Being a favorite of mine on the NorCal circuit, I was looking very forward to lining up for the "Granite Bay Grinder" on the shores of Folsom Lake. After driving up to Folsom and grabbing lunch at Whole Foods, we headed to Beals Point to start our pre-ride. Once we arrived at the venue, we turned onto the course and headed for a recon lap.
Immediately, the first thing that I noticed was that there was not nearly the amount of mud that I thought there would be. In 2017, when I raced in Granite Bay for my first time (Freshman year), the conditions were sloppy, muddy and slippery. This following photograph is an image from last years race:
This year, however, the trails were mud-free with the exception of a few spots, and were blazing fast due to the packed down soil and dry rocks. As for the course, the first couple minutes of the course are on a wide trail that is more like a fire road than it is single track. However, once the first road is crossed, the course quickly transforms into a smooth single track section, winding through smooth rocks for the first few minutes. The third portion of the course includes quite a few sharp rocks on both the ascends and descents, before hitting one climb that sticks out from the rest. The climb is not very long in length, but due to the rocky terrain and multiple line choices over the steep sections, I knew that it would be a major factor in the outcome of the race the next day.
Once the top of the climb is reached, there is a minute long rocky and flowy downhill that leads to a gravel road. Following the gravel, there is a long single track flat trail that leads you into the last 500 meters on a make-shift fire road on the beach of Folsom lake.
The day of the race, I got a prolonged warm up in, which included a morning of spectating the Varsity girls race in addition to my regular warm up. At 12:15, I headed to the start line, eager to have my first ever call up in my 2018 season in Varsity.
A few minutes later, the race was on and I found myself sitting 4th wheel going into the single track. The first lap was full of quite a bit of switching positions throughout the steep climbs and rocky descents. By the end of the first lap, the lead group was down to less than 10 of us and as we went for the second lap, I pulled in front.
I kept a pace that I knew was sustainable but kept in mind the goal of my effort to further split the group up. Towards the end of the lap, Max McFadden (Oakland Composite) pulled in front and led us to the start/finish line for lap 3. The next two laps of our 4 lap race consisted of nearly the same dynamic, with a couple pulls thrown in by Rylan Loader (Salinas High). With one lap to go, the lead group was down to myself, Max and Rylan. A few attacks went down throughout the middle of the last lap but all of the attacks were unsuccessful and with two minutes to go, we were still together. Rylan attacked on the left side with less than two minutes to go but unfortunately crashed due to a mishap, leaving the final bit to Max and I. I sat on Max's wheel as we turned the corner onto the fire road that led to the finish. We headed around the final turn and it was full gas to the finish line. I moved towards the left side of the course and gave it everything I had in me to the finish.
I crossed the line for second place, finishing .01 of a second behind Max McFadden according to the official results. I am very happy with the result and I am extremely motivated for the future. Being so close to tasting that elusive varsity win is SO incredibly motivating - there, but not quite. It's in reaching distance!
Official results: http://my6.raceresult.com/95120/#0_D4291E
