Cyclocross is here!- Silver Creek and Sheboygan!

Manitowoc

Saturday morning we took the drive up to Manitowoc  for the first cross race of the season and it was an awesome course! I lined up second row behind Brian Matter and they blew the whistle. I stuck on his wheel and was 5th into the first corner. The race was super fast and intense with many technical sections. I was in a group with Travis Braun and Scott Mclaughlin fighting for 4th. We stayed together until the last few laps of the hour long race. Travis got a gap, while Scott and I duked it out for the rest of the race. Going into the final lap I sprinted up the run up as fast I could and got a 15 second gap on Scott. I drilled the rest of the lap not making mistakes to take 4th! It was a shocking and painful reminder of how hard cross is but as soon as I crossed the line I remembered how incredibly awesome it is. After the race I cooled down for awhile with Brian Matter and Bill Street and then headed over to Travis Braun's family farm outside Manitowoc. A big group of people stayed over so we had a super fun evening and night hanging out. The next morning we woke up, saw the five minute old baby calf, had breakfast and then drove the 45 down to Sheboygan.

Sheboygan

I saw some of the races, warmed up and went to the start. I was 5th off the line and into the first corner, I passed two people through the barriers and into third. At the end of the first lap Brian passed me and started chasing down Tristan and Dan. I settled in with Michael Dutczak who I rode the entire race with. We rode the next 11 laps together, slowly riding away from Scott, Travis, and David Reyes who were hunting us almost the whole race. Scott and his group closed the gap to about 15 seconds with five to go but Michael and I turned it up a notch and opened the gap to over 30 seconds over the next couple laps. Going into the final lap Michael and I were neck and neck but I couldn't quite get him at the end and finished 5th on the podium. 

My new Boone 9 Disc was absolutely amazing and my CX1 gruppo is so smooth and fast, also Katie Compton's race wheels from last year certainly helped! I'm so stoked to open up the season and my first races for Trek Cyclocross Collective with two podiums in the pro field!