Mt. Snow, Vermont

I just got home from racing in Mount Snow, Vermont and it was so much fun! I had never ridden on the east coast before and it was a completely different experience. The forest was so dense and dark, and there was roots and mud puddles everywhere. The course was very fun. It was all steep little up hills and down hills, they don’t seem to believe in switchbacks there. Though it was somewhat technical everything was rideable. There was one section of a really steep gravel road followed by a steep rooty wooded section that I race up every time but other than that it was all on the bike. About 8 girls showed up to race, all from the west. Essence Barton took an early lead that she maintained the majority of the race. Natalie Krantz, Ellen and I started together but I got ahead on the first little climb. Natalie was just off my wheel most the race and Ellen behind her. I think she was having some chain issues. Essence won, Deidre second, Kayla third, Jill fourth and I rode in to score the last podium spot. Very fun and challenging course.

For this race I got to travel with the USAC “All Star Team”. 6 racers, 2 girls and 4 boys were chosen from the regional camps to represent USAC at Mount Snow. We stayed in a team condo with a mechanic and two coaches, Mark Fasczewski and Kim Flyn (I think thats how its spelled). We had our biked assembled, cleaned, and tuned up for the race as well as nightly massages and excellent coaching advise. Over all it was was a grear experience.