the first round of World Cups. An automatic selection back in April would have meant a lot less stress for the remaining months leading up to Beijing. But, things didn't quite come together and two 5th place finishes were as close as we got. At that point, things were still going quite well - right up until the NMBS race at Santa Ynez - the heat stroke weekend. Georgia was riding really fast, close to 4 mins ahead of 2nd place, and then the 103 degree heat took its toll in a serious way and heat stroke and delirium set in. The race reports said that Georgia "suffered from heat
exhaustion and abandoned the race." The situation was lot more serious than that - she actually blacked out on one of the climbs and tumbled into the bushes and then was in and out of consciousness until the 4-wheeler hauled her off the course about an hour later.Anyways, recovering from heat stroke posed a significant physical and mental obstacle for the 2nd half of the season.
Georgia went into the 2nd round
of World Cups having done no intensity for 3 weeks and still unsure of how she'd respond in the heat and humidity. She showed a lot of resiliency throughout the whole process and even managed a solid result at Worlds. After Worlds, the Olympic selection was official and it was time to head back to the US to race the NMBS series. There was certainly no shortage of racing and traveling this year as Luna raced at all of the World Cups and all of the NMBS.The first time that Georgia looked like her old self, in my opinion, was at the Windham NMBS. But, there were still some ups and downs at the east coast races (Windham, Nationals and the Canadian World Cups) - and with all of the traveling and racing, preparation for the Olympics was less than ideal. There were a handful of great training days and the ever-present race intensity, but a lot of travel stress and wear and tear to go along with it.
After the Bromont World Cup, Georgia was able to come back to Fort Collins for a week and got sick almost immediately upon her return. At this point, we were about 2.5 weeks away from Beijing, so the priority was to rest and get healthy. So, it was sickness for a week and then off to Jeju Island in South Korea for a pre-Olympics training camp. The Jeju camp went well - Georgia had some good training rides and acclimated well to the climate and the time change. She arrived in Beijing on Tuesday night and got ready to race on Friday (which ended up getting postponed until Saturday.)
The race course was about as tough as they get. The climbs were exceptionally steep - they forced the riders to stand or at least to the nose of the saddle on every climb - and the descents certainly didn't allow for any recovery. The race really seemed to be in slow motion. After getting the hole shot, Georgia rode strong for a couple of laps and then faded a little mid-race, (pacing herself as she called it), and showed a lot of character in the last 2.5 laps. Drooling up every climb, she moved up fro
m 14th place to finish in 8th. It wasn't the result she was hoping for, but it was certainly a very impressive effort. Sometimes you just have to be content in knowing you did your very best, even when you're disappointed with the result.This guy's had a long season too.
I personally think that Georgia had a very strong performance, especially considering the variety of stresses that occurred in the months leading up to Beijing. Racing nearly every weekend from April until August isn't exactly the ideal preparation for the Olympics, or for anything really. However, sponsors aren't paying you to train in seclusion, so you just have to do the best with the cards you're dealt. Good job Georgia, keep up the good work!
