NICA 2023 - Race 5 - Enchanted at Reveille - 3/26/2023

TLDR: Saturday was my birthday! I got 3rd place, and it was a great race with lots of competition. 

We arrived early on Friday again and helped to set up the course. 

On Saturday, everyone started arriving, and they went out for pre-ride. For the GRiT ride, we did stickers and face paint! I really liked the course this time, especially because the finish was downhill. It was similar to the last Reveille Peak race, but some sections were going the other way. When I got back to camp, I chilled for a bit, until my mom and my sister showed up and surprised me! They brought watermelon and cupcakes, and the team sang to me. 

When I woke up the next morning, I felt confident, though a lot more nervous. I won here last time, and everyone told me this was my course, but I also got 3rd in the last race, so anything could happen. Hopefully, it would be me winning, though. 

At the starting line, I felt way more nervous than in the last races. When the whistle blew, I got boxed out, badly. I saw Josie and Alyssa getting away from me, and I had trouble catching up because I was working my way around others and I wasn't feeling very good on the hills. 

I was catching up when Alyssa suddenly wrecked in front of me. I wasn't sure whether to stop and help her up, or keep going, but she told me to keep going, so I kept racing. I made sure to tell the next race official that there was a rider down, but other than that I kept going. 

By now, I had lost Josie, and I was losing momentum mentally, which caused me to lose momentum on the bike. Somewhere near the end of the second lap, Alyssa passed me. I tried to keep up, but I was mentally discouraged and I didn't think I could make it. I was having trouble breathing as well, and all this was not helping my mental game at all. 

I rounded the turn to the finish and I sprinted as hard as I could. I felt pretty good about my effort, but I was disappointed that I couldn't keep up with Josie. 

When it was time for podiums, one of my friends shouted out that it was my birthday (even though my birthday was the day before), and then the whole league sang the birthday song and it was so embarrassing. The lesson I learned from this race was to never give up and to keep pushing.