Ryan –
I was certainly nervous going into the first race of the season although I knew a lot of others were nervous as well. I however was especially nervous because I had crashed last year and broke my jaw. After a year of getting my confidence back, training hard, and getting set for this year I knew I was ready to race my heart out.

BOOM!!!

We’re all on our start, some of us had started sprinting, even though they told us not too, we still did. Yes, I will admit I did it too. I knew I had to get to the lead pack to have a solid spot throughout the race and I knew I had the power, so halfway through the main climb I took out the front and started to pull away, leading into the downhill. In my mind I was thinking “YES, I have the courage and YES, I have the will power,” and look where it had gotten me, I was leading the downhill and I wasn’t killing my legs. After the downhill, the lead group and I were going through the beach and I had moved to the middle of the pack to conserve some energy. We all made the turn up onto the pavement that leads to the Feed Zone and then something unfortunate happened. A fellow rider, without calling his pass, cut in front of me and I didn’t have my fingers near my brakes. I went down hard! I was scrapped up, starting to bleed, and I got freaked out from it all happening. It took me a moment to regain a grip on everything but I did it. I got back on my bike and I needed to finish what I started.

Throughout the rest of the race I couldn’t shake the pain in my arm, from getting scrapped, and it made me want to just quit. I knew I couldn’t though because I had a lot of people believing in me. Not believing that I would win or anything, they believed I could conquer the course, and I did. I caught back up to 12th place and I finished the race. Yes I was a little bummed that I had crashed but I was happy I had finished, even if I didn’t show it at first.

Racing is hard. There is no hiding that. It takes a lot to compete. But one of the greatest things that every rider should have, is total positivity. Being positive the whole time and trying to wear a smile, will serve so well in the end. It will leave you feeling happier than when you started. Following positivity comes perseverance. No matter how hard it feels or how much you want to quit, when you keep persevering, the positivity does, in fact, come with it, you just need to give it time to set in.

I went out and I did the best I could with all the obstacles that were thrown in my way and I would encourage everyone in their own way to do what i did and make the best of their situation, no matter if it’s one of the best or worst moments of their life. We will all end up in both at one point and for my fellow riders, when you fall or get knocked over or you don’t have the day you want remember… Get back up, dust it off, get back on your bike, and never stop pedaling.

Heleena-
This is my fifth year racing in the SoCal League and as of this season I am a female racer in the JV2 category.

As I arrived on race day to Lake Perris, I grew more and more anxious. I was excited to cheer on my team and see how this first race would turn out. As my start time neared, nervousness took over. However, as I recognized some familiar faces of racers from other teams (now friends) from previous years, I started to grow more confident.

Queue the race start and up the fire road we went, starting to become strung out. I notice my friend from Rim of the World is not to far ahead and this begins the start of our race, drafting back-and-forth. After passing the finish line to begin my second lap, and after passing the zigzag section there was a perfect area to drink water, unless you are me…”butterfingers”. My bike only holds one bottle, and right before I took a drink of water, I droped my bottle, with the rest of the second lap ahead of me. A little frustrated with this, I missed a turn of the course and had to stop and correct myself to continue the race. All as this is happening, my friend from Rim of the World, Kacy Johnson, catches up. A few sighs of frustration are let out and she, only having one bottle as well, hands it to me.

As the race continued, along with the exchange of drafting, the finish eventually comes into sight and is only one turn away. She enters the area first, me following closely behind her tire. This is the moment. The sprint to the finish. All the sounds around me became muffled, as the only things that mattered at that moment were exerting any energy left and getting to the finish line. Sprint. Breathe. Push. Those were the only thoughts running through my head. Both of our wheels cross the line, neither of us knowing who beat who right at that moment. Our hearts were pounding but there were smiles across both of our sweat covered faces.

It was quite an experience, and I am very grateful to have had such a tough, yet very kind competitor. I am beyond grateful for the kindness she showed during the race, even though she didn’t have to. I love racing with these ladies! They are resilient and kind.

Raulito-
I was super excited to start my last season as a middle schooler racing against fifty plus fast riders in the Level 3 Boys class. I had a second row placement for the start of this race. I knew from the past, that you must race Perris like a road race (which is not my thing, but it was a good experience). You have to make sure to stay in the front group and in the draft.

After the first lap, a group of ten of us broke away and we settled in with a good pace. The next two laps seemed very easy, as nobody was trying to attack. We where literally talking among us, that was funny. I knew the race was going to come down to a sprint in the last few yards. I was making sure I had a good position in the group and to be alert of any attacks.

Coming down the beach on the last lap, a rider moved to my right, as soon as he was moving to my side, another rider attacked and I believe that split second that I had to move around to get some room, cost me the race. I was able to catch a couple of the riders that broke away but came just short for a third place a few seconds back. I know this course doesn’t suit me very well, so I’m very happy to have been on the podium at this race. Congratulations to my friend Corbin from Murrieta Mesa for the win.