Jingle Cross 2014

Friday
It was about 25 degrees while I was warming but as the sun went down it dropped down below 10 degrees. I lined up 4th row because we didn't register fast enough and after the category 2s went off we followed. 10 seconds into the race there was a unavoidable crash and I piled on top of it. I untangled my bike after losing about a minute and started chasing. I fought super hard and my whole body was numb from the cold and I basically went on autopilot. I kept moving up the whole race and got all the way up to 6th!

Saturday
Luckily today we were staged by finishing order from the day before so I started first row. I pulled the holeshot and led until the off camber section up top when I had to get off and run by cat 2s we had caught, second place managed to stay on the bike and get a gap. I chased him for two lap and then rode away from him and soloed the last two laps. I was super glad to get the win after such a struggle the night before. I then returned to my hotel room and spun my legs before lying in bed with my legs up for another 4 hours until we went to the pool.

Sunday
After getting 5 inches of snow Saturday night the course was was super slick and sloppy. I was super excited to race in the mess! I warmed up and got my call up, I was second into the first corner and jumped on firsts wheel. I went by Cormac Dunn and led until an off camber section at the end of the lap when somehow my rear break had become unhooked and I had to stop and fix it. I lost about 30 seconds but I laid down some power and managed to catch who I thought the leader was at the beginning of the second lap. We rode together for two laps until I gradually rode away from him. I rode the last two laps by my self but lost a lot of time on the final lap because I couldn't clip in due to the frozen mud in my pedals. I was pumped to get the win but as it turned out one more guy had slipped by me when I was fixing my brake that I didn't know about. I had gone hard until I caught who I thought was leading and then recovered but if i had known there was another guy I would have kept pushing! I super stoked to get the overall cat 3 jersey despite my issues and get some great results at the best race in the US and my favorite race! Huge thanks to my team and team mates as well my dad and Emerys Cycling! Now time for a lot of hard trainer work outs and a few races until nationals.

saturday podium

trying to get the "snowicemud" out of my cleats

day 3 podium

Louisville Derby City Cup

Day 1

After staying in hotel an hour away we drove in to the race Saturday morning around 12. I hung out for a bit, prerode, and then messed around until it was time to warm up. Because we had not preregistered in time I was starting 6th row but I made due. I hadn't eaten enough as it turned out so my tank was pretty empty so I ended up 30th out of over 120 riders.

Day 2

Sunday we fixed my start order and I was  for action. I had a good start and was about 10th into the first corner the front group pulled away and I settled in around 12th my legs were a little tired from the day before so I eventually slipped back to 15th overall, and 2nd in the cat 3s. I was happy to have redeemed my self a bit!

Cinicinnati 3 day Cyclocross Festival

We arrived with plenty of time before my race on Friday and it was going to be muddy. I prerode the course and it was a slippery, sliding mess and was awesome! I finished warming up and went to the start line. I started 3rd row, we took off and everyone was very aggressive but I held my line and was top 20 into the first corner. I began moving up but unfortunately I had picked the wrong gloves and my hands were getting colder and colder as they turned into muddy blocks of ice. I slid out towards the end of the first lap and lost a few places but slowly got them back. I moved up slowly though out the whole grueling race and got as high as 13th. But sadly in the middle of the last lap I slid out in a corner and broke my derailer hanger. I ran a quarter lap to the pit but found my dad had left with my bike to look for me, so unfortunately my race was over.

Saturday I woke up and was fine but something I ate for breakfast didn't agree with me and I got food poisoning. I rested up and got ready for the next day.

Sunday I was out for redemption after a few bad races and to test my self against some the fastest boys in my age group in the country. I prerode the course, which was fantastic, warmed up and went to the start. I started 3rd row next to my friend Andy Schmidt. They blew the whistle and we took off, a big crash happened right next to me and almost took me but I squeaked by. I got stuck behind some traffic in a off camber section where more people had crashed and I lost some time. my age group leader got away and Andy and Scott Funston were about thirty seconds up. I  rode with Edward Fritzinger but after 3 days of racing he was low on gas so I pushed on. Cassidy Bailey caught up to me and I stuck on his wheel for a bit but he dropped me and caught up to Andy and Scott. I slowly regained ground and by the end of the 4th lap I made contact with the group of 3 when Scott rolled a tubular right before the pit. I rode with Andy and Cassidy until the barriers but I had gone to hard to catch up to them and couldn't hold it. I rode the lap with Scott but towards the end of the last lap some debris flew up into my wheel and I last a few seconds as I pulled it out and Scott got away. It was a super hard race against some super hard competition and I cant wait for more!