GWENDALYN GIBSON

Four years ago, I finished 7th overall in the freshman category in my first year racing mountain bikes. This weekend, I headed to my last Socal finals race in hopes of defending the Varsity series overall title. Looking back at my first season, I never would have expected that I would become this passionate about cycling, but after my freshman year, I knew I was hooked. I  ended up dropping the other sports I did, excluding running in the fall, so I could spend all of my time on a bike! The Socal league has done a fantastic job of putting on some great races and created an atmosphere where everyone cheers for each other, regardless of the team or place. I never even dreamed that I would be in the top pack of the varsity field or traveling around the world to race my bike, but thanks to NICA, the Socal league, family, friends, and my sponsors, that is now my life and I’m so grateful for the opportunities that have come my way.

Although its sad to think it was my last Socal high school race, it was a fantastic weekend that I’ll always remember. Going into the weekend, I was extremely nervous and I had a lot on my shoulders. In the beginning of the season, I knew I would be missing a race, so to defend my series overall title, I would have to win every race that I could go to. In an extremely competitive varsity field, I knew this was not an easy task. During the season, there were a few times I thought I would lose it. Whether it was not feeling 100%, or juggling two races back to back, I worked hard and gave it my all at every race. It ended up coming down to the finals at Tehachapi. My race from last year was getting in my head because things didn’t go so well for me. Immediately after coming across the finish line, I passed out due to dehydration. So not only was I hoping to grab a hold of the leader jersey this weekend, I was also looking for some redemption from last year. Luckily, I have amazing friends, that I’ve met though the Socal league, that reminded me the whole reason I do this is to have fun, and as long as I did, I couldn’t be upset with my results.

I woke up more relaxed on race day because I knew any pressure I felt was irrational and I just needed to go have a good time and do my best. After a good warm up and pep talk from coach Grace, I headed to the start line. Soon after, we were off and rolling! Going into the first climb, I sat comfortably in second, behind Madeline, and we began to pull away with Mead not too far behind. On the down hills and single track climbs, I could feel that I could go faster, but any time I tried to pass, Madeline would sprint. She was determined to not allow me to get by. At this point, I knew it was going to be a tough battle because both of us really wanted it. When the trail opened up, just before the last down hill, I sprinted hard to take the lead, and this time, I was able to pass. I finished the lap with a small lead of 10 seconds.

After passing through the start/finish, there is a long, flat fire road that is about a mile. Flats are a weakness for me and Madeline quickly closed in on me and got in front, pushing my heart rate to its max on that road. Finally, we were turning off onto a short climb and when the next single track was in sight, I sprinted and my wheel entered the single track first. Somehow, she managed to squeeze past me, close enough that we kept bumping bars, it was intense! I knew if I wanted this, I was going to have to be a little more aggressive. I made multiple attempts to get by, but as much as I wanted the pass, I also wanted to have a safe race. So after a few times of us getting a little closer than I was comfortable with, I backed off. Just before we started the long switch back climb out of the valley, the trail got a bit wider, and this time when I tried to get by, I was able to do so. On the climb, there are a few sections where there are two different single track lines you could take and Madeline would use these to try to get in front again. Each time, we both sprinted and I was able to keep my lead. On the second half of the course, there are a few steep climbs and technical down hills; here, I grew my lead again, enough to hold her off on the flat fire road by just a little.

Although I rode the last lap alone, there was no slowing down. She was close behind and even when I backed off for a second on the climb, I could see her making up ground. For the remainder of the race, I rode as hard as I could, pushing my limits to keep a lead. I came through the finish line almost a minute ahead, leaving everything I had on the course. This was definitely one of the most difficult and aggressive races I have ever been in.

It has been a fast and exciting four seasons with the Socal league and I have been fortunate to have such high competition that pushes me to do my best. I have especially enjoyed racing so closely with Madeline in the past two years and I wish her the best of luck in Italy where she will be trying to defend her 24 hr solo world champion title in a few months.

Thank you to everyone who made it another great weekend. See you at states!

This week, I headed to one of the largest cycling events in North America, Sea Otter Classic. With dozens of events, from down hill to road, there was plenty to keep anyone entertained with five days of racing! I kicked off the week watching some Pro Norco teammates absolutely kill it in short track racing with both the pro men and women olympic gold medalists! They all continued to crush it again the next day in cross country. Watching pro races was inspiring and I can’t wait to be in the mix next year, giving it my all, and racing with the athletes I look up to most. It was a perfect way to get ready to race the 28.5 mile Cat 1 15-18 course the next day!

I woke up the next morning, had a good breakfast, and headed out for a pre ride. I met up with some friends from the Bear Development Team and my future CMU teammate and roommate Cayla and we spun together, getting ready for the awesome day ahead. Sea Otter is a little different from what we are use to. Instead of doing laps on a short course with steep climbs and technical descents, we would do one big loop that was mostly fire road. The race is about an hour longer than usual, which meant there would probably be a big pack that would break away and then settle into a slower pace until it was close enough to the end to throw down some attacks.

Soon, we got on the start line and finally took off at 10:12. The race was taken out fast by Mina Richi and as we entered the fire road, I jumped in front. The group continued to mix around a bit and as we went through lap traffic, it slowly went down to seven girls. I got in front on the next climb to get it down to just four of us. Once we realized we had a big enough lead, we all slowed down as expected. It was a long race and with so much fire road it wouldn’t be smart to make any attacks so early on.

The race became more about tactics than who was riding faster, because no one wanted to be the one pulling and no one was going to make any attacks, knowing that on a gradual climb a pack of three would surely close the gap and it would be a waste of energy. I ended up in front so I decided that if I was controlling the pace I would make sure to conserve energy for a big attack at the end.

The girls and I were talking about our seasons and then we looked back to see Madeline, who I race with in the high school league, coming up on the pack. She took off in the category after us and totally crushed it, making up a full minute to get to our pack, which was her goal on the day. She joined in on our conversation once she got into the group. Now, I began to focus on preparing for an attack with just six miles to go. A girl from Madeline’s category also got up to us so Madeline sprinted to try to grow her lead again. I decided to take off with her and begin my attack a little earlier than planned, but I was ready to finally push! Up the climb, we decided to work together to get away from our competitors.

It was fun because we usually are racing against each other but being in different categories, allowed us to focus more on working as a team and opening a big lead on our respective categories. We sprinted in together and it was all hugs and smiles at the finish for us, both of us bringing home wins!

After podiums, the excitement continued when Shane, who helps me out putting me on the best wheels out there, DRYVE wheels, surprised me with a new EVOC bike bag. With a lot of traveling coming up for me, I was stoked. I’m so lucky to have such an amazing group of people always looking out for me! Also, a big thank you to the Norco bike team for making sure my bike was dialed and offering the best support for me at my races. I am so grateful for my sponsors (logos on the left) who give me the best support and equipment to make it happen AND my amazing family who follow me around on my adventures and help me get closer to my goal of being an olympian someday with their love and positivity.

Now on to Socal finals and states!

I had been looking forward to this weekend ever since the first time I planned out my race schedule, in the beginning of the year. This weekend, I was competing in two different races in two days. The first race would be at Bonelli, for the second UCI race of my season. I had been training hard for this one and it was my main priority to give a good performance here to try to get some UCI points. But, I am also in the middle of my last High School season so I would be competing in the 4th high school race the next day. I still wanted to be able to give my best performance at this race as well because high school racing is where it all started for me and I hoped to defend my series overall title from last year. Because I missed the second high school race for a UCI race in Canada, to obtain the overall title, I would have to win all of the four races I would go to, in order to have enough points. In a field with some amazing riders, including 24 hour World Champion Madeline Bemis and multiple time National road champion Megan Jastrab, I knew this was not going to be an easy goal. Both of these races were important and I went into the weekend excited to see how things would play out.

To make this weekend happen, my teammate, Seth, drove me to Bonelli after school on Friday to pre ride. After, we met my parents at Vail where the high school race and our trailer was. The next morning, my family woke up with me at 5:00am to get me back to Bonelli for my 8:30 race. I’m grateful to have people who will wake up that early to help me do what I love.

After a good warm up, I headed to the line. I was the 3rd call up so I had a good position along side some of the fastest juniors from all over. My nerves were so high for this race that when they finally sent us off, I missed my pedal not once but twice and soon found myself swarmed by the girls. I found my way to the side of the pack and my adrenaline helped me push back to the front pack. We were moving fast because the first part of the course was pavement and no one wanted to give up a position. Luckily, the first part of the race was a shorter loop that took us back through the finish in a half mile and let us spread out before we headed out for the first lap of 5. When we reached the first steep climb,I jumped in front because my goal was to be the first to reach the single track at the top. There were a lot of rock gardens and logs we had to go over and I didn’t want to be following anyone over them. I was successful in doing this and I could feel myself separating from the pack a little on the descents and obstacles. As we came through to head out for another lap, it was me and a Canadian racer in front with a chase group not far behind.

I picked up the pace and we started to grow our lead from the rest of the field. Steep climbs are usually something I excel on, so I pedaled hard up these and pushed my limits on the down hills. As a result, I went through the next lap with a small 20 second lead. Throughout the next three laps, I worked hard to grow my lead. When my dad told me I had about three minutes, I relaxed a little for the last lap hoping to leave something in the tank for the next day. I came in with a big smile, stoked to take the win in such a high intensity race with international competition. This also meant I would move up in the UCI rankings because it was my second UCI win!

After the race, I was escorted to doping control where I was drug tested to the first time. That was an interesting experience. They have a water zone where they basically make you drink until you have to pee. I went through about 5 bottles and made it out of there just in time to watch the pro women take off! After watching the pro races and the podium ceremony, we headed back to Vail where Seth was waiting to pre ride the high school course with me. At the end of the day, I had rode around 30 miles, most of it at race pace and I was worried I would have nothing left for the high school race.

The next morning, I pushed any doubts out of my mind and told myself I was going to have a great race and, above all, I would have fun. I still didn’t have a call up because of my missed race but I was lucky enough to get a spot on the second line. I made sure to be on the outside so I could get around the pack. When the race began, I was surprised to find myself in the lead pulling the group up the fire road.

On this course, there was a varsity add on with an extra long climb and technical descent. As we got closer to the top of the hill, it was Madeline, Megan, and I, with Mead close behind. Madeline jumped in front knowing I would want to get to the down hill first. We all sprinted and I was able to squeeze into the down hill before them. At the bottom, I had a small lead, which they worked together to close, and the four of us went up marine corps hill together nearing the end of the first lap. Madeline sprinted ahead of me to get the last single track ahead of me; but, just before the trail got small again, I made a pass and then was able come through that lap with 10 seconds on them. Again, they worked together to close in on me; and, at this point, I knew I needed a new strategy if I wanted to come away with the win.

As we started the long climb to Tarantula again, I looked back to see Megan and I had pulled away from Madeline just a little. She was sprinting to close the gap so Megan and I decided to work together to grow our lead. Megan got in front for a while but she had crashed the day before so she felt a little less than 100% so I took over again because I knew to keep our lead we needed to be pushing it. I went up that climb as fast as I could with Megan riding strong behind me. I would pull away a little on the descent but I was close enough for her to get back with me. When we headed out for our last lap, we had a minute on the next rider and now it was a one on one battle. I made an attack early on in the lap, sprinting hard, but she stayed with me and then got in front, I used this time to recover from my attack and then attacked again at the top of the climb, just before Tarantula. This time, I was able to hold my lead and rode the last half of the lap alone. I came through the finish leaving it all out there and I couldn’t believe the goals, that I set for myself in the beginning of the weekend, were now completed!

After the race, my friends and I had cupcakes because there was a lot of birthdays in the past week so we decided to do something special for all of us. It just happened to be Matt Gunnel’s(socal league director) birthday that day too! I had a blast this weekend making more memories and I couldn’t be more happy with my results. Luckily, my spring break started today and I’ll take this week easy before heading to Sea Otter!

 

For a while I wasn’t feeling myself on the bike, I had run in a track meet and had done a tough gym workout the week of my last high school race and I think it took a lot out of my legs. But, after taking a few days easy, by Thursday, I was feeling great and I couldn’t wait to race at Fontana for the first US CUP of the season. My family and I woke up early Sunday morning to get there for my 8:00 start. After getting my number plate, I headed out for a warm up with my teammate Seth. In the warm up, I could tell my legs were feeling awesome and that it was definitely going to be a good race for me. I headed to the start line eager to give it all I had. I looked around to see a lot of familiar faces from the Norcal league and even some girls from Canada who I raced with recently! The girls fields are continuing to get more and more competitive and I knew throwing in some international competition was going to make this race even more intense. I couldn’t wait.

I was going into this race without pre riding the course so my plan was to get in a good position and follow a wheel the first lap to get comfortable with the terrain. The race took off fast and I was sitting in 4th going up the first climb. As we entered some single track, I moved into 3rd behind two Canadian girls. About a mile in, the trail went off into a steep road climb, I was feeling really good so I decided to pick up the pace and I moved into first. Soon, we were heading back into a rocky single track climb. As we started moving through some lap traffic, I tried to make safe passes while maneuvering over the rocky trail. Finally, we started going downhill. Some of the rocks on the trail caught me off guard, being the first time I had gone down it, but I tried to stay smooth because I saw that I had started to open a small gap on the rest of the field.

Heading into my second lap, my lead had grown and I pushed hard on the climbs to try to keep the pack from getting back up to me. This lap, I felt more comfortable on the course and felt smooth on the climbs and technical descents. Before I knew it, I was on my last lap. A mile in, my dad told me I had 3 minutes on the next rider so I focused on keeping a strong pace so I could maintain a lead.On the last climbs, I backed off a little to give my legs and lungs a little rest. The lap went by quickly and I gave one final sprint through the finish taking the win by about 2 minutes!

I was extremely happy to give a strong performance in the first US Cup race of the season, and now, I feel good going into a busy weekend next week with a UCI race at Bonelli on Saturday and a Socal high school race Sunday. I know having back two back races is going to be difficult. But after missing one high school race in the beginning of the season, I really didn’t want to miss out on a fun weekend at Vail, especially because it is my last season with the Socal league. I’ll be placing most of my energy into the UCI race to hopefully earn more points going into Canada and Europe. This way, I can get a better call up position and move closer to my goal of being on the worlds team going to Australia this season. I will still give everything I have at the high school race and enjoy every second of my last NICA season.

 

I was stoked to be back racing in the Socal high school league this past weekend! My family and I arrived late Friday night and joined the rest of my teammates who were already there. The next day the team went out for a pre ride and the course was looking awesome. I started to get a little nervous on the pre ride because my legs were still feeling really sore. In the beginning of the week, I had done a tough gym workout and I was still feeling it on the climbs. I took the rest of that day really easy, stretching and rolling out my legs to get them feeling as strong as I could. Hanging out with friends from the other teams helped calm my nerves greatly! One of the coolest things about racing in the Socal high school league is that you get to camp with everyone the weekend of the race and I’ve met some of my closest friends in the process. Huge thank you to everyone from NICA and the Socal league who make theses races happen, it has truly changed my life and given me opportunities that I would have never dreamed of at my first race as a freshman.

Soon enough, it was race day and I couldn’t wait to get up and cheer for my friends and teammates! The day was going awesome and by the time I was lining up for my race I was so exited to go out there and give it my all. Unfortunately, because I missed a race, I didn’t have a call up so I rolled up on the 4th line. I was nervous about this start because we would take off through the narrow finish chute with fencing on both sides, so I was not going to be able to make any passes until the trail opened up again. When the race finally took off, I was able to settle in 6th place around the first turn after the chute and when the trail got wider I moved into second.

By the time we headed into the first long climb, Madeline and I started to grow a lead on the rest of the field. She was pushing a fast pace. My legs were burning so I didn’t try to make any passes the first lap in hopes that I would feel stronger going into the last half of the race. As we began lap two of three, I took over the lead to do some pulling.

I could tell I was feeling stronger this lap than the last so I picked up the pace and put out a hard effort up the climbs. The flowy single track was super fun and a great place to recover. It was hard to hold back a smile as we flew down the trail. Just after the first decent, there are two gnarly steep climbs. I pushed hard up those enjoying it far more that the gradual climbs in the beginning of the course. At the top, I looked back and realized I was starting to gain a small lead so I stood up and cranked for a while. On the flatter parts of the course, I could tell Madeline was gaining on me again and my lead was shrinking. I came in the second lap with just 20 seconds on the next rider. My legs were screaming and I was deep in the pain cave but I knew I could not let off the gas if I wanted to keep my lead. 

Going up the first climb for the last time, the wind was blowing hard. It felt like I was hardly moving forward but I pushed through it as fast I could. There was a lot of lap traffic at this point so I cheered on the riders and made passes when it was safe. Some of the riders I came by would cheer for me too, the positive attitude of everyone on the course got me pumped and I finished my last lap feeling awesome. I was more than happy to cross the finish with almost a minute lead after a long hard race in a varsity field with so many amazing riders.

I was stoked to learn my friends had awesome races as well and I’m so proud of all of them. Faith, a sophomore from Tehachapi high school, finally got a top 10 finish after being so close at the past race and Devon Woolston from AV Composite also completed his goal of finishing in the top 10. I was so happy for the both of them!  After my race, I even got to meet Gaby Richardson who has been killing it in the freshman girls category, we talked about racing and training. It was so awesome to meet someone so motivated and passionate about biking in their first high school season! I cant wait to see all the awesome things she does in the Socal league and beyond.

Special shout out to Seth Levy on my team who we got to watch kill it in varsity boys taking 5th place. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to watch the varsity boys race, you know that every single one of them is a force to be reckoned with so I could not be more happy for Seth, who has put in so much work, to be up in that lead pack.

With all of the awesome finishes the Ramona team achieved, I was really hoping we were going to be able to take home a team trophy. When they began announcing the D1 team podiums, I sat with my fingers crossed and jumped up with excitement when they called Ramona up for 3rd place!!! The whole team has put in so much work and we have been so close to a team trophy this season so to finally get one was so incredible and definitely the highlight of a great weekend for me! Now, I’m looking forward to a long block of racing with a race every weekend for the next 4 weeks, happy to kick it off with an awesome weekend in Keyesville.