Oregon State Champs! November 21, 2015, was a clear and cold day and ripe for winning. The Singlespeed contest was the last race of the day this time, which meant I had to live with butterflies in my belly all day. The race was in Boring – a mere 10 miles from my house, so I got to ride the Springwater Trail to the venue for once. The course had lots of fast flats with just enough up hill to make my legs scream. A wooden fly-over that was steeper than the photo makes it appear (looking far forward took away some of the fear) and a separate set of stairs on the other side of the course. And cornfields! Deep, but sticky mud the twisted along the corn rows. A hint: riding on the corn stalks helped with traction. I lined up with a modest field, none of whom I recall seeing in other races, so it was an unknown. The whistle blew and we were off. I tucked behind another to start at a moderate speed and on the first hill she had a pedal problem, so I came around her and took the lead from there on.
I kept the pace reasonable, enjoyed the couple of steep descents off the fly-over and another spot and wrapped up the race in 5 laps. State Champ baby! First SS championship for me. A fine end to a fun and satisfying season. This SS racing is a blast.
~ Coach Rhonda Morin
