We started today's stage out on the road with a neutral start. As it turns out mountain bikers are really sketchy when they try to ride on the road and, to make matters worse, the police escort kept slowing down at random times. Luckily we made it safely onto the trails.
The trails today were largely single track and felt a lot like the trails back home. There was a lot less walking compared to yesterday as well, which was nice. My dad and I were riding strong and in the lead for most of the single track.
When we got to the end of the long single track section we got a glimpse of team #2 over our shoulders -- the team that beat us yesterday. They were chasing hard and definitely faster than us on the descents. We knew that we had to go down the gravel descent fast and climb the last hill hard in order to open a gap and get into the Enduro downhill first.
By the last climb I had fallen into my rhythm and was spinning well. My back wasn't as sore as it was yesterday, which was a relief. My dad pushed me part of the way up the hill as we gave it everything we had left to gap the 2nd place team.
And then we hit the last uphill single track section.
I was exhausted by this point. I was riding cross-eyed. We got off to walk because it was faster and gave our backs a break. As soon as I got off my bike though, I began to feel lightheaded. My legs were shaking and all I wanted to do was sit down. I pushed through and eventually, after what felt like forever, we topped out the hill. We hit the downhill as fast as we could and gave it everything we had left. I managed not to crash and we crossed the finish line in first place.
Next we waited. We had to have a gap of at least 2 and a half minutes to pull into first in the overall standings. In the end, we beat second place by 12 minutes, which felt amazing! After so many second places at Pisgah it felt good to finally be on top.
We finished off the day with some amazing burritos to refuel for tomorrow.
Stage Overview Video:
Stayed tuned for tomorrow's race report :)