Last year was monumental for me. It started out extremely motivating yet heartbreaking as one of my best friends and riding partners, Gianna Bianchi, pushed herself to extreme limits to fight breast cancer and ended up making her way to heaven. I learned a lot about life during this time as the battle started in 2012 so I was emotionally weary from that long battle with her. Yet, from her gifts of wisdom and somehow being present with me on my rides after her death, I found myself more hopeful than ever for the future. My 2014 season was very much fueled by the desire to attribute my being able to live free and 'ride on' to her. Every time I felt the extreme pain during a race, I knew I was in no way the same pain that she pushed through so I would push harder.

Gianna, as you may recall from my previous blogs, was the person who encouraged me to do Leadville. I thought endurance racing was downright crazy and had no intentions to do it! Yet, I entered the Leadville Trail 100 lottery and sure enough, the day Gianna died, was the day they drew for it and my name was picked!

In February, my husband Aaron and I took a trip to Grand Junction, CO to attend a Shane Watts Dirt Academy where we learned how to ride dirt bikes! Since I was a newbie at this, it was such a breakthrough experience for me as it challenged many of my fears and I think it gave me some exceptional tools that I use on my mountain bike.

My season started off challenging as I was for the first time racing against the top mountain bikers in the world at the Kenda Cup Series and made my way to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterrey California. Even the local Arizona series had it's challenges as one of our very own AZ riders, Chloe Woodroof happens to be one of the top US pro's so she would consistently tear my legs apart! Some of the riders including Marianne Vos and Katerina Nash were in these events yet I didn't feel the intimidation as bad as I had raced many of these ladies either in Europe or during the UCI cyclocross events and I already knew their tactics of taking off and making the race very very fast! Being surrounded by such extreme talent only made the events extremely exciting!

After April's Whiskey 50 in Prescott, Arizona the season took a little break as the temperatures in Phoenix became very hot. Summer in Phoenix is like winter everywhere else - it's the off season for racing. I took June and July to travel up to Boulder and Wyoming, escaping the heat and getting in some high altitude training as I geared up for my biggest challenge of the Leadville Trail 100.

In May, I traveled to the Grand Canyon and spent a few days hiking down the Havasu Trail to a new world of breathtaking beauty. It was the first time in years that all of my brothers, dad, and I had come together for a backpacking adventure.

In June I also took a trip to the 24 Hour National Championships in New Mexico to help support Jason Hanson. I was so inspired and proud to watch him ride through the wee hours of the night and push through extreme mental fatigue to make his way up to a top 10 finish! Not too shabby for only have been riding mountain bikes 1 year!

In July I traveled to Wyoming to compete in the Laramie Enduro 111K. It was a trip to visit family and friends, get more altitude training in, and also compete in my longest mountain bike race thus far. My family came to support and I think was highly amused by the torture I put myself through. They had no idea how their presence at the rest stops made all the difference in the world to me as I was becoming very tired at the end of the race.

My family came to watch my Laramie Enduro race - providing a coke at mile 52 sure gave me the boost I needed!

August was my big event, the Leadville Trail 100. I had spend countless weekends camping in Flagstaff with the Hanson Family, riding at altitude and preparing for my longest race at an extremely high altitude. The race couldn't have gone more perfect. I dedicated it to my friend Gianna who I thought of the entire ride. I placed 1st in my category of 20-29 and 14th overall for women. I just missed the big belt buckle by 12 minutes and knew it happened for a reason - so I would return again to beat that 9 hour goal!

After Leadville, I took a season break. I had thought at first, "I'll just stick to the short cross country events, no more endurance!" However the universe has some humor and the opportunity arose to compete in one of my bucket-list events, the ABSA Cape Epic. So to sum up the rest of 2014, I have been training and planning for my big South African challenge which will take place in only 2 months! My teammate Debra Doss and I have been having quite the adventure along the way as we have spent hours of riding together, many phone calls and are getting very excited about this race. Cape Epic, unlike other events, is a team event so you have to stay with your partner the entire race. I feel very blessed that this opportunity to ride with Debra came along as she has become a great friend and someone I really enjoy riding with. I believe from all of our hard preparation, training, and communication, along with our past experiences in racing, we are going to represent the US well in South Africa!

Debra Doss and I are busy climbing mountains to prepare for the ABSA Cape Epic in March!

I would like to thank key supporters who have helped make this possible: My husband Aaron has sacrificed a lot over the years so I can pursue my cycling dreams. My family (Doherty's and Ross's) who've always been there for me, my friend Tricia Davis who encourages me to push my limits, take chances and pursue my dreams, my friend and now guardian angel, Gianna Bianchi who helped get me into endurance mtn biking and taught me a lot about life, my extended AZ family, the Hanson family who have also encouraged me to push my limits in endurance racing and have supported me in many ways, my team Bitty Bitty - Debra and Jeff Doss along with Randall Toltzman, for getting me started on the Cape Epic adventure and making this adventure awesome!

AND all of my awesome sponsors: Rotor Components, Kenda Tires, Swiftwick, RockTape, Osprey Packs, SportsTagID, RockTape, Klean Athlete, & Giro.

If you would like to support - I have created a RallyMe Campaign. Check it out! Or just send some good vibes my way!

Let's make this year a little more Epic!

Thanks for reading! I hope your 2015 year has a little more 'Epic' in it too!