Man that was a amazing weekend!
The four days of racing kicked off with a full day of Endurance racing! Due to incoming weather the racers faced a STXC, XC and Relay in the same day! This day was filled with highs and challenges of flats in STXC. But Bailey came through with a Win in XC and all around the team had a solid crazy full day of racing! We wrapped up endurance day with team relay at 6pm with our two fastest men and two fastest women on the day to go out for one lap each of the STXC course.
"It was awesome to see our riders fill in for our World Cup riders and still come as close as we did to CMU and Brevard." -Coach Chad Cheeney
"Three endurance events in one day is legendary. I'm so proud of these racers for giving it their all and going for it. This is a day they will always remember." - Coach Brittany Cowan
Friday the weather rolled in full force with some epic warm rain. This weather pushed USA cycling to change the DH. They choose to move racing to Mutton Bustin trail at Powderhorn Resort. Mutton Bustin is the XC decent and much tamer than the original course but still presented some challenges in the wet. Once again the SKYHAWKS stepped up to the plate and Carson Beard came home with a Championship.
"The muddy downhill race was epic. I have never heard so many hoots and hollers." -Coach Chad Cheeney
"It was pretty remarkable watching the emotions of our athletes from disappointment due to the course change and a flatter/muddier course, to the eye of the tiger mentality of going all out for this event. Our athletes are so resilient and it showed. Our DH results were stacked." Coach Brittany Cowan
With 1.2 inches of rain Friday they canceled all racing. So the team took the day to cleanup the muddy mess of a day of DH we had Thursday and enjoy some R&R.
With heavy rain all weekend there was plenty of concern about how the dual slalom would hold up. They put tarp down to try and keep it as dry as possible and it paid off. We ended it up with an amazing cool fall day to race dual slalom after some delays to prep the track. They reduced the bracket to only be 16 vs the traditional 32 riders because of the late start. We had a mixed bag of qualifying for all the rider with the smaller fields. But our all around racer, Oona Nelson, stayed focused and came away with a second place ride!
"Cool to see all the local Durango Devo kids on the podium this weekend, and not just our team. Really shows the strength of our cycling community." -Chad Cheeney
"What an amazing week of racing. I'm always so impressed watching our athletes do what they love to do. FLC is a special place and I'm proud of all our athletes." -Coach Brittany Cowan
