“This year I knew the girl’s field was stronger than ever and they were going to bring the level of riding up,” says Amy, who earned her previous titles at Winter Park in 2019 and 2021. While similar to the course of 2021, this year’s featured a few changes and an extra stage, but Amy stuck to her previous game plan—make it through the technical sections smoothly and without a mechanical, then pin it on the sections that are full of speed.
“My sprints were well timed, because being above 10,000 feet for most of the racing you have to be smart about effort,” she says. “I didn’t look at the live timing until after stage three; I wanted to just ride my own race for the most part, but it helped knowing on the last two stages that I had a 16-second lead. Overall, my riding felt great—controlled, yet fast.”
Amy maintained her 16-second lead through the remaining stages, besting second-place Porsha Murdock and third-place Kate Lawrence. Defending the National Champion title was a huge goal of Amy’s for the season, but one of many she set out to accomplish this year.
“My season started with a pair of second places in the Sea Otter enduro and downhill, as well as second at TDS and NAEC Silver Mountain before heading to Europe to race Enduro World Series rounds, where I placed 18th and 20th,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of mud racing this season, which is not the normal for me, but it’s forced me to grow in my riding and preparation on and off the bike. Having a solid pair of goggles that don’t fog up has been so important!”
Amy will spend the rest of her season racing a few Crankworx events and the EWS at Whistler before heading back to work as a teacher and competing in her local Northstar downhill and enduro series. “It looks promising that I will make the Trophy of Nations team and race for Team USA in Finale Ligure to wrap up the season,” she says.
