NorCal League High School Series Race #4: "Granite Bay Grinder" - April 9th, 2017

This weekend, the team and I headed up to Folsom to race in Granite Bay - a small, rocky area that is home to some very fun, muddy and technical trails that surround Folsom Lake. While driving up it was pouring rain through nearly each town we passed through. The weather forecast showed that it would be a wet weekend. After a few hours of driving, we arrived at the venue in the rain. Shortly there after we went for a spin to get ready for the race.

In the morning we pre-rode the course because of a cancellation of the pre-ride the day before due to the excessive rain. Once I touched the course, I LOVED IT! Flowy singletrack, technical rock gardens, mud and a whole lot more. After this, the team and I went up the the start line and sang the national anthem. We may not be professional singers, but hey! We made it work.

Soon enough, I lined up for my start. The whistle blows and BOOM - we are off! I hop in front and hold a very hard pace up the initial climb. By the top of the climb, the field is very spread out. By five minutes in, I am hammering by myself with my teammate Alex Akins a bit behind me. I come up to a rock garden climb and there is a bit of congestion, causing me to dismount my bike and run around the group in front. Alex caught up to me and got on my wheel. After a few minutes, we come up to another rock garden with a lot of congestion. This time, I dismount my bike like I'm in a cyclocross race and run as fast as I can. I hop back on and put in a HARD effort to gap myself from the group and Alex. My gap holds, and the rest of the race I was hammering solo.

I am very stoked to get a permanent hold on the leaders jersey after the last four races. I am looking forward to the Sea Otter Classic followed by the Six Sigma Slinger these next couple weekends

Photography: Sebastian Villanueva, The Placerville Sentinel