Block B … Road Block

2018 did not start out quite how I imagined. In the 2 World Cup races in early January, I made big mistakes, pushing me way back from where I wanted to be. We started in Lackenhoff, Austria with rainy training but a beautiful salted slope for the race. Before the second event we had some more unfavourable weather for training … lots and lots of snow. The second event took place in Bad Gastein, Austria which has been a stop on the tour for a very long time. It was a great experience to be there for my first time, even with a disappointing result. We then returned to our ‘Europe home-base’ in San Vigilio, Italy where we trained with the Italian team for a couple of days. These training sessions were very successful with big improvements being made. Our next event was a 7 hour drive away, on Jan 20-21 in Rogla, Slovenia. I was really looking forward to this venue. 2 days before the race, I started my day as usual with a few warm up runs before jumping into the course. While riding, I injured my shoulder during a turn. Thankfully our team’s physio was able to take me to the hospital. I was not able to race the following days and decided to cut my trip short to go home and see my doctor.

After a busy couple of weeks back home with appointments and meetings, my shoulder will need surgery and I will not be riding for the remainder of this season. It had been a tough season for me even before this injury but every day I felt I was moving forward, step by step. This road block will be quite an obstacle but it has definitely given me even more determination to come back stronger. I plan to take all the experiences I had this year (both good and bad) with me for the years ahead. Even with a rough season, I can say I am incredibly proud of how far I have come and how much I’ve learned in the last 2 years. At 15, I never imagined I would be traveling the world, racing World Cups at 17 years old. I’m keeping my head up and committing myself to a full recovery. Thank you for your continued support throughout all the ups and the downs. I’ll be back soon and better than ever. This is just the beginning!