Endura Race 2022 - Race 3 - Suburban Ninja Series - 6/25/2022

TLDR: This was my first Suburban Ninja race actually racing someone, and it was a really fun experience. I won after a wreck and really came back and redeemed myself. 

I was scared because a girl I'd been in competition with for several years was racing. There was a time almost a year ago when it was my first time racing bikes in several years and my first time racing against NICA kids. I almost beat her, but I made a mistake in the end and she won. I haven't been able to beat her since. She's also really nice, and we talked after all the races. Plus, during the pre-ride the Wednesday before the Saturday race, I wrecked and fell off of a cool wooden feature and got all scraped up and bruised up, so I wasn't in top condition.

My little sister, Maddie, won her race against an 11-year-old, and the last time she raced she wrecked and didn't have the best race, so we were all so proud of her. It was really hot at the start line of my race, and I was really nervous. I talked with Jenna, the girl I was racing against, and we chatted about the course and other things. 

When she blew the whistle, I took off, but Jenna got the holeshot and got into the woods first. I was right on her tail, but I fell down in a dusty corner. Jenna checked to make sure I was OK before continuing her race. I scraped up my arm, got a couple scratches on my wrist, and tweaked my wrist, but that was as far as my injury scan could go because I got back onto the bike as soon as possible. I took off, taking deep breaths to keep from crying, and noticed that when I fell, my seat had twisted, so that it was pointing to my right hand. I didn't stop to fix it, though, and kept riding, trying to balance my pain with the right speed. I kept riding, and there was a bit of double track where I could just barely see Jenna in the distance before she turned the corner. I kept riding as fast as I could and noticed that my wrist really hurt when I went to put the dropper post down or up. I tried to ignore it, but it definitely impacted my riding. It was a really twisty turny section, and I caught glimpses of her through the trees before I lost sight of her again. I was not going very fast in that section, given my new distrust of these corners, and I felt her slipping away, but it might have been my imagination. 

After I left the woods, I saw her, a lot closer than before, and I managed to pass her right before the double track ended. It felt like it was getting warmer, and it was already warm enough. I started to get chills down my spine, and even though I had gotten warned again and again and again about when that happens, you have to slow down, slowing down might cost me the race, so I wasn't going to let that happen. I ignored the chills and managed to finish the race without wrecking again, though I came close a couple of times. When I saw the little bit of trail that let me know I was even remotely close to the finish, a wave of relief crashed over me. I was still not used to doing 10-mile races, and in this heat, I was not feeling good. I left everything out there on the last big hill and did the wooden bridge that I had wrecked on when pre-riding without any trouble. I sprinted to the finish, and stopped, gasping for breath. I really left it all out there.

Then, I checked my elbow and leg and saw a huge scrape where the dirt had just taken a huge portion of skin off. I'll spare you the details. Jenna came through, and I congratulated her. She did really well. It was really fun and now I have several new battle scars from that trail. Fast forward several days - I'm at the doctor's office, and I apparently sprained my wrist. No wonder it hurt to drop my post! Anyways, it was such a great day and I really enjoyed it. It felt good to come in the first place. I was really worried, I hadn't put in much training and was glad to see I still had what it takes.