Heavy rains and strong wind gusts graced the Hudson valley Friday night, equating to a LOT of mud at Blue Mountain Reservation! I arrived at the park around 1:30pm to check out the course, join the GRiT Ride and give some of our riders’ tips during a course preview lap. The course was fun and challenging with a little bit of everything. The start began up a wide grassy field before winding around across the road into the forest. The single track trail was very flowy and twisty, with some tricky rocks and roots to battle with around turns.  A good portion of the trail was dry on Saturday with several sections of water and mud, some of it deep and sticky mud with no way around.  After a couple of nice single track sections, the course opened up to a rocky double-track uphill followed by some more double track mud sections. One of the double-track sections featured a gnarly rock garden downhill that rode smooth and fast if you picked the right line. The course continued with some more up-hills, rock gardens, mud sections and fast rocky downhills. Once out of the woods the course crossed the bridge over the pond and into the finish shoot. Overall it was a fantastic, fun and challenging 3 mile course.

Coach Frank and I led some riders who came on Saturday through the course giving tips and advice on where to drink, run and pass. Their first impressions were that the course was challenging, but after a second look they had more confidence heading into the race.  As the day went on, the mud sections seemed to be growing larger and deeper instead of drying out.  

Sunday Morning under partly cloudy skies, the team met at 7:30 and previewed the course. Conditions were similar to Saturday with sections of deep slick mud. Fingers crossed that the rain holds off until after the races are over!

Of course it did not and a light rain began as the riders lined up for the first race of the day. The semi-dry trails turned into a slick mud fest, but nothing these athletes couldn’t handle! 

The Freshman Boys were the first race of the day, racing 2 laps of the 3 mile course. Collin and Colby represented R-Cubed in that race. Collin raced strong, finishing 19^th and Colby finished his first race ever in 21^st.

Next off was the 8^th Grade boys.  Joe studied the course both Saturday and Sunday and used his knowledge to finish his first race in 14^th place.  This was Reese and Clayton’s first race ever! Both kept calm and confident during their race finishing 19^th & 20^th respectively.  

All smiles racing up the start hill, Trinity was off to a great start in the 8^th Grade girls race. She pushed through the mud and sloppy conditions to finish 3^rd in her race.

Emma made her racing debut at Blue Mountain. As a seasoned cross country and track runner, she used her fitness and racing experience to place second in the 7^th Grade girls race.

John, Ryan and Michael represented R-Cubed in the 7^th grade boys race.  After previewing the course 4 times before the race, John knew just what lines to take and where to make his moves leading to a 5^th place podium finish. Michael Rode with a smile on his face despite all the mud to finish 18^th and Ryan, who was not a fan of the mud, finished shortly after in 22^nd place.

The 6^th grade boys race was next with Jasper, Logan and Ethan competing. In his first mountain bike race ever Jasper finished a very impressive 5^th place to grab a podium spot! He had previewed the course Saturday planning his race strategy and it paid off!  This was also Logan’s first race and he rode smooth along the muddy course to finish 15^th. Ethan managed to avoid getting run over this race and finished in 18th place.

During the course pre-ride Fiona mentioned that this was her first ride outside this year and her first time riding on her new bike. It sure didn’t show as she was riding smooth and confident. Fiona took the lead right off the start line and never looked back. She ended the day first for sophomore girls and took home the leader jersey for the overall points leader for Sophomore girls.

Also making his racing debut was Sam in the sophomore boys race.  Sam had a good start and rode strong throughout the course. Unfortunately Sam got a flat tire on the last lap. Determined to make it to the finish, he ran his bike the rest of the course to finish his race.

Owen and Simon, our JV Boys just couldn’t get enough of the mud and gnar on the course and both continued racing after they completed their 3 laps. There was some confusion in the number of laps as it had changed before the race. Owen finished an impressive 10^th despite not realizing he didn’t have another lap to complete, and stated he could have gone faster had be known the race was shorter.  Simon was not as thrilled when he returned to the team tent at the race completion after finishing 5 laps. While he had a fun time blasting down the rocky downhills, it took a lot of energy to earn them. Both laughed it off and considered it extra conditioning for the races to come!

As the day evolved the muddy conditions worsened with more rain and more water being pounded out of the trail. The Varsity Boys race started at a blistering pace, which made the tight muddy turns very difficult. Even with a mud tire on the front wheel, Connor was not able to get traction.  He still rode smooth and finished 2^nd.  Seventh Grader Erin, who raced freshman in the first race, was moved up to Varsity for this race based on her times from the previous race. Knowing full well that one of the other Varsity girls, Gabby, had dominated the field for the past 2 years, Erin played it smart and didn’t take the lead from the start. Despite falling in a mud puddle at some point during the race she pulled away in a sprint finish and Gabby couldn’t catch her. Erin won the Varsity race, impressive for anyone especially for a 7^th grader!   Team Captain Rory also had a great race, battling for 5^th place and was able to grab it right before the finish.

After the awards ceremony, the league director listed off the team points for the series overall announcing them in reverse order from 22^nd place up to first place. With all the athletes excellent performances we were sure to move up from last races 5^th place ranking. As he listed down the names, we weren’t  5^th…. Or  4^th… or 3^rd….. and when he named Bronxville as second there was an audible surprise gasp from the crowd. It was then that we knew we had done it……R-CUBED TOOK THE TOP SPOT!!!!!  

Amazing job to all athletes. Despite the muddy and gloomy conditions, you all gritted it out and challenged yourselves to help get the team to #1. These athletes impress me more every time I see them with their hard work, dedication and teamwork in practices and races. You guys make me proud to race the R-Cubed Jersey!