Whew, it’s over.  15 races and 4 months of racing in the books for my 2014 mountain bike season.

I couldn’t be happier.

Though I didn’t burn out as early and as bad as I did in 2013, after Nationals I had that sort of “let down” of completing my A race for the year, and I did realize I was tired.  Last Tuesday’s final Laramie Mountain Bike Series race was a struggle, mentally and physically.  I was just over it mentally, yearning for cyclocross  and just wanting to get the race done as fast as I could.  Physically, I was coming off my highest mileage week of cycling in my life, and I had little in the tank between that and not taking much recovery after Nationals.  Probably 0.1 mile into the race I was cooked.  I had no power in my legs and it showed as I moved back through the advanced men, intermediate men, and even some of the advanced women caught me.  All I had to do was finish and I’d get 3rd overall for open women in the overall series points, so I put one pedal (or one foot) in front of the other.  I didn’t even have oomph for the finish line!  But the wave of relief I felt when finishing was a huge weight lifting off my shoulders.  It was over.

Overall, I am super happy with how my season went.  I only had one DNF, which was really no fault of my own since it was a mechanical issue (thanks Fruita mud).  I’m mentally a lot more strong and pushed myself through some ridiculous situations, like the horrid hellish heat of the US Cup and the final LMBS race.  I made gains with my endurance on the bike and I almost feel like my technical skills are a night and day difference from last year.  And woohooo, I’m racing open and cat 1!!

Overall podium for the 2014 Laramie Mountain Bike Series in Open Women

I think I worked out a good schedule of racing for this year, picking more carefully than in 2013 when I just raced at everything I could get my hands on.  2015 will probably follow a similar pattern of both the local racing (LMBS, Gowdy Grinder) with USAC mixed in (I actually have to qualify for Nationals now, so Rumble @ 18 Road and US Cup) along with Battle the Bear if it works out.  I’m also tossing around the idea of giving the Laramie Enduro another go… because I am crazy! It’s funny, because cyclocross is my favorite discipline, but mountain biking is the focus for racing.

LMBS Race #5 (Photo by Jessica Flock)