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Provincial Championships: Kelso Conservation Area ~ This is Home

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I have been waiting excitedly for this race ever since I found out that it would be held at Kelso -- my home turf. I have been racing the Kelso Tuesday night series for about 8 years now so I can ride the trails in my sleep! The course that the Kelso team put together was fantastic! There were plenty of hard trails with lots of rocks and roots and twisty part but also plenty of fast, high speed trails. I was really happy to be riding ugly up (in the down direction) again. This is a steep trails with a rock drop at the top and roots at the bottom that is tough but lots of fun once you get the hang of it (plus I felt like a rock star riding it). Race day came with a lot of nerves along with a lot of excitement. No matter what happened I knew I would have fun riding the trails I love... the only problem was that those trails had been rained on the night before and were quite slick. I started the race quick in order to make it to the hill first because I knew I would be able to
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2018 Ontario Summer Games ~ Eight Races for the Price of One

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Last week I headed out to London to race the mountain bike portion of the Ontario Summer Games. This included 4 races: On Thursday: The Eliminator- For this event there is a 1.17 km course that 4-5 riders are sent out on at the same time. The top 2 (if 4 riders are sent out) or the top 3 (if 5 riders are sent out) move on to the next round. This continues until there are only 4-6 riders left for the finals which determines the overall positioning. I came first in my first heat and then third in the finals which I was super happy about! This was an intense race where you just go as fast as you can. It's a very different style of racing than I'm used to - I had a lot of fun. The Short track- The idea of a short track is that you do as many laps of a 1.87 km lap as you can in 20 minutes. On our first lap Sierra McDonald went out hard and I chased. We both wanted to make the girls do as many laps as possible. On the second lap Ava Holmgren passed us and started to open
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The 24 Hour Summer Solstice ~ High Heels and Wicked Wheels

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Last weekend I raced the 24 Hour Summer Solstice. The 24 is a race where teammates take turns doing laps for 24 hours straight. This is a really tough race since you ride all day and all night. The team I put together this year is a team I've been planning since last year's 24 when I decided that I wanted to start my own team with only teen girls. So I started to ask 15 and 16 year old girls I knew if they would want to join my team and I pulled together a team of five of some of the fastest young female mountain bikers in Ontario. The white board before the race Then, one month before the race Kaitlyn Shikaze broke her collar bone and had to drop off the team. I rushed to find someone to take her place and Amanda Kleinikkink, who was just coming back from a broken collar bone, agreed to join us. Then, one week before the race, Amanda rushed to the hospital to have her appendix removed. We worked tirelessly to find another rider with no luck until finally, Meagan Shik
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Canada Cup/Ontario Cup #3: Hardwood ~ Recovery

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This past weekend I raced the Canada Cup/Ontario Cup at Hardwood. After taking a lot of time off my bike last week because of my elbow, I wasn't sure how this weekend would go. I went into the race with hopes that I might be able to podium. Pre-riding was a lot of fun. I took the first lap slow to see how my elbow felt as it was still sore. Then I went out for a faster lap with my dad to ask for tips about what the best line was to ride on certain trails. The course was awesome! It was extremely difficult with a lot of steep downhills and drops. I figured out how to ride Boneshaker which is an extremely steep, rocky downhill that many racers struggle with and that many racers crash on. I also rode the Deena's Joyride drop for the first time this year which I was super proud of. Deena's Joyride is a rock drop that you have to get air off of so as not to crash. This drop is followed by a sharp corner with a wooden wall ride which is super fun! (Pictures below) Boneshake
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Canada Cup/Ontario Cup #2: Horseshoe ~ Well, That's Bike Racing!

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Today I raced the Canada Cup at Horseshoe, which has always been my favourite place to race since I love hills. I had been training hard in the weeks leading up to this race and have definitely gained both speed and skills. I was ready to go head-to-head with Nicole once again. Saturday morning my dad, younger sister and I headed up to pre-ride the course. While my dad went for a lap with my sister, I headed out by myself to do my typical three laps: one lap slow to learn the trails, one lap faster at race pace, and my last lap with my dad in case he had any wisdom to pass on to me. On my second lap I took a rock garden too fast and with too much confidence. I went over my bars and hit the ground hard. My bike cartwheeled over me—apparently it looked pretty epic... it didn’t feel epic, though. I landed mostly on my left shoulder with my face to the ground and my stomach on a big flat rock. I got up slowly and sat on the ground for a while—to catch my breath and evalu
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