Have you ever been to Magic Mountain? It was a new race venue for the Idaho Interscholastic Cycling League where beautiful mountains and magic were everywhere!
The highlight of the weekend was definitely the High School ladies race. The weather had changed quickly right after the start from a typical fall mid-50’s day to strong winds, rain and a huge drop in temperature into the 30’s. All the girls, from every team in Idaho, stepped up to the challenge and rode hard to the finish line with smiles of achievement.
Battles on and off the race course: Over most of September, Idaho League teams and the majority of our BBMTB student-athletes and coaches were fighting multiple layers of bacterial and viral infections. This brought physical and psychological challenges to the starting line for many.
Shelby had a bobble that put her in an erosion ditch which put her in second place until taking her lead on the one mile hill climb on the second lap. All eyes were on her to see if she could make back her time. By the third lap, Shelby was well on her way to winning another Varsity race.
Camden Mullens who has been placing consistently in third place as Junior Varsity, was one of the unfortunates to battle a terrible cold while battling the winter weather on the race course. She had a good start and came in for an early finish for 415 points. These girls are tough! We hope Camden gets well soon!!
On another note, Anna Gussner was coming off a painful injury and had to miss the recent Galena race. After becoming one with a borrowed trainer and major determination not to loose hard earned fitness, she was able to make a smooth comeback for 5th place.
It was a beautiful site to watch the JV girls come in one after another, 5th through 8th place: Anna Gussner, Carley Werdel, Sofi Serio and Lily Scarrow, respectfully. Wow!
Marisa Shalz (2nd) had an early crash that she quickly shook off and Luci Kraska (4th) rode extremely well for a good showing for the Sophmore Girls!
The Freshman Girls were the final racers to start for the day. They all acheived personal bests on a slippery, rutted and muddy race course. Handling the elements for an epic race: Teagan Boggess (5th), Hope Strohmeyer (8th), Rylee Taylor (12th) & Ava Steckel (15th).
For most of our BBMTB team, racing is only a small part of the adventure. We like to meet student-athletes from other teams when we can.
Stay tuned for the next two race reports (HS Boys & Middle School Boys & Girls)
Can’t wait? Results have been posted at http://www.idahomtb.org/race-results/
