I'm in Print!

This week, the new issue of our local county magazine came off the press and inside you can find an article I wrote entitled "Growing Older, Riding Stronger".  I would like to thank my friends Grace and Cary Kanoy for this opportunity to share my mountain bike experiences with all of Davidson County.  Also, thanks to Cary for the great photo spread of me riding his backyard pumptrack this summer! 

The magazine also includes some other great write-ups on local backyard builders (including my bf, Brad!) as well as featuring local beef producers and small batch brewing companies making their homes in Davidson County, NC.

Here is my article, as I submitted it (The print version has had some editing done and does not read quite the same as this, but I wanted to share this with all of those who can't get their hands on a print version!):

The hot days of summer in North Carolina always bring back the memories of my first serious forays into mountain biking. I rode bikes as a child, used a Huffy to commute and explore with in college, and dabbled in riding trails in the woods when I first met my former husband. It was all fun, but I’ve never felt so adventurous and daring on a bicycle as I do now that I am in my 40s. 

I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy and rode and trained horses for quite a few years. I just enjoy being outdoors, and especially in the woods. I had never thought much about mountain biking seriously because I wasn’t exposed to it beyond the bikes I saw in Wal-Mart. My former husband dabbled in mountain biking and when we split it became my portal to peace in the woods. 

 

I began my more serious riding at Country Park in Greensboro seven years ago this summer.  Through online bike forums I created a Friday night ladies’ night at the skills park there known as the “Zone”.  Many of the ladies I met through our Friday night rides are still good friends and ride partners. I also met my current boyfriend, Brad, when some of the ladies invited their boyfriends and their friends. Brad introduced me to more trail riding, helped me find the perfect bike for the trails I wanted to ride, and eventually got me hooked on my current passion…Downhill mountain biking.

Downhill, or Gravity, mountain biking takes place mostly at ski resorts, or at mountains dedicated solely to the sport of mountain biking. Riders take the lift up with their bikes and then ride down the mountain on trails through the woods that can be smooth and flowy with jumps and berms, or steep and technical with rocks, roots, and difficult features. No matter what type of trail, they all go down and require little, if any, uphill pedaling.  Riders can reach high speeds and most bikes ridden at “bike parks” are specially designed for the sport with advanced suspension and very, very strong brakes. Almost any good mountain bike can be ridden on the more beginner friendly terrain at downhill parks, making it accessible to anyone, but the more advanced terrain requires proper equipment and good skills to stay safe!

Five years ago this summer, my boyfriend introduced me to “downhill” at Snowshoe Bike Park in West Virginia, and rented me a downhill mountain bike to ride on my birthday. I was so excited and so very, very nervous. Our very first ride was down a trail called “10 Gallon” and I came around a corner and found myself rolling down a somewhat steeper section of trail that was like a rock stairway. I just kept looking forward and tried to stay loose and trust the bike to roll down those rocks with me still attached. I recall reaching the bottom of that section and finding Brad in awe that I had ridden it.  (To this day, that section of trail makes me nervous!  It is challenging!)  Every time we reached the bottom of the mountain that day and got on the lift to ride back up, Brad would ask me if I was having fun. The answer was always a tentative “yes”. The trails were intimidating, but the bike just rolls over stuff you never think it would.

 

Downhill trails, when viewed from the start, can look like an impossible maze of roots and rocks, but once you start to develop an “eye” for how you can flow through and over the obstacles (like water) and begin to trust that your bike is built to ride that way, it becomes addictive. The sport really forces you to think quickly and problem solve in the moment. Finding your flow through the trail becomes a puzzle to solve, both with your brain and with your body.  Some call it a sport for adrenaline junkies. Yes, it is a bit of an adrenaline rush, but much of the joy that I have found in it comes from the rush of confidence I get from solving the puzzles the mountain offers and finding the flow on the trail. There is really nothing that compares to it. The rest of the world disappears when you find that flow on the trail and you are truly living in the moment. 

I did so well that first time at Snowshoe that Brad suggested maybe I try some racing the following year.  At the time there were very few women in the area participating in the sport.  When I did race the next season, I was one of 4 ladies at most races and there were maybe 2 more in all of North Carolina.  The sport has grown tremendously since then.  Today, I personally know at least 30 women in NC who enjoy riding downhill on a regular basis.  I also coach those new to DH and just helped introduce the sport and some of its skills to 7 new women at Beech Mountain this month.

I still do ride trails locally quite often.  Downhill riding is reserved for weekends off since it requires travel to the mountains.  It also requires a fit rider, and that means lots of riding on local trails and pumptracks on my non-downhill bike.  I am so happy to live in Davidson County where we have access to so many great trails in the nearby vicinity as well as the potential for new trails in places like Finch Park. This will help bring even more women into mountain biking since what it really takes is just knowing that it is accessible to anyone. One does not need a fancy bike or a certain level of fitness to start and there are no age restrictions on fun!  I think many women are a bit intimidated by the sport.  You can get injured, and you will get dirty, but if you ride within your skill level it is a sport for anyone at any age. I actually believe it is safer as you get older because you tend to have a clearer realization of your limits and recognize when you actually have achieved the skills needed to push them. And when you push those limits it can bring about amazing things for you. It is interesting how much of what you learn on a bike can transfer over into real life.  It not only strengthens physical muscles, but also helps develop courage when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles and trust in your abilities.

I encourage anyone with a nugget of interest in mountain biking to get out there and try it, especially all the ladies. In five years you might amaze yourself as much as I have.  I never had any dreams of being a Gravity National Champion, but I have achieved that and many other goals, both athletic and personal, and I am in better physical shape than I have ever been in my life, and I turned 42 this summer. There are many more adventures awaiting me and I hope they all include mountain bikes.

10 Years of Practice Makes Perfect, Maybe

I have a problem with this: living with intent.  I want to have goals and I definitely have dreams and I always feel like I need a plan of some sort, but I forget about living each day with intention. Not focusing so much on the goal, but instead on the process.  Processes are long and tedious, but when we focus on them fully and intentionally we will achieve things we never thought possible.  I tend to get frozen by the vision of my goals and how huge they are and they end up stopping me in my tracks.  So I keep picking up the same goals again and again and again, realize how huge they are and never make any progress toward them.

This year I am making a point to focus more on the process and enjoy the ride (both on bikes and in life!) I have a very full schedule with at least 30 hours of work a week, 15 credits of classes in my last semester as a Computer Programming major, and the intention of doing some actual bike racing this season. I have been so desperate these past few years to do well in my downhill racing that I have lost sight of why I do it.  I really enjoy the competition and the riding and the atmosphere, but I think I spent too much time on social media seeing my fellow competitors kicking ass and taking names while I was unable to even race and when I did race, my performance was not what I had hoped for.  This depressed me and made me less motivated to get out and work on my performance.  I am very hard on myself and having grown up being picked on all through grade school and high school my self esteem has its fragile moments.  I have trouble seeing my own strengths and often end up feeling only mediocre in everything I pursue.  This year I hope to just focus on me and have fun with my bikes and my racing. 

I am currently reading an excellent book titled Body Mind Mastery by Dan Millman which is an excellent read and I highly recommend it for anyone whether you participate in sports or not.  One quote from Millman's book which really resonated for me was "An overnight success usually takes about 10 years". I have only been riding bikes for 6 years seriously.  I feel like I've learned a lot, but have not progressed nearly as fast as some of my friends and fellow competitors.  I think age, limited resources, and fear of being injured has a lot to do with that. There is a lot that goes on quietly behind the scenes of great successes that you never hear about, while some people do just come out of nowhere, but then fade away just as quickly because they really didn't work on their base skills.  So if anyone out there is struggling in sport or life, just keep on keeping on and your time will come.  Keep working on your dreams with daily intention and they will come to fruition.  My dream is to stand on the podium at Mountain Bike Nationals at Snowshoe in 2017.  If that is only in Cat 1, that is okay by me.  I keep thinking I have to be Pro by now because all the ladies that I started out competing with have moved up, but their situations are different than mine, many of them have more opportunities than I do to ride, race and be coached, and most of them could be my daughters, so I need to stop comparing myself to them and just live my own dream. (And please, for the love of all that is good my friends, don't try to tell me I should be riding Pro, because I am not at that level in my head or my heart or actually even my skills yet and it only makes me feel like shit when you say that.  I am a Cat 1 rider at best, please let me be happy there.  When I stand on the top steps of multiple podiums as a Cat 1 (or even Cat 2 at XC races), then you can start razzing me.)

Racing into the Season

Got my first two races of the season in over the past week.  And 4 more coming up over the next week and a half!  Then there is a bit of a quiet spell for a while.  I don't really understand why there is barely anything going on on the race schedule in May or June.

Sunday April 12
Blue Ridge Gravity D Cup Finale

Running the Gauntlet

Headed up to Roanoke VA with my friend Candi for a day of riding at Carvin's Cove, a badass trail system around a reservoir just outside the city.  There are mountains here, 1200 feet of elevation mountains, which makes for some fun downhill runs, if you are willing to climb to the top!  Which we did!  We decided to ride up the doubletrack access road rather than ascend the much steeper and more technical trail named Hi-Dee-Ho.  I've been up Hi-Dee-Ho and I hike-a-biked the entire thing.  We rode up the road, and it was long, and uphill. The. Whole. Way.  50 minutes at about a 6% grade, and I only stopped twice--once to raise my seat, and once because I changed gears the wrong direction--oops.  I am almost more proud of accomplishing that uphill than racing the downhill!

That climb though...

Yes, I forgot to mention the race!  We ventured to VA for the final Blue Ridge Gravity D Cup race.  The local group puts on a series of free, fun, hand-timed races over the winter on the local mountain trails.  This was the only one I was able to make it to this year,  though next year I will definitely keep them on my radar.  Everyone was really nice and we ended up having 5 super fast ladies racing down.  I ended up in 4th.  I was kind of disappointed, but I didn't really give it my all.  It is 2.5 miles of DH and I didn't want to kill myself.  I really wanted to see how physically fit I was and I think I passed the test.  The race was finished before I really got tired!  Good sign for my conditioning over the winter, though the race didn't really require much sprinting.  The trail we raced, Gauntlet, is mostly straight and super fast.  Not my specialty.  Flat out speed scares me a bit, so I hold back on trails like Gauntlet.  Give me steep and techy! My friend Candi rocked it and I think she came in 3rd on her new bike, and never having ridden the trail!  The winner, another friend and local VA shredder, just had a baby 10 days previously.  Now, that is badass!

Kelly, Trish, Me, Candi, and Renee

All in all, it was a fun day and I loved the stress free fun race environment.  I loved racing in my colorful gear from my 2015 sponsor Flare Clothing Company and can't wait for my 2015 kit to come in the mail for the next few races.  The biggest bummer was that we had to ride back up to get back to the other side of the mountain to our car.  My legs were pretty shot.  Cue the hike-a-bike.

Saturday April 18
Southern Super D Series #1

Me and Zoe running practice laps at Hobby Park

I geared up just 5 days later and headed out to my local trails at Hobby Park in Winston Salem for the first Southern Super D Series Race.  This is such a fun series and I really enjoyed doing it last year.  Some of the local shops and clubs put it together and they get some amazing sponsors and have great series prizes.  It is also pretty low key and fun and relatively stress free.  We had a good turnout for the ladies once again, with another field of 5!  Last year at many of the races it was just me and my friend Candi, who unfortunately is not able to make the races this year due to her work schedule.  I was excited to ride with my friend Zoe this round. I haven't seen her in 2 years despite the fact that she lives 1.5 hours away!  She is a kickass XC rider and a pretty good dirt jumper too, which is how we met.  I've never ridden trails with her so it was really fun to do some practice runs together and we rode a lap of the park trails after the race. 

I had a pretty good race.  Came in second behind Zoe, which was no surprise.  A girl can dream though and since she went in front of me I made it my goal to try to catch her.  Which, obviously, I did not accomplish.  The course has a pretty wicked climb at the end and I feel like it didn't bring me as close to death as last year, but it was still a challenge. 

All the ladies shredding at Hobby Park.  Clockwise:  Allie, Zoe, Michelle, Podium, Me, Trish

Hoping to see lots of ladies this upcoming weekend at the second Super D race in Boone!  And now, I have to go prep for my first XC race of the season tomorrow night.  Kill me now.

Wishing I could DH on Wednesdays...

With Downhill, it seems planning is half the battle, especially when you work a job that doesn't give you weekends off.  I am in the process of trying to decide which weekends are worth the fight at work of requesting more than one weekend off a month.  Anyone who has a job with weekends off, count your blessings!   Your planning battle is quite a lot less stressful.  Imagine planning to go ride for a weekend, making reservations, paying entry fees if you are racing, but not knowing for sure if you will get the weekend off until two weeks before.  I've been screwed over a few times and it is not fun.  I am not even asking for vacation, just your typical two days off in a week.  But I work in food service, and they don't like your two days to be on a weekend.  I cannot wait to finish school so I can get a "real job" and ride my bike the way I want to.

I purchased a monthly planner and added all the events on the East Coast that I might be interested in doing with post-its, that way I can remove the ones I don't do, but I still have them on the calendar just in case something works out that I can make an event that I didn't think I could.  I am also using this as my training log.

I have a few key downhill races I hope to do, not as many as in the past since the number of races in the southeast has been significantly reduced this season and I can't travel to the northeast that often. Here in the southeast they are running a Southeast Series at a few different mountains.  It is a new concept, but only includes 4 races. (Granted, we don't have that many mountains). Previously we had a race series at two of the mountains for a total of 6 races, plus one independent race at a 3rd mountain.  In comparison, the northeast has something like 20+ DH races, plus a few local races, but most of those are at least 9 hours away for me (that makes a 4 day weekend, which food service likes even less).  I know races are expensive to run and the concept of a Southeast Series is a great one and one that I would like to support.  Unfortunately, my schedule will only allow me to get to 2 of the 4 races.  I hope that the concept will grow and that we will see more DH races here in the southeast in the future so our very skilled pool of riders can have more opportunity to test their mettle.  Making your way in the world of DH racing and gaining sponsorships depends a lot on visibility, but without the opportunity to be visible many talented riders here in the southeast struggle to keep their passion to compete a reality.

Between DH weekends, we do have a fun local XC series, hosted by Racing in the Woods, that I am planning to hit a few times during the season to keep my cardio strong.  I also intend to race at all 4 of the Southern Super D Series races this year.  Last year I took home a lot of loot for winning 1st place in the series.  Both of these series have a great group of local racers and are loads of fun.  I highly recommend them to anyone looking to get out and try some racing this season.  I am also looking forward to trying some BMX racing at our nearby track at Tanglewood and gaining some new skills from that when I can fit it in.  Some BMX racing will have me tuned up for our Blue Ridge Pumptrack Series in the fall too!

Brad and I riding the pumptrack at Rocky Knob Bike Park in Boone, NC, one of the venues for the Blue Ridge Pumptrack Challenge.

There will also definitely be a week at Highland Bike Park in New Hampshire, because that place is amazing and great for skills, and well worth the 14 hour drive.  And of course a few weekends at Snowshoe and Beech just to get shreddy.

And to top off the season, I have already registered for the Liv Ladies AllRide /GRIT Clinic at the Bike Farm in Pisgah National Forest in September.   I am really excited to work with some rad coaches in Pisgah and meet some more women stoked on bikes.  I would highly recommend signing up for this clinic now if you've ever wanted to ride Pisgah or if you already do!  It is going to be badass and it is going to fill up fast!

Before We Know It

It will be here...spring, then summer, then over too quickly once again.

March is coming quickly, and winter doesn't really want to let us go.  We've had a great winter for on the bike training here in the south, but over the past two weeks winter has decided to come for us.  Below freezing daytime temps and ice and snow have shut the south down.  It doesn't take much winter to shut us down because we are not equipped for it since it happens so rarely.  I'd rather the government pay someone to build bike trails that we can use 11 months out of the year than to pay someone for snow removal equipment that would get used 5 days out of the year.  Northerners may laugh at us, but I say, more bike trails > being able to get around 365 days / year.

With spring coming, I am making my best attempt to get training mode in full swing.  I joined a gym mid December and stuck to my weight training plan pretty well through January.  14 weeks of pushing my limits felt pretty good.  Granted, my fitness level was pretty sad at the start, so my limits are not that high...yet.  One of my biggest Achilles' heels last season was my fitness.  I think it stemmed from being sick a lot last winter and not being able to get my base fitness in and then not being motivated to do anything once the busy-ness of the season set in.  I suffered from quite a few pulled muscle injuries last season that I believe came from poor base fitness.  Not this season, not this girl.

I took a rest week the second week of February and got some riding in and planned to get back to the gym last week, but then winter came and I couldn't leave my driveway, so I got a nice week of laying around and really resting.  Back in the gym this week, yesterday being my first day back, and boy, did it feel good.  Starting a new workout phase and feeling new muscles working is always fun.  I have been using the workouts in "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" in case anyone is interested.  It is a great book for anyone, beginners and more advanced weight trainees looking for a routine.  I have started the workouts 3 times, but this is the first time I have made it through the first phase and moved on to phase two.  I am pretty excited to see where it takes my strength.

My second Achilles' Heel is my mental condition.  Not that I am crazy or anything, although I am sure there might be someone out there who would contest that.  I have never really done any mental training.  I wonder how many riders do?  How many of my readers have a mental training plan?  Goal setting?  Pre-race routine?  I have always heard about it, especially for downhill, which is a sport where poor mental preparation and condition can really inhibit even the most physically fit and skilled rider.  They say if you take 20 athletes with similar talent and physical training and give 10 of them mental training, those 10 will outperform the others every time. I had a few discussions with some pro ladies about mental preparation last season, but never really acted on it.  I intend to this season.  And goals?  They are going big, baby, you can count on that.

(Maybe mentally I have some repressed anger issues.)

So, my two Achilles' Heels:  fitness and mental preparation.  In reality, even though my results were good, last season I felt like I had both of my heels taken out.  I never felt in the game last season.  My confidence was a bit shaky after a few lingering muscle injuries and a tough race in the mud early in the season where I had my goals set on the wrong thing.  Having your goals set on the right thing is important, and if you want to win, that should not be your goal.

My goal right now:  go out and run in the snow. 

College and Bikes

The following is a paper on culture I wrote recently for a communications class.  We had to choose a culture we were part of that was not our ethnic culture and choose 6 parts of that culture to write about, sharing the culture as if the person reading the paper had never experienced this culture before.  I am proud to say I earned a grade of 100 on this paper and my teacher had this to say: ""What a fascinating culture paper! I truly enjoyed learning more about this culture, as it's definitely one I've never experienced myself, and you wrote about it in a very interesting way. I felt like I was right there on the trails with you! Great work!"

The Culture and Community of Downhill Mountain Biking

By Christina Faust

A large part of my free time is spent on a mountain bike. In the past few years I have gotten involved in the sport of downhill (DH) mountain biking and racing.  This sport involves riding bikes at ski resorts where you can ride the ski lift up with your bike and then ride down trails built through the woods on the mountain.  It is an inherently risky sport, but when done at your skill level with the right equipment it is a sport that can give you a great sense of accomplishment and teaches you a lot about overcoming fear.  There is a great community amongst the riders, especially on the race scene, and even though we only see one another a few weekends out of the year, many of us consider these friends a part of our family.  It is a relatively small community and you come to know most of the people in it in just a few short years.  It is a culture where I feel “at home”, and that is why I chose to write about it for this project.

Dress

One of the most noticeable traits of the downhill (DH) mountain biking culture is the style of dress. Across all forms of biking, the outfits are known as “kits”. Many people associate mountain biking with spandex kits, more like road biking, and these are often worn by regular mountain bikers.  However, DH riders often dress in looser fitting shorts and loose long sleeve jerseys. Sometimes riders and racers wear full length pants, a crossover from motocross riding.  These pants are affectionately called “pajama pants” because of their silhouette.  DH kits are often very bold in their color schemes.  DH riders are a showy bunch of folks.  We like to stand out in a crowd.

Language

Verbal communication in the DH community does not hold to many rules.  It is a dominantly male culture without many boundaries in terms of communication.  It tends to be very open and a bit crude. A sensitive, timid, or easily offended individual might feel overwhelmed in this community.  On the other hand, this type of communication tends to be very honest and you will know exactly where you stand with others.

There is some jargon specific to the sport of DH that you might hear when starting out and wonder what it means.  A few of the more common terms are: Shred—to ride hard/have fun; Hero dirt—the perfect dirt/surface conditions for riding; Freeride—to ride for fun, make your own way down the trail.

Roles of Men and Women

 

As mentioned above, the DH culture is a dominantly male culture.  There is a growing contingency of female riders and racers, but we are still greatly underrepresented in the sport.  It is hard to get a finger on the numbers of women who ride DH, but at races, about one in every 25 riders is female.  It is a tough sport and takes a lot of determination for a woman to really make her mark in it.  Most men in the sport are very supportive of females in the ranks, but they are not going to change their behavior for us, so one must be able to handle what might be called the “locker room behavior” of men.

Female DH riders are fighting against quite a few societal gender stereotypes, and it is always surprising to hear comments from spectators who didn’t know females “could do this type of riding”.  Surprisingly, there are no set roles for men and women in the sport itself. There is many a lady racer who has a support crew of male bike mechanics and coaches behind her, as well as those who can run the whole show on their own, or even work as mechanics and coaches for the men. It is really a sport that proves how bold and strong and self-sufficient a woman can be, which I think is a great stereotype smasher for society in general. 

Rituals

Just as in any sport, many people have their own rituals, but there are usually rituals shared by the group.  One ritual in DH biking is what is known as the “train”.  This can be a “bro-train” or a “lady-train” consisting of all guys (and usually a few girls), or all ladies.  The riders will all congregate at the top of the mountain trail, oftentimes at the end of the day, and follow/chase one another down the trail to the base of the mountain.  In a way, this is a type of bonding activity in a sport that is otherwise a very independent pursuit.  It is a fun way to end the day of riding, and the collective joy for the ride can really be shared through riding in the “train”.

Taboos

One of the greatest taboos in DH riding is one shared with the ski community.  Never say “one more run” or “this is going to be my last run”.  Mostly superstitious, but there may be some merit to the fact that people believe saying this makes you more likely to fall and get injured.  Perhaps you just aren’t as careful once you feel like you are close to being done, and this is a sport where caution is never good when thrown to the wind. Even if you feel like this will be the last ride for the day, people always encourage you to say, “I think I might do 2 or 3 more rides down”, and then call your day at the bottom of the mountain, when you are truly finished riding.

Friendships

This is one of the most rewarding parts of the DH culture.  For the most part, DH riders are a friendly and welcoming group and you are destined to form a new friendship almost every time you go to the mountains.  You will often find yourself riding on the ski lift up with people you have never met, so of course conversation ensues, and sometimes you end up riding with that person for a while and find other common interests along the way.  It is interesting to find that most people who decide to try or take up the sport are cut from the same cloth, which makes the sense of community even stronger.  In the 3 years I have been riding DH I have gained a large number of good friends who are all very positive and supportive and we all love to have fun together.  Being a female in the sport also makes friendships easier since we are so few in number.  Every time I see another women I try to talk to her and make a connection of some sort.  This helps welcome new women into the culture too which I hope will grow our ranks and continue to break the bounds of societal stereotypes.

The downhill mountain biking culture is my second family and I feel truly fortunate to have found my place in this community.  It has made me feel stronger and bolder and more comfortable in my everyday life.  Spending time where there are few gender stereotypes to fight is very freeing as a women.  The DH culture is so supportive and welcoming and full of great friendships that I hope everyone in this world finds a culture like it in their own lives. 

 

 

Retrospection

The gravity lift season has ended, it is prime XC weather in the foothills here in NC.  Time to spend some time in the woods and reflect on the past season and mentally reset for next year.  In that vein, I have put together, if you will...

'What I did on my Summer Vacation'

6 months of Shred

May--My 2nd Annual Duryea Road Trip.  I love this spot to race! Its an urban setting downhill in Reading, PA.  I get to visit my sister too who lives in the area.  This year I road tripped with my friend Chelsea and we had a blast meeting some new ladies.  The scary guardrail A-frame got slightly less scary and I even managed to hit the pro line off of it.  Can't wait for next year!

Super scary A-frame.

Chelsea, Lindsey, Nicole, and I.  DH ladies are so much fun.

June--Shredcation #1!  Brad and I took a mega road trip up north and visited my family and packed in loads of freeriding at Blue Mountain, Mountain Creek, and Highland Mountain Bike Park.  Super Rad times were had with lots of great friends.  No racing involved.  Had a few rough high speed crashes and hurt my shoulder, but also cleared a full line of dirt jumps and rode loads of drops.  An amazing week of DH.

So sad to leave this place!

Hanging out with all of our NC friends in NH.

Dirt Jumping Divas!  Me, Hailey, and Averee playing on the jump lines.

July--Freeride days at Beech Mountain--we did a bunch of these and had some great weather before the races started.  Always fun to go to the Beech in the summer ;)  These next 3 amazing shots are from Mandy Loorham at Random Start Photography.

First couple on the lift on opening day!

So fun to ride my home mountain.

All the locals, last run!

April--August--Southern Super D Series Races--these were so much fun to do--lots of fun courses.  I talked my friend Candi into trying it and she and I raced neck and neck all season. I think she's hooked.  Next, get her hooked on DH. ( Mwahahahaha.) I ended up first in the series and they gave some amazing prizes!!!  The regular racers were such a great crowd and the atmosphere was so laid back.  Super fun competition and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Champions and their loot!

Hauling the mail for a tight race at our local spot, Hobby Park.  Improved on my first run by 15 seconds, but I was stil1 1/10 second off Candi's time!  This photo is by Icon Media Asheville.  They came out to many of the Super D races and took some really amazing photos!

August--Shredcation #2!  The Windham World Cup.  This was one amazing trip.  We visited my family in NJ and then rode at Mountain Creek and raced in their Thursday night fun race series which was a blast!  Then we drove to Windham and spent the weekend with some friends from NC.  Watching the World Cup Racers was INSANE!  Riding at the World Cup was super fun.  And we did the Red Bull Berm Burners competition which was a blast!  It was a great weekend.

Me and Brad enjoying too many Red Bulls.

On my way to qualifying to race against the guys.  I didn't last long against them! If we can get 16 women to enter next year we can have our own class!!  ( Sorry, I can't remember who took these photos, so many peeps takin' photos and someone sent these two me second hand.  If you took them, let me know, I'll credit you!)

I put together a pretty good run for my race at Windham and took a first place against 10 women.  I told myself that if I did well I would move up a category because I knew this would be a stacked race and a more accurate representation of abilities than most races.  So next season I will be progressing through the ranks as a Category 1 racer, about which I am super excited.  I have lots of skills to work on to make it to pro level, and I intend to focus on them until I am really confident.  After all, "An amateur practices until they get it right, A pro practices until they can't get it wrong."  I haven't quite got it right yet and there's no point in taking chances and risking injury.  Practice, practice, and more practice, oh, and that condtioning stuff....

Hitting one of the biggest drops I've ever hit in my race run.  Cat 1 move for sure!  So scary.  Need lots of practice time on drops before I go pro!  Photo by Paul Hanson, so excited he got this!

Leanin' the turns!  Got fastest Amateur Female through the speed trap.

July-September--Beech Mountain Race Series--These races were fun and not fun.  They were the source of some mental anquish.  I ran a Ladies Lounge at all of the races and I think the pressure of having commitments other than my racing pulled me in too many directions.  I know that the ladies really enjoyed the ladies lounge though, so I am glad I did it.  The races here are always mudfests so they are not always as much fun as you hope.  The last two races were much more laid back than the first one which was a ProGRT as well so that added a different dimension to the atmosphere.  We had lots of new faces on the podiums at the last 2 races and it was amazing to have full podiums 5 ladies deep at every race.  The Southern Gravity Sisterhood is slowly gaining in numbers.

Ladies start line up for Race #3: Eva Wilson, a recent transplant to NC, Me, Scout Clark, Chelsea Blocker and Courtney Carter.  Not pictured because she was often taking the pictures is the rad and inspiring Shanna Powell of Endless Bike Company.

Ah, the mud of it.  Me, Chelsea (her jersey is white, no, really), Rae Gandolf, and Meike Knight.

Getting low for the berms at the end of the course.  Another great shot by Mandy Loorham of Random Start Photography who is also fellow ambassador for Dirty Jane.

One of my all time favorite photos--always get some great shots from JaySchultz with GoJamMedia.

I finished out the lift-serve season with some great ladies' days at Beech Mountain.  I received my coaching certification from PMBI this spring and put it to use with my Ladies' Lounge and Ladies' Days at Beech.  We had some decent turnouts and I was stoked to help more ladies conquer the steeps and the gnar that is DH.

Myself, Vonda, Susan, and Kassi.  These ladies braved some rough weather and conquered some tough terrain!

Janda, Me, Susan, and Leah.  A great last day on the mountain.  These ladies made lots of progression, looking forward to seeing them lots next year!

Holly, Nina, Me, and Precia.  These ladies from Georgia rocked the DH trails and the whiskey shots.  Super fun Friday.  Hope to see them next season!

 It is always fun to look back over your year and see all the connections you've made and ripples you've created in the pool of DH.  It's become so much more than racing, although that is a super fun part of it.  It's an amazing community and I love my little part of it.

I challenge you to look back over your year and think about the challenges you faced and the things you've learned along the way.  Retrospection, then Reflection, then Reinvention...