The Rocky Mountain Regional Championships were held in Longmont, Colorado on December 8th as the last sanctioned race of the season for Front Range
While attendance was relatively low compared to the state championships the week prior, spirits were still high among those in attendance. This was undoubtedly due in part to the presence of Compton. Earlier in the week, she announced on Twitter that she’d be entering the Master Men 40+ event in Longmont, and folks around the grounds were clearly excited to get a chance to see her race in Colorado among “hometown” friends. Compton lined up with about two and a half rows of competitors who were likely either anxious to test their mettle against one of the all-time greats, or anxious about being “that guy” who crashed her out of her World Championship run this year.
The race started smoothly, and true to form, from her front row start, Compton eased into things and settled in a few riders back, picking her way through traffic after Shakeout Street (h/t Ruts n’ Guts course walk video!). Things were running smoothly for a few laps until Compton went over the bars after getting off-line in a deep rut in the course’s sand pit. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt, and after gathering herself and shaking some sand out of her hair, she got back to business.
Without further incident, Compton worked her way back up through the field, and on the penultimate lap caught back on to a group of three she was with earlier in the race. In true professional form, she attacked the other riders in the last half of the last lap, making the move stick and winning the group to finish in seventh place overall.
