Silver medal at nationals.

It had been quite some time since I had raced a National Championship. The events are always some of the best events that cyclists can attend. Its a great chance to see old friends and make new ones. The Championships were held at Bear Creek Ski resort this year, and it was a pretty good place for the venue. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire weekend, and luckily the heat and humidity had been pushed out. Trail conditions were extremely dry and loose which made for some tricky riding. Going into the race I knew my technical skills were on point, but my fitness would be slightly lacking. This was because I had been taking some time off to recuperate from an early season filled with racing. It always amuses me when people say "but you're always riding", and I say yes but there's a big difference between riding and training. So I would just have to rely on early season fitness to see me through this race. The course was not as aggressive as other courses I've seen, and I would label it more of a super xc than a super downhill. It was relatively flat, with several climbs, and one really fun section of tight single track. My race run went well, and I felt like I stuck 90% of my lines. The course had a lot to remember, so from one section to the next you were focusing on getting into the right line. It was great that the Nationals were so close this year, and I'm happy that so many of my friends had great races as well. It was awesome to see them on the podium with huge smiles!