Battle in the Forest

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who supports me and who is excited for me!  I can feel your energy and it is very inspiring.  I am so happy about my second place finish, and even more motivated to win.  I already want to attack the Houffalize climbs, and it is only Monday.

When I arrived in Dalby Forest I was really out of whack.  Let’s just say there are a few days a month where I wonder if I can even ride my mountain bike, let alone race.  We arrived on Thursday with no delay in our travel, and Friday I set out to practice the course.  The time change, the time of the month stuff and a melatonin hangover left me pretty much useless.  I couldn’t ride anything.  I abandoned ship and found a field to lay in to center myself.  I did some “Willow” meditations in the grass, tried to get myself together, and then headed back to the house.  I found a bottle of wine at the store called “Balance” and figured I needed a few glasses of that. .. ..  .

Luckily I have  some really great people in my life to help me through my little (or big) moments.  The perfect e-mail from my coach Rick Crawford, and a special phone call from Myles were just what I needed to get my mind right.  Saturday my practice was much smoother and I was ready to race.  I choose to race the conservative line in “Worry Gill” and put all my anxiety into the climbs where I could just hammer out my demons.  And that is exactly how the race played out.

An awesome image from Irmo Keizer, thank you!

I was patient at the start, and lucky enough to follow Heather around the first lap.  Little by little I increased the pace and by lap two it was just Irina and I at the front.  The rest of the race was a back and forth battle with me pushing on the climbs and Irina leading a few of the descents.  With one lap to go Irina attacked through the start area and opened up a small gap.  I closed it in the next small loop, and we went into the last technical section wheel to wheel.  The last big climb of the day proved to be the pivotal moment as Irina had a little more suffering left in her than I did.  I crossed the line 11 seconds behind; happy, but already thinking about what I needed to do to win!

Tonight I am in a London hotel, and tomorrow we are going to check out a few sights before we board the train to Brussels.  From there it is a few hours drive to Houffalize where I can hopefully find something to eat that does not involve bread or beer.  I am thinking I should do some yoga so I can stay 5’2″ for at least a few more years.  Thanks for watching! It makes a difference.