Hayley Richards' Racing blog

    It was a semi-cool typical SoCal Saturday, but I was thankful for this "colder" weather on race day. I was going to participate in a 12 hour four person team with my fellow teammates Alyssa, Hayley, and Coach Heather. This basically means that we would switch off each lap. To add to the excitement, our SoCal Devo team got to sport our new (and very comfortable!) team jerseys for the very first time.      We weren't sure what order to start the race, so I decided to take the parade lap. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to loosen up the legs and I was a bit tight, but I had some fun getting in the groove towards the end of the first lap. It was very crowded everywhere  therefore I had a stronger focus on finding a place to pass people. After this lap, I tried to stretch a little, drink some water, and soothe the stomach aches.     The second lap felt much better and I just tried to focus more on being smooth and breathing. I love the feeling when everything kin

Going into this past weekend I was both excited and nervous to be riding with all of my teammates at camp once again. Devo camp is one of those weekends that leaves you with sore legs and an ambition for the the upcoming biking season. Day 1: We arrived at Coach Jason's house in the evening and had a team dinner. That night we got support from our sponsors such as Rudy Project, ESI grips, Kenda Tires, and got to talk about our support with Ellsworth bikes. We even received custom SciCon bags with our names on it! All of this brought excitement into the weekend because I'd get to try out my new helmet and glasses. Day 2: We woke up early in the morning and went to the local sports park to work on our core. Getting our fair share of soreness to start the day, we then went back to the house for the most important meal of the day! After breakfast, it was time to get ready and head to Vail Lake to start our biking for the day. Nerves built up as we were going to ride the infam

      For those of you who don't know me, I'm pretty much an adventure seeking, bike loving, and food thriving individual! I've always felt like life is a completion of moments, so we have to live to the fullest.        I first got into mountain biking at the end of my 8th grade year in middle school. I remember the days of falling over because I forgot I was clipped in and grabbing too much break on the downhills. It was really my dad that got me into the sport of mountain biking. My dad had been one of the "coaches" on the MMHS mountain bike team since my brother tried the sport his Senior year. So, my freshman year I decided to take the plunge and try mountain biking! I can certainly tell you that I had no idea what I was getting into. There was so much to look forward to between team bonding, pre-race jitters, and just being on the bike. That year I did surprisingly great for both myself and my team. It was that year that I found a passion for this amazing sp