I have been back from Europe for nearly a week now so I have had a bit of time to reflect on my first European World Cup experience. I can’t tell you how exciting it is- I have been working towards this for a long time now (racing the World Cups), so it is really like a dream come true. I was the only American girl there, so had to make ‘em proud! The Frenchies, English and Aussies have been dominating the World Cups for awhile now but in the past year the US has reemerged as a serious threat on the podium!

With that said, racing the World Cups is a whole different ball game. The courses are big. The riders are fast. And the practice is short and to the point. There is no room for mistakes. I went to Slovenia with an open mind. I went there to do well, I know that I can and will do well on the World Cup circuit but I also know that it may not happen overnight and I can’t get discouraged by it. I have just got to take each race as it comes, do my best and learn from them so that I can get to the level that I want to be as soon as possible.

To be perfectly honest being in Europe, abroad, was the least of my troubles. I have traveled so much from a young age that it takes a lot to phase me and make me uncomfortable in the travel department. I love traveling and it just makes me feel alive. I love the different people, food, cultures, way of life, challenges…love it.

The biggest challenge for me was being able to get up to speed with so little practice. I knew going into it that I would have one day of practice but you never quite know what that is going to feel like until your practice is up and you are like ohhh shit. At least I do now. :)

I walked the course and immediately loved it, it is totally my style of track….fast, rooty, rough and muddy. In my first practice run I think I was a little overly confident and I went into the first root section (like 30 seconds into the course I might add!) with the plan of just skimming over all the roots…because that’s what I always do…that’s what you have to do on roots. Well, apparently not these roots. I proceeded to land flat on my face so hard and broke my helmet. Whoooops. That was definitely a blow to the confidence as I just could not manage to relax on the roots and rocks after that…which makes them nearly impossible to ride. In a short practice like that you have just gotta stay focused and confident and that was a struggle for me. Over the course of my 5 practice runs I think I had like 5 mega stacks. I just kept feeling so much pressure to get up to speed when I was not ready to get fast on everything yet.

Despite my not so good practice, I actually felt pretty relaxed going into qualifying…not too nervous which was kind of weird for me. It was cool. I mean sitting up there at the top, watching all the girls go off, the best girls in the world, knowing that I am racing against them made me pretty freaking stoked and just made me want to ride that much harder.

In Qualis it was pissing rain and foggy. Right out of the gate there is a massive step down. That was kind of scary to hit. I could hardly see it going into it…just knew it was there and committed to it. The landing was super sketchy in the mud, my tires definitely slid like 6 inches. Scary. I was expecting it to be pretty bad when I got in the woods but it was way worse than I thought….the course deteriorated soooo much in the rain. The ruts were huge, I had never seen anything like it. Yah so my run was going ok until I went off this drop and put my front wheel into a hole and landed right on my chest. To be honest, the crash really scared me because I landed so hard on my chest and it knocked the wind out of myself and my chest just hurt. Its scary hitting your chest that hard, especially with the adrenaline because it takes awhile before you can feel if anything is seriously wrong. I laid on the ground for like 20 seconds or so and then crawled on my hands and knees to the side of the course. I just sat there for what felt like ages- I probably saw like 6 girls go by and only 2 tried the drop…both of whom almost did the same thing as me but managed to keep it together.  I couldn’t even think about riding down…in my head I was already trying to think of how I could get down but then I was like WTF Katie, get it together.  Yah so I just coasted down the hill covered in head to toe with mud. No finals for me.

Of course I wanted to make it into the finals but to be honest I don’t think I was riding strong enough at the time of qualifying to make it into the finals…who knows but I sure didn’t feel like I was riding fast. With that said, I learned so much from this race and it was such a valuable experience. I can start tweaking each race, learning, until I reach my potential. It was pretty cool to watch all the girls and guys come down in the finals….pretty inspiring. It just made me even more stoked that I am finally racing the World Cups and the sky is the limit. I cannot wait for more!!!!

Yah so all in all it was a great trip. Saw lots of cool stuff, hung out with my friends, shredded on my bike, ate lots of good food…what more could a girl ask for. :)

I finally did it. I graduated!!!!! Honestly, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done…top 3 for sure if not the hardest. I left the campus in 2007 and moved back to Whistler with the intention to ‘just finish the rest up online”. Well, that was a lot easier said than done. Online classes take a lot of work and some serious discipline. When everyone is out playing, teaching yourself Shakespeare or the beginnings of Christianity or Nuclear proliferation are not always the first thing on my list. But it had to get done, it was not cool having a half finished degree on my back. When I was in Whistler, I completed a Destination Resort Management Diploma program but my Bachelors was something I couldn’t ignore, it was a chapter that I needed to close. So anyway, I just put the pedal to the metal and worked my ass off the past 9 months and I am happy to say that I now have a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Colorado. And I kept my head up and focused and got the GPA I wanted which was the icing on the cake. Not that I am going to necessarily go to school again but I do love learning in general so who knows, not going to rule it out..a good GPA will make it that much easier to do what I want in life.

It’s crazy, I mean looking back at my education at Colorado- to think of how much I grew up there, where my head is now and where my head was at then…how I look at the world and life in general. It’s crazy. While sometimes I wish that I would have grown up a bit faster and been as focused and driven with my riding as I am now…I don’t regret it at all. I think that’s part of life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Everyone has to grow up in their own way and experience the things they want and need to experience- the whole college experience was part of it for me. The dorms, the football games, the basketball games, the frat parties, the big houses of friends, the spontaneous trips, the late night feasts, the water polo, the ski days, the boys, the finals cramming, the teachers…student life…its rich and vibrant and exciting and I loved it! While riding was a part of my life when I got to college, college life was just as important and I was not willing to make the sacrifices or commitment for riding that I do now.

Now that I am done, there are so many things that I want to do that have taken a backseat during my education. Obviously I will have even more time to devote to my riding which I am so excited about…more training, more trips, more photo shoots, more product development, more sponsor projects…the WORLD CUPS!!! I really just want to make myself into a well rounded package that will stand above the rest. I can’t wait to read for leisure…I have a massive book list that I have been building for a few years now and I got a Nook as a grad present so I am pretty pumped on that. I want to improve my spanish to the point where I am completely fluent. A couple of the major universities offer free classes via podcasts, might give one of those a go. I want to get a moto. And surf more. I want to get involved with a charity. I want to show kids what bikes can give them…health and freedom. I want to spend more time with the people who are important to me and whom I sometimes forget about. I want to surround myself with inspiring people who will push me to be the best that I can be in life.

I really want to thank my mom and dad for giving me the gift of education and loving me and believing in me. A couple of outstanding teachers at CU…Kaplan who completely changed my opinion of Economics and made me love it, Tecza who believed in me and showed me what it means to work hard and follow through and professor Chernov who showed me how important passion is in life through her love for SE Asian politics.  Andrew Cavaletto whose sincerity, positive attitude and work ethic are contagious…he just makes me want to be a better person- love you lover boy :).  Ross Kennedy who called me on all my bullshit…and then believed in me to make changes. My high school teachers at ICS who planted the education seeds in all of us and genuinely wanted to see succeed. And last but not least- WILLLARD…love all you guys and can’t imagine my life without you all, you make me so happy!