If I were to choose three words to summarize last weekend's state championship course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, they would be: Heat, Sugar-sand, and Speed.
In my category, Women 4, there were four other racers for me to compete with, as well as the junior 10-14 group who was racing at the same time but being scored separately. I have to say, that on the start line I was the youngest women by a differential of at least 10 years. That can be a good or bad thing sometimes, but for this race it seemed to be my advantage.
On the first two laps, out of a total of four, I played cat and mouse with a lady who was wearing a green jersey and riding a mountain bike. (no I don't know what brand, that's for the boys to care about) She would beat me in the sugar sand and where I was forced to walk, but then I would catch and pass her on the road. On the second time over the barriers though, she was just ahead of me. In a split second decision to mental slow her down, I shouldered my light cyclocross bike and dashed across the barriers as fast as I could, arriving at the last one before she even finished stepping over the first. From there I time trialed a long section of pavement and hammered the sugar sand parts until I knew she would not be able to catch me. After that, I simply kept racing at the speed I had been before, quickly finishing my last two laps.
It was a long race, but a lot of fun. One thing that I learned from this race was that even though you may not be entirely out of physical energy, a mental hit takes away almost as much as having to chase down an attack.
Michelle Blake
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