Friday, June 3, 2011

The last three weeks...

Well, my last three weeks of racing has been completely..... AWESOME!!!

My all time favorite race, Cats Hill Classic, was three weeks ago. Last year it was my third sanctioned race and I placed 3rd in 13-14 girls. This year I raced two races 13-14 girls and 15-16 girls and did pretty well in both, actually, I raced AWESOMELY WELL!!! The 13-14 girls race was first. The 13-14 girls and boys were racing together in this race, but picked separately; so, of course, I tried to hang with the guys. Let me tell you, those 13-14 boys are fast.... very fast. On the 2nd lap I was dropped, but I was in the lead for the 13-14 girls race. I soloed the rest of the race and won!

There is something you need to know about Cats Hill Classic, it is such a classic, epic race because of this hill. This hill has a 22% grade. Yes, 22%. Right when you finish climbing this wall, there is a little dip. At first you do not think this dip would hurt; but trust me, after a you ride it a couple times, it hurts.

That same day I raced 15-16 girls, and also won that race, only it was much more difficult. Of course, I tried to stay in with the 15-16 boys but lost them within a lap. I was by myself until the 2nd lap, then a girl caught me and we worked together. On the 3rd lap a prime was called. Remember how I was telling you about how much the dip after the climb hurt, well it is the best place to attack, and that's what I did! I rode the rest of the race solo and won the prime!
The next day I raced two races at Scotts Valley grand prix, womens 4 and jr 13-14 combined field (jr girls and boys race together and are not picked separately). I was 4th in the women's race (I also was second in a two place prime) and was second in the jr 13-14 combined field.

Two weeks ago was the district road race state championships. The course was awesome, there were rollers and then a short climb, at the top of the climb, you turn around and head back down the hill and over the rollers. I won the District/State Championship road race in my jr. field! My teammate, Page Robertson also won her age category!


Last weekend was exciting, extremely exciting!!! I raced Women's 3/4 (the women's 3 and 4 were picked separately) and jr girls 13-14 (that day was the District/State criterium championships). I was up in front the whole race (W 3/4) and only went to the back to rest for a little bit, but decided that it was very sketchy back there and I would rather not crash! So I made my way back up to the front, where I remained for the rest of the race. On the last lap I found my team-mate, Bobbie Jo (she is a W3), and tried to stay on her wheel. On the final stretch I reached 32 mph, and was completely spun out! Some W3's passed me, but no W4's!!! So I ended up winning the W4!!!

An hour later that day, I was racing 13-14 girls. I was a little (a lot) tired from my last race so my plan was to sit in and maybe throw in a few attacks. At 5 laps to go, I attacked and dropped one girl, but, the other stayed with me. I had a feeling that it was going to be a sprint finish. I made the girl pull the whole last lap (since I ended up pulling most of the race). On the final stretch, I gave all that I had left in my legs and sprinted past her. I won the District/State criterium championships!

This weekend we will be traveling down to Davis for the District/State Time Trial championships, I am excited for it! That's what I've been doing for the last three weeks! Next up.... Nationals!!!

1 comment:

  1. Way to go Aliya!! So proud of you... Thanks for being such an inspiration for Garrett. ;-)

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