Wow, that was one hell of a year. It’s been a minute since we’ve posted a blog, but we’ve been in full force since nationals, which, by the way, went extremely well for our crew.
I’ve been in Europe for just about two months now, living the dream. The first part of our trip was with Luke, Jules, Scott, and I. We did four World Cup races together, where everyone found their flow and settled into the dynamic of European racing. Luke and Scott went home after this block—Luke’s season ended here. We’re so proud of his efforts, and he’s more than stoked to head into his second year in the U23 group faster and stronger. After that, Jules and I did two more races before heading to Spain.
The two of us spent a couple of weeks by the water in Calpe, Spain. Long training rides, lots of friends, and plenty of gas station stops. With mostly good weather and beautiful mountain roads, we got in a huge training block. It was so frickin’ fun to wear shorts and short sleeves and be under the sun. Our days there were simple. I would wake up, eat breakfast, head out for my ride, come back, go straight to the grocery store, grab some goodies, and then stroll to the beach, where I’d spend hours drawing until dinner time. We did one race while in Spain—the Benidorm WC. It was fast, dry, and a ton of fun to race through an urban course.
After Spain, Jules and I flew back to Belgium to meet up with Scotty and McGovern to finish off the last two World Cups of the season. We did Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide, both of which were a bit muddy, but they made for great tune-ups before the World Championships. On Saturday at Maasmechelen, I dislocated my middle finger in an OTB crash, which was less than ideal. Turns out, I use that finger for a lot of things—like braking and shifting. So, it became a big challenge going into the next weekend. Jules’ season ended here. After his first year in the Elite ranks, he’s learned a lot and is pumped to come back next year and crush it!
Scott and I were selected to race the World Championships in Liévin, France. We spent the week in Sittard with Team USA, gearing up for the big moment and Scott’s last hurrah before taking a step back from racing. The course in France was heavy, muddy, and full of fast, technical off-cambers. It got cold enough overnight that the course would freeze and then thaw. So, for our races on Sunday, it was a bit of a thawing mess. I raced in the U23 Women’s race, where some of the ruts were still frozen under a slick layer of mud. The opening laps were chaotic, but I found my space by pushing as hard as I could where I could pedal and taking deep breaths to control my movement on every sketchy section. This worked pretty well until the last two laps, where I started to feel the effort. This course required consistency, and I was dying a slow death to come across the line in 25th place. After a year of recovering from a head and nervous system injury from a crash in October 2023, I’m stoked to be back on track and really proud of the fight I gave. Scotty had a hell of a day as well. Putting on the pressure and racing with his heart on his sleeve, he finished in a respectable 19th place. We can be damn proud of that weekend and season as a whole.
As many of you have heard, the future of our team is a bit up in the air. We’re working hard to pull things together, and we so appreciate all the support we’ve received over the last two years. This sport and these people mean everything to us, and we couldn’t have done it without you.
And to our team director, owner of the wrenches, and our biggest cheerleader—thank you, McGovern. You’ve given us an incredible opportunity and space to grow, to make our dreams come true, and we hold so much gratitude for all your time and energy.
Until next time,
Kaya M
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