Colorado State Mountain Biking Championship 2011

I love this photo of my girl; she looks so happy - almost sparkling. Did you notice the crown that is attached to her helmet? Her coach, Kathy, gave that to her because she sees Ellie as a princess (the good kind, not the demanding kind.)

We were at the Colorado State 2011 Mountain Biking Championship at Bison Park in Castle Rock. From the parking lot the race course did not look like much, but all of the kids LOVED the course. Ellie says it was a ton of fun and others echo the sentiment. Ethan joined us for the day, hoping to have a chance to see friends that he had not seen in a while. He had fun, too. It made him wish he had done the series, too. Next year he will be too old to race as a junior.

It was an intense battle. For much of the race Ellie and Seirra were nearly neck to neck, trading first and second position. Then on the tough uphill during the second lap Ellie's bike dropped the chain. By the time she was able to get it back on Seirra had pedaled far ahead. The next day, with sore legs and still feeling tire, Ellie says it was good to have such and intense race.

Our friends who watch her race often said that she was shining that day. It was also lovely that both of Ellie's bike coaches Kathy (for mountain biking) and Lawanda (for road)were able to meet.

We spent the entire day at the races and had a lot of fun.

In the end she was awarded a hard earned 2nd place in the Freshmen Girls category. This will bump her up to Junior Varsity next year.

We think these medals are pretty cool.

Ellie moved from 11th to 8th to 2nd in the overall series standing, losing to Sierra by one point. It will be good to take up where they left off next year.