I received an email yesterday informing me that I had been upgraded to cat 2 in cycling which means that I have the opportunity to compete in the U23 National Championship Road Race on June 26th.
Let's rewind a little here. I have been blessed to ride with an awesome collegiate team here at Clemson. The guys on my team have motivated, inspired, and pretty much taught me how to train and race. With their help, I qualified for Collegiate Nationals and had a decent finish as 27th. After nationals, I planned on doing a few races but focused my physical and mental energy almost entirely on my internship. I didn't think that I had a shot at even qualifying at U23 Nationals. My training suffered due to other time commitments and lack of a training plan.
After talking with a few people... including an ex pro cyclist from Canada, I realized that cycling is a huge part of me and that I had nothing to lose by applying for an upgrade so that I could register for U23 Nationals. I had zero expectations for actually getting any response.
So here I am... 20 years old, with a racing experience of approximately 3 months, preparing to race 120 km (72 miles) against America's top cyclist. Oh, and did I mention that the women's U23 race is combined with the Elite women's road race? Yea, it's going to be intense.
One last crazy factor goes into this race. Last year it was in Oregon. It could have been anywhere this year, but it is Georgia this year. Coincidence? I think not. Only my all-powerful, all-knowing God could have facilitated this. His strength is the only thing that will sustain me during this race.
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