NICA 2023 - Race 4 - Bridgeport Boogie - 3/12/2023

TLDR: Took 3rd by 0.14 seconds! Crazy race with the most competition I've seen as of yet. A little disheartening, but I know I'll get them next time. 

We went up the Friday before, and the T-Hawks helped us set up our camp right next to them. There were crazy thorns in the field, like pop-a-car-tire long thorns. The next morning, the ground was super muddy, and we had to help pull some cars out of the mud. Again, I watched my teammates go on their ride as I waited for the GRiT ride. Luckily, I had the T-Hawks to hang out with, and before I knew it, my team was back. 

Pretty soon though, I had to leave and go get ready for the GRiT ride. At the GRiT tent, we were decorating our helmets, and I tied a big pink ribbon decorated with bikes on the front of mine. Then, I joined a group of particularly outgoing, cheerful girls as we went around and recruited people for the GRit ride. The start of the course was SUPER muddy, and even though they had tried to fix it with hay, it was still pretty bad. It was hard to get your pedals going, and it felt like you weren't moving, no matter how hard you went. 

Even on the pre-ride, it was slightly demoralizing, and I couldn't imagine how bad the race would be. All that aside, the course was very fun, though there weren't very many passing opportunities. There was relatively no climbing, though the finish was uphill. There were only 5 or so good passing opportunities, but it was mostly dusty corners, though there were some berms. I pre-rode behind Josie (JV1 series leader), and we started talking a bit afterward. She was really nice, and I found out that she was also going to Bentonville after the race. I mean, we were already halfway to Bentonville, and the week after was spring break, so what better to do than to go to Bentonville? After we chatted, I headed back to camp and chilled there for a little bit, until coach Zach made us a delicious dinner of hamburgers, and then I went to bed. 

The next morning, when I woke up, I was especially nervous, yet weirdly optimistic. Maybe I did have it! I got up and got dressed, ate some oatmeal, and mentally prepped myself for this race. My goal - don't pop a tire. Well, my goal was to win, but I still didn't want to pop a tire. I felt good during warm-up, and when I rolled up to the line, I was really confident. I was still 2nd-row call-up, but I was confident that wouldn't bother me. When we went into the woods, I was in 6th. I passed 2 people in one of the passing spots my dad pointed out. Then, I was in 2nd, behind Josie. I tried passing her on a Jeep road - no luck. I kept trying to pass her, but I couldn't. She had enough power that she could hold me off in the straights, but I felt I could be going faster in the woods. 2nd lap, I tried to pass her in the muddy section at the start, and I got in front of her by a tire, and then she took the lead back. I was on her wheel the whole time, and then, it was time for the sprint finish. 

We turned the corner, and then it was a full-on sprint for the win. I was going as hard as I could, but I realized Josie was still getting away from me. I stayed behind her, though I should have swung out and taken the space beside her because I was giving Alyssa space to come up beside me. Josie won, and Alyssa slid up behind me and got me by .13 seconds. The lesson I learned from this race was I needed to be more assertive.