One moment we were counting down to midnight for the New Year and in a blink of the eye I was being jostled awake landing in Victoria, Canada for the first race of the year.
My objectives for the Canada Cup where pretty modest; basically just remember how to race- what to pack race day, what to eat, how to prepare, how to warm up, etc; and get some practice riding and racing in wet, muddy, rooty, rocky conditions (assuming Victoria would deliver on this and it did!). I didn’t have any real expectations for how I would finish, although I was hoping that it would be a strong race and alleviate some of my anxiety about my training and general level of fitness. While it had been pretty rainy the days prior, race morning was sunny and beautiful. And,fortunately, the race routine came back to me along with the pre-race nerves. The Canadian National team had been training in the area for the past few weeks, so the best ladies in Canada were lining up at the start; Catharine Pendrel, Emily Batty, Sandra Walter, Haley Smith…to name a few. The start was fast and just like that, it’s Racin’ Time! I was feeling good and really enjoyed the technical climbs and tried to push the descents as much as possible…realizing that my skills were definitely a bit rusty. I was very happy to finish the day in 3rd place, especially after getting flat tire on the 2nd lap and having to chase back a few places. Overall I was very satisfied to accomplish both my objectives. I would love to do some more Canada Cups in the future-it was awesome to mix it up a bit! 12787625_602441703237252_958503562_o