XC Nationals 2011

XC Nationals 2011 Race Re-cap

XC result: 2nd
STXC result: 3rd

I qualified to participate in the 2011 Cross Country Mountain Bike National Championships held in Sun Valley Idaho, July 13th-17th. 
I brought back home to New England a silver and bronze medal in the Category 1 events!
Last year, no other Category 1 rider in the women’s field was from New England. This year I helped to change that.

Wednesday July 13th
The first day of my trip, to Nationals in Sun Valley Idaho, was a long day spent on 3 various planes from Boston to Chicago, Chicago to Salt Lake, and then Salt Lake to Sun Valley. The last one was a 34 passenger one. You could feel every turbulence on that plane, and what a scary landing coming so low to the mountains! I fell in love with the area as soon as I arrived. The streets were clean, the buildings to human scale, all of the store fronts up to the sidewalk, bike racks everywhere filled with bikes, no parking lots, and no chain stores (except for Bank of America and Wells Fargo, but they blended right in). I found out there are 8 bike shops in the small town of 3,000 people! That is a dedicated community to bikes. Signs everywhere stated that Hailey and Ketchum (the towns of Sun Valley) were Bicycle Friendly Communities and that pedestrians AND bicycles had the right of way. There is a lots of history in the town, including a Ski Museum! I was so excited to check everything out, but I first had to get checked into my condominium and find food. I got to my very cute and cozy condominium and un-packed, built up my bike, then pedaled the very short distance on the bike path to one of the Market’s for dinner. I ended up getting some stuff I could take back and eat out on the lawn near where I was staying and listen to a concert (the Avett Brothers) that was going on at the Pavillion. It was very relaxing. What a great first night! The air was so crisp, cool, and clear, the landscape breathtaking. From on the lawn I could see the ski runs where the race was going to be held. I was exhilarated and felt like I was on a completely different planet!

Thursday, July 14th
I woke up early the next morning and ate a Cliff bar and banana before going to the course. I had no idea what to expect. I started off with the prologue loop and it was a killer! The altitude immediately hit my lungs up the first short climb and I was not sure how the rest of the course was going to be. There was a rock waterfall, that everyone was taking forever to inspect, which I just went right down it, no problem. There was also a rock garden that was just filled with huge sharp rocks for 200 meters. You had to keep pedaling or else you were going to end up ramming into one and having to carry your bike. Out east that thing would have had roots and mud in it too! Haha. I started the “real” climb of 1.5 miles, gaining 1,250 feet!  My lungs just about ripped out of my chest. They felt like they were bleeding. I kept stopping to take water and get control of my breathing again. The climb had loose dirt and rocks, along with huge tree roots across the narrow trail. Everyone was walking up certain sections, so I did not feel so bad! The course opened up to a wide ski track and that was better for me to keep a rhythm up and not stop pedaling. On the descent, it was loose dirt and gravel. It was a bit sketchy, since I am not use to riding on that surface. I came across the ski trail and wiped out hard. I banged up my right elbow pretty bad and added bruises and cuts to my already bruised up right quad. I bent my derailleur hanger and my shifting was funky, but I just got up, shook it off, and kept riding to the bottom. The descent had tons of sharp turns in it and was very narrow. I had to pay a lot of attention to what I was doing. It was very fun though! I got done and went and cleaned myself up with the medic. I got a nice big breakfast afterwards at a local joint called Perry’s, it was the best breakfast burrito I ever had! I spent the rest of the day relaxing and checking out a few things in town. I went to the ERC (Environmental Resource Center), a few art galleries, one of which had an exhibit called “Bicycle Culture”. I spent some time in a few of the local bike and outdoor shops and then hung around the downtown to see the Fat Tire Criterium, which was a blast! Afterwards I went to eat dinner out and do some reading. A great first day in the Valley!

Friday, July 16th
The second morning I woke up early again and ate a Clif bar and banana before going off to get on the course. I was a bit nervous as to how my legs and lungs would feel, but I just did my best to keep on moving forward up the climb. I had totally forgotten about my derailleur and shifting issue. I could not go into my smallest gear. The SRAM and SHIMANO supports were both not there yet, but I luckily ran into a guy that helped loosen the limit screw and it allowed me to be able to at least pedal in the lowest gear. However, it was all funky in the middle gears. I just kept going with it, since I knew I could not get anything straightened out until 9am. The second time around was more tiring than the first, but I did it faster and I felt stronger. My hamstrings were a bit tight and my body was sore after completion. I brought my bike to the SRAM tent and they took an hour to get to it to straighten out the hanger and also fix the front shock. My mom and aunt arrived before noon and we went to eat at Johnny D’s Sub Shack! It was deliscious…turkey, swiss, avocado, mayo and sprouts n the best bread! I made sure to get an ice bath as soon as I could get back to the condo. I tried to rest, but I was pretty wound up and could not really keep my eyes shut! I had an enjoyable evening though with my family and got to check out some more neat things around town.

Saturday July 17th
Day three in the Valley was  XC race day! I woke up pretty anxious, with my adrenaline pumping! I got up and ate a nice big breakfast and made sure I had time to get to the course for a warm up. I did the warm up on one of the amazing bike paths, since there was no where to on the course and I did not know the surrounding trails. My legs felt a bit tired, the right hamstring was pretty tight. I did my best to try and ignore it though and just focus on the race. When the whistle blew I was ready to go and I just charged up the first hill in the prologue. Girls went backwards and I went forwards into 4th position. The 2 riders in front of me though were going too slow and let the first place rider (the girl in my age division, 25-29) get away, and I never saw her again. I was able to get around the two girls that were slowing me down before the climb. I just kept pedaling as hard as I could and never gave up. I never once lost control of my bike. The second lap up the climbing felt like it took forever, my legs were tired from the 3 days of effort. It was a great feeling to cross that finish line in second place. My friend was there and so was my headmaster from high school! It was amazing to see them both and catch up. I was all smiles, knowing I had earned a silver medal at Nationals! My front tire, however, was practically flat!...so I took it to SRAM and they had me just pump some air back in it and told me to see how it held up. Well, we went back and I showered, took an ice bath, then checked it before heading out to see the pump track competition, and it was flat again! The Stan's was leaking out of the tire and SRAM said they did not have any Stan's or a tire to give me. However, the Cannondale folks were still over in the parking lot and the mechanic, Troy, and pro racer, Krista, helped me out! We took off the tire and discovered no more Stan's was in there. Apparently, not enough had been put in at the shop when it was assembled and was leaking from somewhere. They helped me refill the tire with Stan's. Despite the craziness, we ended up getting to enjoy our evening going to the pump track event and seeing the Hemingway Memorial!

Sunday, July 18th
Woke up with my adrenaline flowing again for the fourth and final day in Sun Valley. I ate a large breakfast again and got myself ready to go. I got to the short track course pretty early, so I did the warm up, and then rode the short track a few times, getting use to the off camber section and the loose gravel parts. It was set up much like a cyclocross course. I was feeling a bit tired, so I went into the lodge and put my legs up to focus on my breathing and get rejuvenation. 11:30 came and we were off! However, within the first few 100 yards there was a flyover bridge (where the pedestrians, bikes, etc. could get through to the other side) and I was in 4th position, when the 3rd place girl took flight and went face down on the other side. It was terrifying and I do not know how I managed to get around that. I was very lucky. I kept pedaling, not knowing what was really going on, but I was really shaken up! The 3 of us out front came through the finish line and around the back side, when the officials stopped us and neutralized the race. They told us all to pedal back to the start. They then told us to not wait in the sun and go pedal around or do whatever for 10 minutes while they discussed what was going to happen. The fly over bridge was thankfully taken out of the course. We started almost an hour behind schedule. I tried my best to get mentally back in the game. The whistle blew and I missed my clip in. I ended up being in 6th place on the first lap, not where I wanted to be! I knew the only two women that were with me during the first start of the race, were the ones I had to worry about. I tried my best to get around the 3 others in the way, but it was difficult to do so, since there was not much passing space. They kept letting a gap open up, which was not good! I got around the 3 women in the way, but there was only 2-3 laps left to go, since they shortened our race to 15 min. plus 2 laps from the 20 min. plus 3 laps, I did not have enough time to catch the women in front of me, but she was fading so fast! I could see her pedal stroke just lagging. I would have no doubt been past her and up with the first place girl if I had been in a better position off the start line. Second place ended up only being 13 seconds ahead, and probably could have been under 10, if I did not let up once I turned the corner to put my fist in the air in celebration, ha ha! I was just stoked about my 3rd place finish!!!! It was a great feeling, and I was all smiles. I had had a blast! I technically was 1st in my age group (25-29), since the race was all Category 1 women, ages 19-55. I cooled down and we got back to the hotel to shower up and unpack the bike. However, we were too focused on getting my stuff together, that we missed the awards by a few minutes. They were suppose to hold them later, but they did not. I was pretty bummed about that, but I still got my medal and a picture! I got to the airport in time and went off for the evening of flights. I had two connections, the last leaving LA at 10pm and I tried to get some rest, but it is always hard on the plane. I dozed on and off for a couple hours. I arrived in the morning and Ryan picked me up. It was so muggy and gross back in New England. Idaho had natural AC. What a beautiful place that I hope to reside in sometime very very soon, Nationals will be held there next summer, I cannot wait!

Thanks to those who help sponsor me and make this event possible! I could not have done it without you! MUCH LOVE <3


  1. Rachel, Chris, & Darcy Ritacco
  2. Barbara Ginn
  3. Kristen Miller
  4. Doug & Kelly Lewis
  5. Vincent Tophoff
  6. Ivy Luhrs & Sue
  7. Bob Upson
  8. Gabrielle Crandall (and family)    
  9. Saran 
  10. Justin Henderson
  11. Karen Williams
  12. Eun Young Choi
  13. Sarah Bowman
  14. Elizabeth & Dan Wilde
  15. Amy & Robert Wilde
  16. Jean Sapula
  17. Nancy Queirolo (and family)
  18. Nicholas Wong
  19. James Alex 
  20. Amy Corsetti (and family)
  21. Sandy & Bill Pucket
  22. Paul O'Hara
  23. Amy Miner

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