This weekend at the Cactus Cup, as I threw my leg over my bike to warm up for the 1^st of 3 hard races in just 2 days, I thought to myself, “I’m so happy to be here.”

Don’t get me wrong, the Cactus Cup is a big race in its own right with years of fast and strong competition. In 2021, a group of us on the Olympic Long Team actually used this race as a season opener before going off to final qualification races.

But for me, this race wasn’t a number one priority in my schedule. In fact, I primarily trained through it meaning I entered into the weekend with some fatigue in the legs. But what that also meant, is that I really just wanted to race my bike. It’s not always about the glitz and glamour, the media, the points, or the rankings, sometimes it’s just about stomping on the pedals as hard as you can around a pre-determined course with other fast people to see who can finish it first. To me, these are the moments when you remember that above all else and all the hubbub, you just love racing your bike, plain and simple. And that is such a good feeling.

40 Mile: XCM

At 8 am on Saturday morning we all lined up for the 40-mile XCM race. The race started fast off the line, with only 30 seconds to the trail, the chase for the hole shot was pretty explosive! I jumped into the trail first, controlled the pace, and a couple miles in launched an attack out of one of the corners. To my surprise and delight, it stuck! But now I had about 36 miles to tackle solo. Gulp! I enjoyed racing the course, catching as many pro men as I could, battling the heat, and finally finishing the 40-mile race in 1^st with a 5-minute lead in the over GC. Now it was time to hurry up and rest (now that’s an oxymoron) because in just a few hours we would be lining up again in the XCC.

Short Track:

After just 6 hours of anxiously trying to relax as much as possible. (Yes, that is exactly what it feels like). We lined up again for the 2^nd race of the day: a blistering 30-minute short track! With heavy, tired legs from the morning, sprinting off the line felt like a tall ask, but when the whistle blew it was instinct over reservation. The sprint for the hole shot was even spicier and the loose and dry corners felt like they could catch any of us out with just one wrong move. As we came through on lap one, one of the other competitors attacked.  I quickly accelerated and grabbed her wheel. The pace was high and I was already breathing hard, but I knew what I had to do. The moment she sat back down in the saddle, I countered. I opened a small gap between us and never looked back. I crossed the finish line in 1^st and now only had one race left to go.

20 Mile: XC

The 8 am start time came very early after the 5 pm Short Track race the night before, but now we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only 20 miles separated us from the final finish line. The course started up a gradual, long, and smooth climb straight into a head wind. I took a good whack at a hard effort off of the start, but I couldn’t quite make it stick. I took a couple of turns hiding from the wind, but ultimately wanted to gamble my chips. I played the game of attacking and then riding hard over and over, just hoping that I could soften my competitors. As the crest of the climb came into view, I knew it was time to go all in. I attacked up and over the top, never sitting up or settling in. I leaned hard in the loose corners as I felt the side knobs of my tires desperately digging in to the tiny layer of sand on the hard packed trail. I broke free but I didn’t want to look back. As the final of 3 races, I was determined to finish what I started. I crossed the line for my 3^rd victory of the weekend and cinched 1^st place overall.

Every time I line up, it’s a chance to test myself, to grow, and to learn. The more I learn in this sport, the more aware I become of the fact that there is no ceiling to growth. Here’s to always moving forward.