Cat 1 Junior Women 17/18 at the start line
We're all so smiley :)
me approaching the finish
We started the race on my favorite hill ever (NOT) (which, by the way, lewis' garmin told us had a 23% grade) starting at the base lodge, heading off on our start lap which would be followed by 2 laps of the complete Pro course. The course was a two-leaf clover shape that was 4.32 miles long and had an elevation gain of 710 ft. The first side of the course consisted of a recently cut trail that switchbacked up the mountain, then made a sharp u-turn and generally leveled out until reaching the base area at which point it turned and went straight down. This first descent was quick and fast, with many steep drops and berms that were basically wall rides. Incredibly fun, but it was filled with holes since it was cut just a couple weeks ago and there were numerous times I thought I would surely go over the bars! After passing through the feed/tech zone it was up the hill of death again, and then several more uphill switchbacks and into the aspens where it leveled out. This is also where they apparently brought in rocks to make what was a sad excuse for a technical section, especially for a Pro course. Then it spit us out near the top of the mountain-cross course and followed last years course to about halfway up the mountain (on nice smooth trail!). The final descent was next to a dirt road (really guys?) and again really rough and extremely sandy and sketchy. Towards the bottom there were a few sharp, rocky switchbacks and then joined the super-d course to the finish line! (Which was super fun!) So overall, a fun course to race on (minus the roughcut-ness), and the climbing layout was much better suited to flatlanders like me! But definitely not technical, and not quite what we expected for a nationals course. (Also, the start lap was the second half, after the death zone.)
