Thursday night was a big night! My sister came home from college along with her friends/ Marian team mates Ian and KK. Also Courtenay McFadden who stayed with us for a week flew in, so we had a very full house! Friday, Emma and I drove out to Trek HQ so she could get a fitting and so we could pre-ride the new course. The course was super fun with a new fly over, run up, jump and lots of other new sections. I got things dialed in the technical sections and headed home for a huge dinner.
Day 1
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| The ride/ run up |
With the natural chaos of having four extra people in the house my dad and I left a little late and arrived only about and hour fifteen before my race. I met some of the other awesome people on Trek CXC before kitting up, doing a lap on the course and completing my warm up. I almost missed my call up but slotted into the front row on the far right side. They blew the whistle and we took off, I didn't have a great start and was sitting sixth wheel. I moved into third and started chasing down first and second through the start straight I caught up soon and when third bobbled right after the pit it was down to me and Oliver Evans, who was the 2014 17-18yo Canadian national champion and went to 2015 Junior Cyclocross Worlds. He went out hard and I stuck on his wheel, I wasn't feeling great and wasn't really accelerating out of corners. We worked together a little bit and I was better then him in the technical sections so on the fourth lap I started accelerating out of corners and hurting him a little bit. Going into the big off camber section on the second to last lap he bobbled and I attacked hard over the ride up/run up for him. I kept up the pace and continued to open the gap on him through out that lap and into the final lap. I rode a completely mistake free race and was super happy to have raced well tactically to take the win in the cat 2 field! My team mate Dillon McNeil took the win in the 3s along with Scott, Tom and Julie all have great rides as well! Russel Stevens scored a 10th in the UCI C1 mens event and former team mate/Wisconsin world champion Brian Matter took fifth! Mark unfortunately broke a derailleur hanger and had to fight back for 6th and Nick who is still recovering from a broken leg had a great time spectating. Emma had some issues and finished 26th in the elite women but still made the Under-23 Womens podium with Ellen Noble and Laurel Rathbun. It was a great day of racing and it was fantastic to meet so many of my fellow Trek CXC team mates who live all over the country! We finished off the day with a awesome team dinner in down town Madison.
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| Post up for my first win of the cx season! Photo: Gary Smits at XTR Photo |
Day 2
After a big pancake breakfast my dad and I hopped in the car for the short drive over to the race, this time in a much more timely fashion. I did a lap on the course, cheered my team mates on and relaxed a little bit before starting my warm up. It was a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees and the course was pretty much the same but starting to get dusty and loose. I ran a psi lower than Saturday and felt way faster and smoother through the corners and technical sections because of it. This time when they blew the whistle I took the hole-shot and lead until after the run up. Oliver Evans caught up and took the lead, I stuck on his wheel and he went out super hard again. I sat on his wheel as he tried to shake me but I didn't give up. At the end of the third lap another rider bridged up to us and I sat up hard. We spun through corn field section and through the start straight until the rider who bridged up attacked. We both went with him but Oliver was on his wheel through the big off camber section. Oliver squeaked through it and since I was stuck behind, the guy in first started to get a gap. I passed Oliver and kept chasing hard trying to close the gap back down. The gap was about ten seconds but going through the corn field section and start straight I drilled it as hard as I could and closed six seconds on him. He wiped out at the bottom of the big off camber and I passed him. I rode the hill while he ran it and I attacked over the top. I kept up the pace and suffered through the last lap to finish with a 14 second gap on him. I was super stoked to have ridden a completely clean race again and fought back so hard to take the win! It was fantastic weekend of racing and it was such a amazing experience to double up and take the win both days in front of more or less every person I know that races in Wisconsin and has been watching me race since I was nine. The whole Trek Cyclocross Collective squad had an awesome Sunday as well with multiple wins, podiums, and stellar performances all around. It was a super fun weekend of racing and it really was great to meet so many of the people that make up this awesome team. Big thanks Trek race shop for all the awesome support as well lizards skins! Most importantly thanks to my parents who are always my biggest supporters/fans/chefs, couldn't do it without you! Finally thanks to my coach, Joe Maloney for helping me achieve my goals and allowing me to race at this level and know that I can do even more. Next up 17-18 UCI round two in Boulder this coming weekend!!
After a big pancake breakfast my dad and I hopped in the car for the short drive over to the race, this time in a much more timely fashion. I did a lap on the course, cheered my team mates on and relaxed a little bit before starting my warm up. It was a beautiful day, almost 80 degrees and the course was pretty much the same but starting to get dusty and loose. I ran a psi lower than Saturday and felt way faster and smoother through the corners and technical sections because of it. This time when they blew the whistle I took the hole-shot and lead until after the run up. Oliver Evans caught up and took the lead, I stuck on his wheel and he went out super hard again. I sat on his wheel as he tried to shake me but I didn't give up. At the end of the third lap another rider bridged up to us and I sat up hard. We spun through corn field section and through the start straight until the rider who bridged up attacked. We both went with him but Oliver was on his wheel through the big off camber section. Oliver squeaked through it and since I was stuck behind, the guy in first started to get a gap. I passed Oliver and kept chasing hard trying to close the gap back down. The gap was about ten seconds but going through the corn field section and start straight I drilled it as hard as I could and closed six seconds on him. He wiped out at the bottom of the big off camber and I passed him. I rode the hill while he ran it and I attacked over the top. I kept up the pace and suffered through the last lap to finish with a 14 second gap on him. I was super stoked to have ridden a completely clean race again and fought back so hard to take the win! It was fantastic weekend of racing and it was such a amazing experience to double up and take the win both days in front of more or less every person I know that races in Wisconsin and has been watching me race since I was nine. The whole Trek Cyclocross Collective squad had an awesome Sunday as well with multiple wins, podiums, and stellar performances all around. It was a super fun weekend of racing and it really was great to meet so many of the people that make up this awesome team. Big thanks Trek race shop for all the awesome support as well lizards skins! Most importantly thanks to my parents who are always my biggest supporters/fans/chefs, couldn't do it without you! Finally thanks to my coach, Joe Maloney for helping me achieve my goals and allowing me to race at this level and know that I can do even more. Next up 17-18 UCI round two in Boulder this coming weekend!!
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