“Practice with my teammates went well, and the 2025 Factory Evo 300 felt super responsive and inspired confidence heading into the last rounds of the West Coast Regional Championship. However, the sections Saturday bordered on national expert, which simply exceeded my expectations and preparation for the expert sportsman line. Despite the extremely challenging sections, I buckled down, made the last loop my best, and ended up second. Heading into Sunday, I needed to win to get the West Coast title. I applied the lessons learned from Saturday and led the first loop, then I made uncharacteristic mistakes on the second loop, which set up a “must-win” third loop. I cleaned more sections on my last loop and was on track to win. I put myself in a position where it came down to the last 10 feet of the last section. I was on a 1, balanced, staring at the last rock. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize my rear tire was in 4” of dust, which was to the left of where I had been taking off from. I spun on acceleration and 5’d the last section, effectively losing the day and west coast championship by 2 points. Overall, I am content with the experience gained and having expanded my comfort zone. On the long drive home, all I can think about is riding my bike and putting in the work to never make those mistakes again.”
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