Love, Larissa
Sitting in bed, on a Monday night after teaching and grocery shopping, yoga/core, recovery spin, dinner, dog walking, and unpacking, it's kinda hard to believe that this past weekend happened at all. Thank god there are pictures to prove that the whirlwind of agony and sheer joy that was the Whiskey 50 was not in fact a dream.
![]() |
Photo Cred Johnny Muller |
The Whiskey 50 Off Road started with call-ups for the top 5 finishers of the Fat Tire Crit from Friday night, of which I was 5th. Standing on the line with the fastest women in the country (and some from other countries!) was pretty sweet. And suddenly a bunch of rifles were shot in the air and we were rolling through historic Prescott up the hill the trails.
The initial climb is paved, then fire-road, and eventually you turn left onto single track. I played mt cards well, drafted on most the climb, and hit the single track fourth wheel behind Katerina. Sadly though, the super slippery wet conditions and race day nerves threw me off my game, and I made a few decisive mistakes on rock problems that I had no trouble riding two days before when it was dry. This gave the lead group first a 10 second, then 20 second gap on me. I didn't panic, and tried to ride smooth. Eventually Rose Grant slipped past me before a long fast, ridiculously fun descent, and also gapped me a bit. I decided to stay calm and be patient, and enjoyed the descent on tacky dirt, hoping to reconnect with the group on the next climb.
![]() |
photo cred Dave McElwaine |
![]() |
photo cred Dave McElwaine |
![]() |
Crossing the line, not really sure I could no hands it in the slippery conditions! |
Then the second best part of the day happened (you know, after getting to ride my bike for 50 miles), I earned my first ever oversized check, AND a little girl asked for my autograph (no one has ever asked for my autograph before!).
Told you I got a big check! Best day ever!! |
![]() |
This one had to be small so both pictures could be on the same line |
It was some pretty exciting times, followed up by a shower chocolate GU Recovery Smoothie, and a 6 hour drive back to SoCal to be in bed by 9pm. None of it could have happened without the outstanding support of the Ridebiker Alliance and Team ShoAir (who kinda adopted me this weekend), but that's another story in itself :) So for now, I'll just say I am incredibly fortunate to have such great support and so many awesome people making this bike racing thing possible.
I left a bunch of details out of this recap in the interest in keeping it short (ish) so there may be more Whiskey reminiscing later on down the road. Long story short, put me on a Scalpel for 50 miles and feed me a beer 40 miles in and I am a pretty happy camper.
I hope someone is recording this season for you. It would make an inspirational movie that every young high school racer to watch. You are "living the dream" & are the perfect role-model for all the young aspiring MTB racers in America. Best of luck for the remainder of your season. Keep smiling :)
ReplyDelete