Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1545994
August 2026 11 First, the FIM: When I went and checked my math with one of the officials, he looked sur- prised but confirmed my math was correct. He also warned me that they did not bring any of the championship awards to this round. Why would they? Then, Rieju: Since nobody with the team had men oned the championship, even in passing all weekend, I had the sneaking suspicion they didn't know. In an act of mercy, halfway through the final day, I informed Andrew (the lead me- chanic of the Rieju Factory Team) that, barring catastrophe, I would lock up the tle at the end of the day. Poor Andrew, it was a real gotcha moment. He looked very happy and incredibly distressed . "Oh, that is good, very good… but… but we do not have shirts, we ... we do not have champagne, we are not ready…" I reassured him it was no problem, while trying not to chuckle . Hell, I didn't really want to celebrate or make a big deal out of it, which honestly made the whole situa on really funny rather than mildly depressing. I was s ll giggling as I entered the next special test. All of this added to the vibe of the weekend, which I would best describe as "an -climac c." Clearly, not all of these things I just talked about were bad; many of them were good. But I reached the conclusion, a er the fact, that by the me the moment we had all been wai ng for finally arrived, I had no more feelings le to feel. Having a month's worth of events jammed into a single week is bound to wear you out. So when I rolled through the final me check in second place for the day and with a 41-point advan- tage in the championship standings, mathema cally winning the championship, I felt almost nothing. This was a stark contrast to Germany last year, where I felt emo ons I couldn't even name. The closest I had to a feeling a er wrapping up the tle this year was a big sigh of relief. I did it. I survived the season. We can move on to the next, and this part of my life was now in the rearview mirror. The fact I didn't feel much of anything somehow made me feel even worse though. I wanted to be happy. I knew I SHOULD be happy, and anyone else would be thrilled to win. Maybe someone else should have won, because at least they would appreciate it. Not even managing to be excited I won, just one more way I'd come up short this season. This was too many thoughts for my overtaxed brain to handle. So, I celebrated my