Rachael Archer tastes champagne again for the second time taking the win at GNCC WXC Round 9 ‘The Mountaineer’ at the weekend. In dominant display of sheer determination to come out on top, Rachael proved hard to reel back given Series has just resumed after 8 week break.
Outclassing her rivals, Rachael took advantage of the technical 4 lap race at Summit Bechtel to take the lead early, then swap and swap back pulling away to finish 1.43 seconds in front of Rachael Gutish with Overall leader Becca Sheets rounding out top 3.
Rachael: ‘I felt really prepared coming into this race. I’ve been putting in a lot of work, my fitness is insane and we have been riding up in the mountains on our rocky loop a lot to prepare for this race which helped tremendously!’
‘I got off to a decent start 3rd into the woods behind Gutish and Sheets. Shortly after Sheets took a soil sample and I jumped into 2nd. Then made a quick pass to get into 1st. Gutish and I went back and fourth 4 times. I had a huge high side on the second lap but landed on my feet and got going again quickly, sent it and caught back up and grabbed first and then pulled away! Finishing 1:43 in front!’
If there are differences that make Rachael push further when it counts, it has to be #650 strength of character. Tough, resilient, never-give-up, treat everything as a chance to improve and just thank-ful that the she is doing what she loves. Still hard to believe fact that Rachael was sitting NCEA levels at St Peter’s in Cambridge less than 2 years back.
Having won at GNCC WXC Round 8 at High Voltage before break, back-to-back wins don’t come round that often confirming just how talented this Kiwi is- go for gold would certainly be motto for up-coming Rounds ending in October.
Currently standing 2nd in WXC Championship, Rachael as always looks forwards to what’s next, which is 2 weeks away Round 10 Burr Oak in Ohio.
Rachael: ‘I think racing the Sprint Enduro last weekend primed me for GNCC this weekend. Track also suited me being technical and fast.
I kept telling myself to stay cool as a cucumber, gotta win! 
Words: Sharon Cox.
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