help with my last minute bike problems. During my warmup my legs were feeling about as good as they ever had and I knew was ready to race.
I pulled my bike off the trainer and headed up the hill for staging. I got there and, per usual, I was a tad late, and the last person in the front row to arrive. I greeted my fellow competitors in the front row: Dylan Fryer (NorCal North Conference Points Leader), Max McFadden, Devin Debruhl, and Jonah Sanchez (SoCal Points Leader). We all chatted and wished each other luck and were called up. They gave us a one minute warning and then…
FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! GO!!! We all sprinted off the start for our first of four laps. Max went out super hard and got onto the dirt first but was passed by Dylan quickly. I was sitting third wheel for a few seconds but moved up to second wheel when Max washed out on a corner losing a few spots. Dylan was setting a moderate pace and I thought about passing him but figured it would be smarter to let him set the pace for the first lap. We got up the climb and there was still a massive group at the front. We flowed down the descent to the next climb with Dylan still on the front. We arrived at the feed zone and I took my first feed; I was one of the only people using this feed zone which caused bit of trouble. Someone started to pass me as I got my feed which caused me to get boxed into the tape. To avoid crashing or going off course I sprinted around him and took the front of the pack. I slid around the next corner and sprinted towards one of the many cattle grates on course and hucked it as far as I could - if you aren’t having fun why ride your bike? I pinned it down the descent that followed and went through the finish sitting on the front.
Going up the climb I decided to put in a solid effort to slim down our group. I periodically looked back and saw rider after rider popping off the back, and the riders that were still on seemed to be suffering a bit more than I was. As I crested the climb Max and Dylan flew around me - maybe they weren’t suffering as much as I thought. Unfortunately Max crashed on the second corner, breaking his thumb. Luckily he caught back onto the group quickly. We went through the feed zone again, this time without any incident, then followed the course to the last punchy climb. Dylan put in a solid effort up it and definitely put me into the pain cave a bit. We sped down the descent to the finish, through the second feed zone, and through the start finish.
After we past the finish the group bunched up, as nobody wanted to take the front. Dylan and I had both put in an entire lap on the front of the group and wanted someone else to put some work in too. Unfortunately nobody would cooperate so I ended up getting stuck on the front for another lap. I didn’t put a lot of effort into the first three quarters of the climb. Apparently I was going slow enough that someone behind me said we should up the pace. I then said, “If you want to go faster then get up here and set the pace!” This was followed by silence and nobody moving to the front. About thirty seconds later I decided to put the gas on, hoping to catch the group off guard. I sprinted over the top of the climb to ensure that I could lead down to the feed zone climb. I went almost as fast as I could but made sure not to take too many risks. I went through the feed zone and took my final feed of the race. As we descended towards the finish to start our final lap I looked back and saw that our group was five strong.
As we started our final lap I started gradually upping the pace on the long climb. By the top I had popped off everyone but Dylan. My legs were already burning but I just told myself that he was in just as much pain as I was. I went as fast as I could down the descent, sprinting full gas out of every corner to try to get a gap. By the bottom I had a small gap but I knew I had to keep up my pace if I didn’t want to get caught. Sprinted up the climb to the feed zone and then up the final climb I heard the announcer, “Your Varsity Leader has a gap on second place!” I looked back to confirm and saw Dylan two switchbacks behind me. My legs were on fire but I knew I still didn’t have the win in the bag. I drained all of my remaining power on the bumpy section of the course before entering the finishing straight. I looked back and couldn’t see Dylan Fryer anymore. It was time to celebrate! I crossed the line with my arms up, in disbelief of what just happened. I skidded to a stop and jumped off my bike.
Words cannot describe how elated I am to win the California State Championship. I went into this race thinking there was no way I could beat Dylan Fryer, as he has beat me every other race we have had together. I I have to thank Julia Violich, team director for the Bear Development Team, for her support and guidance, and both Morgan Fletcher of The Oakland Composite Mountain Bike Team and my coach John Cheetham of Tempo Endurance Coaching for giving me the foundation I needed as a young rider to achieve what I have in my sport. I also must thank NICA and the NorCal league for providing an inclusive, well run, race series that I will miss being a part of. And last but definitely not least I have to thank my wonderful and supportive parents that have made everything I do on and off the bike possible.