Sep 15, 2008

2008 California Golden State Champion


Winning three out of four races in the Golden State Series locked up the championship for me. I couldn't be more happier! Thank you everyone that helped me reach my goals this season. Greatly appreciated.

2008 California Golden State Championship Finals

After been off the bike for over three weeks and dealing with one of the worst injuries I’ve had, I accomplished
something I didn’t think was possible. This weekend was the final round of the California State Championship
Series held at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California. I was leading the series by only 15 points and with only
one more race left I knew I would have to race to have any chance of locking up the overall State Championship.
Saturday practice was fun. The course was short but longer than the previous race held there. Thirty seconds longer
to be exact. It ended up being a fun course for what it was, not my style but I was able to figure out some decent
lines and manage to carry my speed through all the obstacles.

I only did one practice run on race day morning due to the shuttle lines being full. I just wanted to make sure the
lines I was using on the course were still good and wouldn’t have to change anything before my race runs. This race
was two run format combined times. My first run was smooth but felt I could push it a little harder in some
sections. I ended up having the fastest time after everyone was done with there first run. Going into the second
run in 1st always puts a little pressure on me especially when I want to charge it a bit harder! Three quarters of the
way down on my second run I slipped a pedal and lost momentum in a critical section. I managed to get my feet
on the pedals before the next turn and finish out the rest of my run clean and fast but the damage was done. I lost
about 3-5 seconds on that mistake and I lost 1st place by less than a second.
Since I won the 1st run by a signifigant margian my combined time was the fastest of the day and I ended up winning
the final round of the California state series. With that been my third 1st place finish of the series I was able to secure the
overall win for series and become the California State Champion for 2008.