WORS #2 Crystal Lake Classic

After a brutal race at Iola I couldn't wait to do it again! I went up Friday night and stayed at my cabin with my dad and a bunch of his friends. Saturday morning they left and did a 104 mile gravel ride and I rode a little bit of it and turned back. I worked on my bike, fished and relaxed until they returned in the evening. In the morning we loaded up and drove the 55 minutes to Rhinelander. 

I prerode a bit of the course, warmed up and went to the start line. I lined up with the pro men and we took off. There was a ton of two track before the first single track section so it gave me plenty of time to move up from the back and I was about 25th going into the single track. I caught up to my team mate Jason Balden as it started to pour and we hammered along starting to catch a bigger group. Unfortunately I dropped my chain at the bottom of a hill and spent the rest of the first lap catching back up to the group. Going into the end of the first lap I latched onto the group with leader being in 15th place. They pulled me through the finishing and start straight at top speed. Realizing that I had to take my gels, navigate the rough road and hold on to the group going 24 mph put me into kind of a pickle. I decided that I would suffer much more later if I didn't feed then if I had to catch back up a little bit to the group. I couldn't quite catch back up, luckily my team mate Jason came by me and I hopped on his wheel so I still had someone fast to follow. I stuck with him for a another mile or two but got popped on one of the really bumpy climbs. I realized later that I definitely had to much tire pressure for how bumpy of a course it was and that combined with the rain it slowed me down a fair bit. I finished the last lap and a quarter kind of mad at my self for making the tactical error of not holding onto the group but still really enjoyed ripping it up in some epic muddy single track. I was first overall among all the juniors and was running about 20ish again among the pro men. In two weeks the race will be at Cam-Rock which is 20 minutes from my house so I will get the course and tire pressure dialed well in advance and I hope to be racing in the top 15!

Many thanks to my supporters that make it possible to train and race: KS Energy Services, Team Wisconsin, Emery's Cycling Triathlon and Fitness, ESI Grips, Trek, Bontrager, Clif, and Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital. I also want to thank my coach, Joseph Maloney, for helping me prepare for my races.

The rain came in full force!

Racing with the pros!

Should have stuck on the group haha!

WORS #1 Iola Bump and Jump!

Finally! Mountain bike season has arrived and I kicked off with the Wisconsin Off Road Series #1, Iola Bump and Jump! I got my new bike dialed during the week and drove up mid day Saturday to preride with my team mate Mark Norton. The course was super loose with tons of dust and sand, but also lots of fast single track and hard climbs. After preride Mark and I drove over to my other team mate, Brian Christopherson's cabin where he cooked us some wonderful steaks and we hung out with my team president Dave Eckel, along with Tyson Hausdoerffer and his family. After relaxing by the lake for the rest of the evening and getting a good nights sleep, we woke up, I cooked breakfast, relaxed a bit more and fueled up before heading over to the race.

 I dialed my bike and gear, warmed up and went to the start, unfortunately I could tell my legs weren't great. I lined up fourth row surrounded by all the pro men, Don did the count down and we took off. Our field of 65 riders blew around the first turn and hammered up the first loose dirt climb in a giant cloud of dust. The whole first have of the course was lots of hard climbs often followed by fast tricky descents, made even more difficult by my heart beating at maximum capacity. The second part of the course is mostly fast, tight sandy single track. The first lap I thought I was going to die but after the second lap I settled in a bit more. Unfortunately I just couldn't really fight back and slowly lost places through out the race. On the fourth, final lap I took it back a notch on the climbs and flats, instead I hammered the single track, focusing on every turn and obstacle. I made back a place or two and and finished strong. Because I am a junior I do one less lap then the pros, but based on the people around me I would have finished about 20th to 25th overall in the Pro/Elite. In my category I won the Cat 1 15-16 and also beat all the 17-18.The heat, dust and distance took some getting used to after a long, awesome season of cross but it was a fantastic start to the season and I can't wait for whats to come! This weekend I will be doing a 3 hour solo WEMS race and then on to WORS #2 the week after!