2010 NBL Grand Nationals

This past weekend was one of the biggest races of the year for me as well as the most anticipated.

Since I had class on Thursday, I was not able to come up early for practice. So Steph and I headed up to Louisville, Ky Thursday night. Friday I was only able to get in 4 practice laps because my age group was only allowed 40 minutes of practice. I had been running a 44-15 gear hoping that I could power through my motos. Once I started practicing I quickly realized that the starting hill was not as steep and long as I had hoped it would be. After turn 1 the gear was great, but I was not going to chance getting a bad gate and being stuck in the back. So for Saturday's 2 motos I ran a 44-16. Saturday I went 4th and 3rd in my motos. It was the first race where I had a full rack of racers so I couldn't just power past everyone if I had a bad gate. As a result I got caught up in the pack and was not able to pass anyone back. For Sunday's races I chose to go down another gear to a 43-16 and felt great! I killed my first moto Sunday morning with a win. After waiting forever for my semi-final round I tried my best to warm up again and get in the proper mindset for rubbing elbows now that the racing was getting serious. I pulled out a 2nd in my semi from gate 4 after almost being pushed off course in turn 2. The main was a different story....I ended up almost going down over the 2nd jump when the racer to my right cut into me resulting in him going down hard and almost taking me with him. All I saw was the shadow of his bike flying through the air next to me and I kicked it in a bit more to keep from being tagged with a rogue bike. After that I was dove into turn 1 in the 4th spot. I tried to battle back up the field but my legs just weren't there.

I ended up placing 3rd over all in the national points standings for the year so overall I am pleased with how my transition from mountain bike racing into BMX racing is going. Time to recover and class up for next year.

I want to thank my family, Steph, Steph's family, Dr. Ramsey, Mark, and all of the racers and parents who supported me the whole weekend! You guys Rock! I would also like to thank Meg Stone of the ETSU Center of Excellence and Dr. Justice for being such big supporters, I couldn't do it with out you guys! If I'm leaving anyone out, Thank you too!!!!

That's all for now. Time to get back to school, recovery, and the Collegiate Mountain Bike Season!