My second national race as a licensed Pro is complete! Overall it was a great trip and experience. I'm slightly disappointed in my performance, specifically on the last lap. But I have remind myself that I'm still a rookie at this and more training and experience and time under my belt will help with my results. I came in 21st out of 35.

The course was very spectator friendly, 7 laps ~4 miles each. There was only 1 section of single track descending, it lasted about 3 minutes. The rest was fire road or pavement. Not exactly technical mountain biking, but still fun. It was a nice change from Fontana which was 95% technical single track.

I was called up 31st, the back line. Then we had to stand on the start line while they sang the national anthem. I love my country, but that song has never seemed so long. My legs were ready to sprint and my body ready to release the adrenaline that had built up. Once the start gun went off we were on our way around the Laguna Seca raceway (built for cars). It looked like a road race for the first 5 minutes, one huge pack of racers, except that we were all on wide bars and knobby tires! I hung near the back of the pack because I could see there were some unstable riders that weren't used to riding in a pack. I also knew after hitting the dirt there were some ravines that you had to hit just right or you'd go down. Well, my intuition was right, there was a crash at the first ravine. I thanked my lucky stars I wasn't in an aggressive position that would have made me crash. I hung back on the first lap, not wanting to burn all of my matches. But by the second lap, I realized I had a lot more and started passing people. It's hard for me to pass the women I know and recognize. As I see them I think,"She won ____ race and ____race and she races for ____, I can't pass her". However, I got up the guts to use my power and ended up in a really great group for 4.5 laps. It was Rebecca Rucsh (Leadville 2 time champ & 3 time 24-hour solo World Champ), Zephanie Blasi (2010 UT state champion) and Sarah Maile. We worked together on the road really well and caught up to 3 women on the 6th lap. I had plenty of power on the long climbs and so I passed Rebecca a few times. She would get right back on my wheel and pass me after a few minutes. But it was still neat to trade pulls with her! Then I cracked. I didn't see it coming at all. Usually, I can feel the fatigue slowly settling in, but this time I looked up at one point and they were riding away from me and I couldn't do anything about it. I chased them around the race track, but I was alone and when a few riders are working together they are really hard to catch. At that point I just wanted to maintain my position, I succeeded in not getting passed on the last lap. It was a bit nerve wracking though because some of the Pro men started to pre-ride the course (a very illegal and rude move), so I'd hear someone shifting or coughing and would think it was one of my competition. I rolled over the line with my tank empty & calves cramping.

There were pockets of people around the course that knew my name and were cheering, that absolutely made my race! Thanks to my friends and supporters from Las Vegas and Park City! Even a teammate from White Pine Touring was there to cheer me on! My husband, John, was in the second feed zone and was so great to do hand-ups for me and Sarah. He had to walk 2 miles to get there and he ended up sunburned everywhere. But it was so great to have him at a race with me! After the race Kelsy was very generous to let me use the shade of Team Jamis to get recovered and changed. Thanks again to the Bingham family, they are always there for me at the Pro XCT races.

Here is some honesty: in those moments I thought I had nothing left to give. But now, all rested up, I keep second guessing myself, why didn't I just stand up and push a little harder? Just 2 minutes faster and I could have been in 14th place. 1 minute in 18th right behind Rebecca. Didn't I have that in me? I've thought of places on the course I could've given more or braked less. I really wanted to be top 20. However, I'm grateful I didn't get pulled, 10 women did. I would have been really disappointed then. To spend the money and time to get all the way there and not finish would have broken me. What did I learn? I need to make my training rides longer & harder (I felt great for the first hour and a half), I need to be a few pounds lighter so the hills don't require as much energy, I need to be more aggressive in the beginning of the race, I need to brake less, I need to have confidence in myself to pass "so & so" (which is everyone at these races).

Sea Otter Classic is huge, I've never seen so many cyclist from so many different disciplines in one place. It's a huge venue, parking is a nightmare and if you're not racing you have to pay $10 to get in. However, if you have ever raced your bike in any capacity, I highly recommend you attend this event. It's 4 days of bikes, bikes and more bikes. And the best competition shows up to each of the events wether it is road (stage, circuit, crit) or mountain (cross country, downhill, dual slalom, short track). Plus most of the vendors show up with booths and goodies. John & I stayed with the employees of one of the best vendors there, Enve Composites. Talk about good people, those guys are as nice as it gets. I also met with another sponsor of mine, ESI grips and met the owner Gary Stewart. They gave me the sweetest shirt that says "Ask me about my silicone." Ha! I probably wouldn't wear it if I had silicone anywhere besides the grips on my bike!