High School MTB State Champs and WORS #11

This was the first annual Wisconsin High School State Championships put on by WIN Cycling. My Race was at 12:30 and my sister won the varsity girls race at 10:30. I was racing JV and was hoping to win! We started and I took a immediate lead and stayed there but I stupidly towed around a guy for the whole race and on the last hill he jumped me and took the win. I was doing the actual WORS race the next day so I had not been going very hard but I was still disappointed but it was my own fault.

 The next day we drove the 30 minutes for my 11:30 start, today was a big day and I needed to beat Blake Mezo and win to win the series. Luckily my race yesturday had opened up my legs and I was ready to go! Right of the start I accidentally cut off Blake going into the first corner and he was on my inside so there was nothing I could do with out crashing the whole field. We plowed through the first muddy section and then opened it up on the flats and I passed Nate into first place. I rode off the front for a while until Blake caught back up. My strategy was to just race smart and let him do the work. So I sat on his wheel and drafted and when we got to single track he let me lead and we worked together. He dropped his chain twice but managed to catch back up. We stuck together the whole race and I knew it was going to be a sprint. We came through the last single track section and onto a flat and then we went on to the last climb. I expected him to take off bit he didn't, so I did! Right before the top I made my move and sprinted by him, I knew if I was ahead of him going through the downhill switch backs I would win. So after I sprinted by him I took the six switch back turns as fast as I could and then poured out everything I had to bring it home. It was a amazing race and I was so thrilled to win! Also I got sixth overall in sport out of over 200 riders!

Trek CXC Cup

First annual Trek CXC Cup! I was so excited for the first major cross race of the season. I was doing Cat 4's and juniors because I wanted to race!

Day 1

Junior 15-18

We drove the 25 min for my 9:15 start and I was ready and warmed up. I pulled the holshot and took the race from there, I did not go hard at all because I was doing the Cat 4's at 1:20. My friend Sam Spende was on my wheel for the first 2 laps until he tried to ride the run up like I was doing and he ended up rolling all the way back down the hill. After that I just soft pedaled to the finish to take my first win of the season.

Cat 4's

I relaxed after the junior race until it was time to get ready for my second race of the day. Luckily I got a first row call up so I didn't have to deal with the 70+ people behind me. The whistle was blown and we took off, I was in second place off the pavement going into the spiral. Right before the run I passed first place so that I could ride the run up. I powered up it and realized I was in first! After being ahead for a little but a group of  four riders caught up to me. I very stupidly lead the group for the next three laps while they drafted off of me and at the beginning of the fourth lap they jumped me on the pavement and pulled away. I ended up fourth place and was very mad at my self for not racing smart but I planned to podium the next day for sure!

Day 2

Sunday I decided to skip the junior race to sleep in and soak my legs in the bath tub I got there in time for my dad's race at 10:45 and started warming up at 12:00. I got my call up and thankfully I was in the front row again. I took my gels and waited for the count down. The whistle blew and we took off I immediately grabbed the lead off the pavement and rode the hill. I was in second going through the barriers but first crashed on the off camber section so I took the lead again. But the guy who got fifth yesterday came up and lead hard for a lap and we thought he was gone but the he started to fade and the guy who won yesterday took off and he was never seen again. I was then riding comfortably in second place and on the third lap I was toying with third and fourth, letting them catch up and then attacking again. But then at the beginning of the fourth lap I slid out on a corner and dropped back to fourth. At the beginning of the fifth lap I had caught back up to third and second and was going to pass third on the run up, but every lap I would ride it and the guy would run it and at the top he would move over on purpose to not let me get the pass. This time he moved all the way over and took me out! I went down hard, got all scraped up and trashed my my right brake lever. I ended up fourth and was super bummed out, and furious at the guy because I had wanted to podium so badly. But I'm gonna get him next time!

Lake Geneva Cross

Second cross race of the season, and it was a mud fest! What could be better than a muddy cross race? The correct answer is absolutly nothing! We left at 7:30 so we could plenty of time before my start at 10:30. It had rained all night and was still raining so the course got more and more turned up after each race

I got second call up because of my finish at the last race. All 56 of us lined up, the whistle was blown, and I immediately took 3rd and couldn't get into my big ring otherwise I would have been in first. The whole first lap I was in about 8th and then I started working my way through them. I cornered perfectly and made no mistakes. I would sit on their wheels and then jump them before technical sections, which was the whole course because of the mud so I was on fire! On the last lap I caught up to 3rd after the first set of barriers and passed him right before we went down towards the pits. I took off and pushed my traction to the very edge and I slowly gapped him off and when I came through the sand pit right before the last tune I had a good 200 yards on him. So I finished 3rd which I was thrilled about and I had a great day hanging out with friends in the rain. Thank you to Gary Smits at XTR Photo for the great pictures!

Tread Fest WORS #10

We headed down to Lake Geneva after a great day of cross racing in Sheboygan for some great mountain bike racing. This was WORS #10 of the year and I was ready to win! This course has some monster hills and tons of fantastic single track! It turned out my friends Andy Schmidt and Simon Jones were also racing the Sport category so I was a little worried, I knew Andy would beat me and Simon is incredibly strong on the road but this was his first mountain bike race, so I hoped I could beat him. We took of and I got cut of at the start and didn't get up the start hill in a great position and was in 4th for my age group. We got to the dusty loose decent and Simon, who was in 3rd went down hard and I passed him. I shot of like a rocket trying to catch up to second place, I sprinted out of every corner, chewed my way through the lines of people, sliced up the single track and powered down the flats. Finally  I caught up to him and a group of very fast riders, and on a loose gravel uphill, him and some others stalled out and I sped by them on the very edge of the trail. He then got on my wheel and we worked together for a while until he went down in a corner and dropped his chain. I took off like a rocket and didn't see him again until the beginning of the last lap on the open flat section. He was about 10 seconds back from me on the loose dusty downhill when he yelled up to me and told me he had a flat. I then rode my own race, trying to lap as many riders as I could and have as much fun as possible. It was a great weekend of racing and finished 2nd in my age group and 22nd out of over 200+ starters in the sport category. Thank you to Tread Head Cycling for putting on a great race and thank you to Gary Smits at XTR Photo for the fantastic picture!

Sheboygan Cross

First cross race of the season! I am so, so, pumped for cyclocross season! So I was psyched for this. I am racing 15-18 this year, I am racing mostly Cat 4 and plan on  upgrading to a 3 part way through the season. So we drove up to Sheboygan for my 10:30 start, I got ready, pre-rode the course, warmed up, and went to the start for the Cat 4 race. The whistle was blown and we were off, I didn't get  clipped in right away and was in 8th going up the first climb, we did a 180 to come back down and I passed two people in the turn. At the bottom of the decent we went over the barriers and I took the inside on the corner and passed another two people. We then went through a series of  180 turns going up and down a hill. I took better lines and passed my way through everyone else into second place, from there I just sat on first places wheel and widened the gap on third until I got dropped on the down hill in the last lap. I ended up finishing second and about 30 feet behind first. If was a good course and the equalizer hill was brutal! It was a fantastic first cross race of the season and my first Cat 4 podium. I'm looking forward to the rest of the racing calendar!