echored2red

Ali Halpin takes 3rd at Echo Red 2 Red XC

Standing at the start a light drizzle surrounded us, I calmed my breath and smiled at the perfect weather for a spring mountain bike race. As we rolled along the speckled pavement my angst grew as we approached the hard left turn on to the dirt road, signaling the start of the race. A pace line immediately formed as we rolled through the rolling farm land. I resisted all urges to try and push ahead of the group, feeling proud that I was keeping to my goal to race smart. I knew that I wanted to be one of the first into the single track, so as we rapidly approached I waited for Serena to make the same move and immediately jumped on her wheel when she did. I pushed to keep with her and Fairlee into the single track. We entered 1,2,3 and would finish in this same sequence. Over the first few miles of single track Serena formed a gap, slowly becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. I held with Fairlee for the first 20 minutes or so and then a gap slowly formed between us. The gap slowly grew between us and after a few mistakes I eventually found myself on my own. A little more than 2 hours into the race I caught sight of Fairlee again and it appeared that she was only 2-3 minutes ahead of me, still in reach! I pushed and fought to close the gap but never found her wheel again. When all was said and done we ended up only a minute apart.

Steph and Carrie looked to have great races taking 2nd and 4th in their categories.

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