Lacey's 1st Spring Fling race at Fontana

By Lacey Maxwell

I was just a little tired at the start of the race from my Dad waking me up at 6am. He said we needed to get there "early" to register. RIGHT!

Instead of starting by myself (I was the ONLY one entered in the B/W 13-18 class again) I got to start with all those crazy single speeders. Man, I don't see how they can go that fast with just one speed. It's CRAZY! There was a nine year old boy named Hector racing. It was his fourth or fifth time racing at Fontana. We traded spots throughout the race. He was a strong little "man"!

After doing the Main Divide during my Counting Coup attempt, the climbs here were a little easier. On the downhills, I felt like I was able to go faster than before. That may be why I crashed a few times! I also had a chance to do my first "on the trail repair" of my bike. Going down one of the hills, I went into a bush, and my chain came off. I think I need to work on my downhill skills, because some of the steeper decents are still a little scary. When I saw Pat and my Dad, I knew I was close to the finish.

All in all, I felt more comfortable this time. I had a few more crashes this time, I think that's why my time was a little bit slower than my first race. My finishing time was 1 hour 26 minutes. I had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to the next race on April 30th.

-Lacey