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| Me going over the zip barriers |
Well this was the first time I have ever gone to this race and I'll say the 7 hour drive was worth it. My family left Thursday night and stayed at a friends house in Indianapolis Indiana over night. We got up late on Friday and had a leisurely morning.We left my mom there and me, my sister and my dad drove the last 2 hours and went straight to the race course to pre ride. It was probably the best cyclocross course I have ever seen! It was just technical section after technical section after technical section. It was practically a mountain bike course and I knew this would benefit me.
On Saturday I raced at 11:45 so I got up and went to breakfast with Andrew Schmidt, Sam Spende and Sam's mom. We ate and then we drove over. My dad and sister had gone over earlier because she raced at 9:45. My sister Emma Swartz won the cat 2/3 race both days. I watched my dad race after my sister and prerode the course a few more times. I warmed up with Sam and Andy and when it was time we went over to the starting grid. About 15 min later we where all lined up and I was second row behind Edward Fritzinger. My dad had told me to go as hard as I possibly could the entire race because it was only two laps, so I started a little slow because I was not front row and it was hard cause there were bigger boys who had a lot more power on the flats. The group took off and I was about 8th going out of the first run up because my front wheel hit one of the wood things and my bike fell over. I got up and only lost a few seconds and got moving again and rode past a few people in the sand pit. I was 4th going over the fly over. I stayed 4th mostly the entire race and on the first lap I was following a kid and at the bottom of the hill after the stone barrier run up there was a ditch and he flubbed the turn and crashed right into the tape. I never saw him again. On the second to last lap
Alexander Christian passed me on the starting flat but endowed magnificently in the sand pit and I never saw him again. I finished 4th and I was content.
On Sunday it was the same routine, breakfast, warm up and all that. My legs were a little bit tired from Saturday but I was gonna podium even if it was the last thing I ever did. I started behind Edward Fritzinger again and this time I had a much better start. I was 4th going through the mini sand pit and the kid who crashed in the ditch on Saturday crashed in the sand pit along with a 15-16 whose head I almost ran over. I jumped on Simon Jones's wheel and stayed pretty close. My legs ended up feeling great after they got warmed up and I just went harder then I ever have. Just nailing the technical section and powering the flats and on the beginning of the second lap apparently Simon had crashed in the sand pit and messed up his shifting. I passed him into third with
Alexander Christian on my wheel. We passed Edward Fritzinger after the rock run up and his chain had fallen off or something. This just set me off, I was in 2nd! I just exploded I shot down the flats to the zipp barriers and going through the sand pit Alexander Christian passed me because of his longer legs I jumped on on his wheel and tailed him through the off camber section and going onto the pavement I was about 10 feet back I gave it every thing I had and got third by six inches. If there had been three more feet of pavement I would have got him. It was a great week end of racing and I am certainly going again next year!
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| Me on the podium on day 2 |
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Me with Alexander Christian on my wheel
right before we pass Edward Fritzinger |
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| Going under the fly over |
