The National Championship always has a heavy weight to it. I think it’s because it isn’t “just one race” it’s the chance to secure the title for the entire year. Going into the weekend, my eyes were clearly fixed on securing that title and my heart was all in. Two weeks after 200 miles in the flint hill of Kansas, my legs were actually feeling pretty snappy and I was ready to take on a very different style of racing this weekend. 

The National Championship course in Auburn, Alabama is a maze of twisty, turny trails with roots and rocks. The key to a success race here would be staying on the power all day. Carrying speed through the corners and line selection would be critical elements that would add up immensely as time wore on. Temperatures would exceed 90 degrees with the classic southern humidity making it feel like you are being suffocated by the air around you. 

When we raced this course in 2023, I had difficulty finding my flow. A relatively flat course focusing on bike handling wasn’t something that I necessarily considered to be my bread and butter. As I spoke with Enso Mental Performance before the race this year, however, I started to see things differently. We discussed how I could take a course like this, and turn the cards in my favor. I would make the race hard from the moment we entered the singletrack and I wouldn’t let up until we crossed the finish line. I was there to push the pace, to race the course, and to win. I would essentially ignore everyone else, and aim to time trial the course, posting my personal fastest time. It’s important to note that this isn’t a strategy that will work for most courses, but given the nature of this course in particular and that fact that the twisty terrain leaves drafting fairly useless, this could work. I got off of the call excited, with a new attitude toward this course, and ready to fight for the National Title. 

The race went exactly as planned. As the singletrack came into view, I sprinted full gas for the trails, but so did everyone else. I was determined. I had played this scenario in my mind so many times, but there was never a situation in my head in which I didn’t get the whole shot. As we neared the turn into the trails, we were all accelerating at a speed in which there was no way we could execute a turn. It was a battle of guts and determination. As we turned into the trails, we all slammed on the brakes, our wheels locked up, I threw one foot out to the side to catch me as I slid and I entered the trail first. Check. 

Now I could put my head down and race the course. A few minutes into the lap there was a significant gap jump. One lap one I was the only woman to take the gap and I immediately enjoyed a few seconds gap as a result. I held my steady pace. I assumed they would sprint and catch me again at some point, but my goal wasn’t to get away, my goal was to make every burn matches over and over as they closed gaps to me. 

This is exactly how the race played out. At first, we were a group of 5. As I pushed the pace, I would gain a gap here or a gap there but they would always accelerate and catch back up. As time wore on though, my plan seemed to work. Every time less people would make it back to the group. We were 5 then we were 4 then we were 3 and finally it was just Alexis and me off the front.

My strategy never changed. I continued to focus my mind on the task ahead of me rather than the rider behind. I kept pushing the pace harder and pushing the corners faster. Alexis proved to be resilient though and continued to close any gap I managed to open. 

In the final moments of the race, tensions were rising. I continued attacking one more time to try to get a gap going into the finish, but instead I decided I would be patient. I composed myself and committed to the sprint finish. 

As we wound up going into the final sprint, I really thought I had it. I felt strong. My positioning was good, but I was suffering a mechanic that I knew put me on the back foot in the sprint. I tried to poker face it as much as I could, but I knew I was at a disadvantage nonetheless. That’s racing, though. I gave it every single thing I had and I came up less than a second short. Less than one second separated me from the National Title. I crossed the line in 2^nd. 

This has been an interesting one to process and for me, it’s definitely proof that two existing emotions that exist at the same time. On one hand, I’m incredibly proud of the race I put together. 2^nd in the Nation is certainly something to be proud of and definitely something to celebrate. On the other hand, it hurts to be soooo close to victory.  Those close to me have reminded me that the pain I’m feeling is a good thing. It means that my fire burns bright and the desire is there. The best news is, I get to keep chasing it.