It has been a long time since my last post and many things have happened in the adventure. For those of you who don't know, my attempt at a decent result in the world championships was foiled by a German kid who went down in front of me in a steep shoot. He slid out on a root and crashed into a big tree on the side of the shoot. I smashed into his bike and went over the bars superman style and hit the German in the face with my elbow sending him flying back into the tree. As I was sliding down the shoot on my back, I saw my bike go flying over me. Fortunately a spectator ran down and grabbed my bike out of the river for me. Unfortunately my seatpost was broken. I went into the pits and got it replaced, however it took about four minuets to fix and caused me to go from about 40th back to 120th which was last, and where I started due to a timing chip problem caused by the worlds mechanics. In addition to having to come from the back again, my saddle position wasn't correct and my mind was out of it so I ended up in 67th and was kinda frustrated.
After Italy I flew home and was there for about eight hours before I had to catch a flight for Vancouver, BC for the BC 7. I got there and was really jet lagged and tired for the start. Not really the way that I wanted to start with Tinker as my teammate. On the first stage I had problems. I flatted three times and only had one tube and a big air. Needless to say I lost a lot of time, however all was not lost because Bart and Sager won the stage and took the yellow. After stage three I got sick. I was already tired from having to race super hard for four hours everyday and the sickness did not help. I was really starting to doubt that I could finish. If Sayoko had not have shown up at the finish of stage six and been there for the final stage, I don't think that I would have finished. I was having serious problems sleeping and was coughing up a lung. It was without doubt the hardest thing that I have ever done. It was a good thing that the trails were so sweet; otherwise I would have gone insane. I really liked the race now that I look back at it, however I don't think that it is a good idea to be racing in Europe the week before the start.
After the race I spent a few days traveling around BC with Sayoko. It was really nice to just take it easy, go shopping, and eat at some really cool Japanese restaurants after spending a week racing hard and sleeping in a tent. I was also hoping that taking a few rest days would help me overcome my sickness, but it didn't. The sickness eventually turned into a sinus and ear infection; not a good thing to have with nationals only two weeks away.
I took it real easy the next week and started my anti-biotics. I decided that I needed to do a little intensity so that I wasn't totally flat for nationals, so I did the big cottonwood hill climb. I felt terrible, like I was going to die. I was coughing and couldn't breathe. I was able to hang in for dear life up to Solitude and then I put in one of the most pathetic attacks the world has ever seen. It was quickly bridged, however I was able to pull off a second place finish for the second year in a row. I hate second place.
The next day found me on yet another plane this time going to Vermont for MTB nationals. I really love racing in Vermont. I think that it has something to do with devo being based out of there. I spent a lot of time there as a junior and I know the course. As the race got closer I started feeling the effects of the anti-biotics. My snot wasn't so green and I was very tired. During the race I actually felt OK on the first two laps and was off the front. However by the end of the third lap I was totally dead. Tad caught me and eventually dropped me on the fourth lap. I finished second again. I hate finishing second.
I am now up in Quebec for the world cups and I am still sick. I am looking forward to being able to go home soon and get ready for school. If you are still reading this, I am truly amazed and I thank you for suffering through this with me.
