Mia Meets Bike
- Thread starter Meatball Mia
- Start date
knobbyhead
Next off the Island.
Happy bday meatball lover!! Actually had some last night,they were homemade and yummy.
Happy birthday!!! Ironically I too had meatballs today. Must be in the air!
Race 1: ESC Powder Ridge Recap
So Powder Ridge … it's not my favorite place to race. Almost every time I’ve raced there, I get 2nd place. The first, and only time, I’ve ever won there was amateur women my first year racing enduro. The course just has this one stage that really is not my style of riding because it's a bike park flow trail with bigger jumps and a big drop at the very end that I always lose all my time on. There are two trails that have some good sections of tech though, but the stages are so short at Powder that it's hard to make up time on the tech sections. Anyways, the race overall was pretty good, but I left disappointed.
This was my first race of the season, so I expected there to be some mistakes and usual first race nerves to get over. I had done my usual fitness training over the course of my spring semester at school but with more of a focus on strength than cardio, and I focused a lot on proper nutrition, which definitely made me feel good going into the first race. I felt really strong and powerful on the bike, which I haven’t really felt on a bike in a long time, or ever, so that progress during the off-season really helped. I also have professional coaching this year to work on the specific skills to get me to go faster, which definitely helped during this first race.
Pre-ride on Saturday went pretty well. I got a bunch of laps in and felt like my lines were dialed and that I was locked in. I felt really good in the tech, which I expected, but I still felt slow on the jumps. I tried to remind myself to focus on what I’m good at to make my time up, which was this one raw tech section on stage 3, which my coach said, “I was cooking through.” The highlight of my day though was doing this one drop at the end of Stage 2 that I never thought I would ever do, and it was really big, in my opinion. It took a combination of trusting my coach and having other teammates hyping me up to get me to do it. My hands were shaking a ton after I did it because the adrenaline was pumping a lot, but I was really proud of myself for doing it and handling my nerves. Doing that drop set the tone for the rest of my pre-ride and race because it made me more confident in my skills and speed. I even hit more jumps throughout the course that I normally wouldn’t be able to do.
There was a threat of rain for race day, which I wasn’t super happy about, but luckily it didn’t rain. Stage 1 went pretty well. I made a few mistakes in my lines, but I do that in almost all of stage 1s in any race because I’m not quite warmed up yet. It still felt pretty fast, but I know I could have gone faster. Stage 2 was the stage I was most excited for but also the one I was dreading the most. I hated most of the stage because it was all jumps that I really couldn’t clear and they slowed me down a lot. The end of the stage was the drop though, which I was so excited to do, and I could finally get a professional picture of me doing something sick. The stage overall felt ok, but I definitely wasn’t going fast, which showed in the results. It sucks but now I know what I need to work on before the next race. Stage 3 was the stage I felt the fastest on, and the one I was the most excited to ride. The top part of the stage, which had the tech, went really well, and I was riding smooth and fast. I only made one small mistake in the first half, but I still felt like I was flying. The end of the stage is when it went bad. I was sprinting on the last fire road straight before the last two jumps, but three stages converged in this one fork, and I couldn’t really tell which way I was supposed to go until the last second, so I tried to change my direction, but it was too late, and I ended up washing my front wheel out in the gravel and crashing. That crash took at least 15-20 seconds, which really sucked because the rest of the stage went so well, and I knew I made up a lot of time on it until the crash. Anyways, I tried to get over it as I climbed up to stage 4 but I was just really mad and frustrated with myself. Stage 4 ended up going pretty well. I felt pretty good and only made a few mistakes. Stage 5 also went pretty well, and one of my coaches got a really nice video of me through a rocky chute, and he said I rode it really fast and smooth, so that made me happy. I did make a few mistakes too where I grabbed my brakes a little too hard, but I’m going to work on that.
Overall, the race went well for the first race, but I still have some major things I need to work on. I finished the race in 2nd. Now I normally would be pretty content with this, but I was really disappointed in myself and how the race went. The crash was a stupid mistake that cost me the win and other little mistakes and my inability to do bigger jumps. I’m getting over it though because I also need to remember the positives from the race like doing a big drop and hitting the tech with speed and confidence. I’m definitely faster than I was last season, but I want to see that in my race results. Next up is ESC Glen Park, so I’ll be working on some stuff until then!
So Powder Ridge … it's not my favorite place to race. Almost every time I’ve raced there, I get 2nd place. The first, and only time, I’ve ever won there was amateur women my first year racing enduro. The course just has this one stage that really is not my style of riding because it's a bike park flow trail with bigger jumps and a big drop at the very end that I always lose all my time on. There are two trails that have some good sections of tech though, but the stages are so short at Powder that it's hard to make up time on the tech sections. Anyways, the race overall was pretty good, but I left disappointed.
This was my first race of the season, so I expected there to be some mistakes and usual first race nerves to get over. I had done my usual fitness training over the course of my spring semester at school but with more of a focus on strength than cardio, and I focused a lot on proper nutrition, which definitely made me feel good going into the first race. I felt really strong and powerful on the bike, which I haven’t really felt on a bike in a long time, or ever, so that progress during the off-season really helped. I also have professional coaching this year to work on the specific skills to get me to go faster, which definitely helped during this first race.
Pre-ride on Saturday went pretty well. I got a bunch of laps in and felt like my lines were dialed and that I was locked in. I felt really good in the tech, which I expected, but I still felt slow on the jumps. I tried to remind myself to focus on what I’m good at to make my time up, which was this one raw tech section on stage 3, which my coach said, “I was cooking through.” The highlight of my day though was doing this one drop at the end of Stage 2 that I never thought I would ever do, and it was really big, in my opinion. It took a combination of trusting my coach and having other teammates hyping me up to get me to do it. My hands were shaking a ton after I did it because the adrenaline was pumping a lot, but I was really proud of myself for doing it and handling my nerves. Doing that drop set the tone for the rest of my pre-ride and race because it made me more confident in my skills and speed. I even hit more jumps throughout the course that I normally wouldn’t be able to do.
There was a threat of rain for race day, which I wasn’t super happy about, but luckily it didn’t rain. Stage 1 went pretty well. I made a few mistakes in my lines, but I do that in almost all of stage 1s in any race because I’m not quite warmed up yet. It still felt pretty fast, but I know I could have gone faster. Stage 2 was the stage I was most excited for but also the one I was dreading the most. I hated most of the stage because it was all jumps that I really couldn’t clear and they slowed me down a lot. The end of the stage was the drop though, which I was so excited to do, and I could finally get a professional picture of me doing something sick. The stage overall felt ok, but I definitely wasn’t going fast, which showed in the results. It sucks but now I know what I need to work on before the next race. Stage 3 was the stage I felt the fastest on, and the one I was the most excited to ride. The top part of the stage, which had the tech, went really well, and I was riding smooth and fast. I only made one small mistake in the first half, but I still felt like I was flying. The end of the stage is when it went bad. I was sprinting on the last fire road straight before the last two jumps, but three stages converged in this one fork, and I couldn’t really tell which way I was supposed to go until the last second, so I tried to change my direction, but it was too late, and I ended up washing my front wheel out in the gravel and crashing. That crash took at least 15-20 seconds, which really sucked because the rest of the stage went so well, and I knew I made up a lot of time on it until the crash. Anyways, I tried to get over it as I climbed up to stage 4 but I was just really mad and frustrated with myself. Stage 4 ended up going pretty well. I felt pretty good and only made a few mistakes. Stage 5 also went pretty well, and one of my coaches got a really nice video of me through a rocky chute, and he said I rode it really fast and smooth, so that made me happy. I did make a few mistakes too where I grabbed my brakes a little too hard, but I’m going to work on that.
Overall, the race went well for the first race, but I still have some major things I need to work on. I finished the race in 2nd. Now I normally would be pretty content with this, but I was really disappointed in myself and how the race went. The crash was a stupid mistake that cost me the win and other little mistakes and my inability to do bigger jumps. I’m getting over it though because I also need to remember the positives from the race like doing a big drop and hitting the tech with speed and confidence. I’m definitely faster than I was last season, but I want to see that in my race results. Next up is ESC Glen Park, so I’ll be working on some stuff until then!
Sick picture! Great job, you can't win them all. Sounds like you learned a lot and know what you need to work on.
Are you suggesting that @Wrong Way Dan and I are not professionals?
Are you suggesting that @Wrong Way Dan and I are not professionals?
Sweet pic and wow! That's a big drop to have in an enduro race in my opinion. I love jumps but also not a fan of having that kinda course in an enduro race. Seems weird to try to go fast on a trail that's meant for fun and if a racer is not a jumper - they've definitely screwed. Congrats on the podium though and all the leveling up!
Wow - impressive drop!!!
Great race report Mia and congrats on the result and the drop! I was there on Saturday for practice but didn't see you. I did the drop which is pretty scary, I think I convinced myself it was same height as the drop at top of Tempest (it's not!). I crashed at the end of the day on Saturday coming down the loose, rocky chute towards the top of Wild Turkey with a bunch of orange tape on left (run 5) and sprained my hand so couldn't race
It really does! It felt so dialed on race day!!! I can’t thank you enough!