The NORBA National Championships in West Dover Vermont was unseasonably dry, well at least until midnight on Friday night. Rain fell out of the sky in buckets prior to my race at 8:00 in the morning.There were nine starters from all over the United States in the Expert 25-29 race. I had a great start and was the first one to the climb but it wasn’t long before Disterheft was climbing on by me. Demeter grabbed my wheel and the three of us were off. We kept each other in sight through the long winding descent with a few rocky technical sections thrown in. What a fun race course!
We stayed together for the first lap but broke apart after the second descent. I was gaining a lot of time on the descents but Disterheft was clearly the strongest climber out there on Saturday. The course had a great climb and an even better descent. I caught Disterheft on the second lap when she crashed and I narrowly avoided running over her. She caught me mid-way up the climb on the second lap and I grabbed her wheel.
Erin Disterheft (Galesburg, Mich.) finished first in a time of 1:54 riding for Team Billy’s. I finished 27 seconds back rolling out my fourth, second place finish in a row. Erin definitely made me work for that second place; she was climbing like a champ.
Janel Demeter (Glenside, PA) rounded out the top-three in 1 hour and 55 minutes.
It was great to get up on the podium at the National Championships and even better to be wearing my BioWheels Jersey. Thank you for all the support! -Amanda McKay