Time feels suspended at the starting gate as you and the other riders lean forward anxiously. Your hands unconsciously move up toward your face, checking that your goggles are secure and in place. Your fingers tighten around the handlebars, gripping tightly with determination and the overwhelming desire to win. You were born to race. You take off and immediately the air is filled with a haze of wheel-flung mud and dirt and the sounds of a dozen engines throttling. You time your first double jump perfectly, achieving serious airtime in the process. The rider next to you was not so lucky and in your peripheral vision you can see that he came up short. Everything starts to become a blur, but you've ridden so many times that by this point it's almost second nature. You approach the finish line, neck and neck with another rider. You execute a series of mini hills excellently, noticing that the other rider has fallen behind, sending you rocketing across the finish line as the clear winner.