Mountain Bike Nationals- Sun Valley, ID
Cody Cupp

I had a really good time at Nationals this year. Last year I went there super stressed out and putting way too much pressure on myself and I just ended up crashing on the first lap. This year I went there relaxed, confident, prepared and just had fun racing hard.
I got off to a pretty bad start in the cross country and ended up getting tangled up in two crashes within the first minute of the race, so I lost a lot of time and got pushed way back in the pack. I had to deal with the most chaotic traffic on every corner of the first lap but I managed to stay alive and calm and just keep riding. When I came into the first climb I think I was sitting around 50th position. I was bummed that I was in such a bad spot but I was feeling pretty strong so I just got over on the side of the course and slowly started passing other racers and making up spots. I think I was probably constantly passing for most of the first two laps. Once I finally got back up towards the front half of the race again I settled in with a group of 4 or 5 other guys. Once we were on the last lap though and came into the final climb I managed to win the sprint into the single track and ended up finishing ahead of all of them.

I would have liked to place better in the cross country but I was feeling really strong and raced well, thanks to all of Solomon’s coaching and training plans, so I’m pretty satisfied with how I did. It was really fun and I’m pretty happy to get into the top 20.

I also competed in Super D and Short Track this year as well.

I put together a really fast and run in Super D and really crushed myself on all of the climbs and pedaling spots throughout the course. Unfortunately, I had a little bobble on the last turn of the course and lost a few seconds, which may have cost me a few spots. I ended just missing the podium and placed 7th. I was really wanting to get on the podium this year and was pretty bummed that I didn’t but it was still a fun course and I really enjoyed flying down the track.

By the time I raced Short Track in Sun Valley I was so exhausted that I just road really sloppy and ended up having a dumb mechanical. Most people don’t compete in both Super D and Short Track but I thought I’d give them all a try anyways. I didn’t really have very high hopes for the Short Track so I really wasn’t very disappointed.

All in all, I had a really good experience at Nationals and had a great time riding bikes. I’m satisfied with how I did and I’m looking forward to the few races I have left this summer and the Collegiate Mountain Bike season I’ll be racing in this fall.