We got to Tehachapi at about 3 in the afternoon on Friday and there was not so many people. By the morning almost everyone had arrived and at 10:00am was the Murrieta Mesa pre-ride. The course was the exactly the same as the year before but still super fun. After that was a long boring day of sitting around and doing nothing. Later that night there was a mini party to celebrate the league's tenth year of racing and there was a whole lot of people that went. Not me though, I was in the trailer watching a movie and doing nothing.
Race day was upon us and I still had a long time of doing nothing before I started to warm-up. I watched bits and pieces of the boy's freshman and sophomore and the girl's race before I went to warm-up. I warmed up on the dirt roads around where everyone was camping for about 25 minutes. After that, I went over to the line to get ready for staging and once again my conference was staged last. This was the first high school race that Blake, our conference leader was going to miss. This was the perfect opportunity to win at Tehachapi for the second year in a row. The race hadn't started yet so nothing was a done deal.
The countdown began, 15 seconds 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!! The race was on, I thought? We all took off up the long fire road really slowly and one behind the other in one line trying not to be in the wind. I was really puzzled at how slow we were going at the start but I was ok with it until the first climb. Once we got there I wasn't too worried about being the first one into the decent as long as I was the second person I was all good. I knew it was a long race and there was no point in fighting to be the first one into the single track. We got through the first decent and started to make our way towards the long climb out of the valley. This climb, while not as steep as the first one it was much harder. There were two different ways to go that both paralleled each other so you could see the other rider next to you on a different trail that tied back into each other after a little wase. This was an amazing spot to pass riders you were catching from the back end of other conferences but also meant it was a sprint section for the top couple guys because if someone went a different way than the person in front of them they could end up passing them. The first lap this wasn't too bad I went the other way than the leader of our group did but I wasn't trying to pass. After that we road across a bench cut section (trail cut into the side of a hill) that led us to where we originally started to go down. This started the more technical descent with a slight bit of climbing that brought us all the way into the valley in front of the venue where we crossed, went out a ways then made a u-turn and headed back the way we came towards the final descent into the finish shoot.
Lap 2 started and this was about the time people were really starting to pop off the back of the group. Once again into the wind and everyone slowed down into a soft pedal so I got in the front and made them slightly uncomfortable for a short while. We went up the climb, down into the valley, across the valley floor and made our way to the ether or part of the race. By this time we were deep in lapping traffic and when we got to the first ether or section there was a rider we were getting ready to catch from the back end of one of the other conferences in the higher line. At this time the Hemet rider was in front of me and I was second in our four-person train. The Hemet rider decided to go the same way as the sower rider and was planning on passing him. Instead of following him and having to work through traffic I took the lower line and in an all-out sprint passed both the rider in the other conference and the one in mine all in one move. By the time he realized what I was doing it was too late and when the trails came back together I was in the lead. We continued on the rest of the course all the way to the last descent into the finish.
Now we were on the last lap and going out the long fire road towards the climb. When we got to the climb I made a hard effort to get in front but it failed and I went in second. Shortly into the decent, I got passed him and shortly after that, he passed me back. At this time the Hemet rider was in front, I was in second and a Temecula Valley rider was behind me. Little did I know the Great Oak rider had fallen off the back a wase. We got all the way down into the valley and at the bottom I lost my chain. I wasn't pedaling or shifting, it just fell off. By the time I got it back on the bike, the gap was too far for me to make up in the remainder of the lap. Once the TV rider and Hemet rider saw that I was off the back they both took off. By the time I got to the top of the climb, the Great Oak rider had caught me. He passed me in the rocky descent because he had a full suspension and I had a hardtail. A couple minutes later I passed him again and he was riding on rim. I came through the finish and started my cool down. During my cool down I saw my brother coming down the last descent into the finishing stretch throwing his fist in the air and yelling after looking back. I assumed he had won which he did and I was happy that one of us had a good race. I came in at third on the day and got second in the overall. Thanks to all of my sponsors who make this racing at places like this possible. Ellsworth bikes, Rudy Project, Ftech cycling, Kenda tires, ESI grips, Scicon, gup industries, Ryno power, Ridefast, Sidi and ASG sports.
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