There is absolutely no other race in the cross' calendar that gets me as excited Jingle
Cross Rock! I have been going to Jingle Cross every year since 2010. Two years ago after being sick all week, I did my first cat 3 race only to end up with six stitches in my forehead and last year I won the Cat 3 overall by finishing 6th, 1st, and 2nd. This year I was hoping for more good results at my favorite race of the season. John Meehan, the promoter, does an amazing job with this race, the courses, the competition, and the atmosphere. I love every
single part of it! I believe it is the only full three day race in the United States and the course is brutal and unique every day, incorporating huge run-ups, sand pits, gnarly off camber along with logs, barriers and a flyover. This year it was all that and more with three days of awesome challenging mud like never before! Hopefully the world cup bid for next year will be successful!
Friday
Since Iowa City is only three hours from Madison I went to school in the morning and headed out at noon. After looking at the weather all week we were expecting totally dry races with balmy weather. However, when we got there it was already a slop fest due to a previous snow fall and then rains! I did a lap on the course and that was more than enough for the bike. My dad power washed and revived my B bike while I warmed up on the trainer. I headed to the start at 6:00 PM, got my call up, and ate my energy gels. When the gun went off my good friend Andy Schmidt took the hole shot and pushed ahead opening a gap while I chased hard from fourth. I caught Andy and his two tails at the end of the second lap and pushed through to the front, pulling through the start straight. Unfortunately Andy pulled a muscle in his back forcing him to drop out and sadly need to pull the plug on his whole weekend of racing. Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery and get back to crushing it! Going into this third lap my legs finally opened up and I was able to lay down the law on the Mt. Krumpet run up. I opened up a twenty second gap on second and third place. I rode error free the rest of the lap until I got to the pit and went in for a clean bike. My dad was no where to be seen (the pit was out of water for the power washers which was announced 5 min before the start and my dad was distracted by the chaos) and in the heat of the moment I forgot that you must at least put a foot down in the pit (USAC and UCI rule) until the official was yelling at me to dismount. I did right before the end of the pit but he had blown his whistle and I was unsure if I was disqualified or not. I soft peddled through the next few corners trying to determine if I was disqualified or not, until I was close enough to the official again and he said I was good to go. With my 20 second gap gone and it being the final lap I attacked hard out of anger trying to shake second place again. I sprinted up Mt. Krumpet through the throngs of fans reestablishing my gap before plunging back down the ski hill. I finished out the rest of the lap cleanly and crossed the line winning by 8 seconds, relieved that I held on to the victory.
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| Everyone else missed the podium! |
Saturday
After a good dinner, laundry and lots of recovery we hit the hay. In the morning my Mom and I grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant while my dad started prepping bikes at the race. When I got there I hopped on the course and did a lap, finding it to be even muddier and sloppier than the night before. The course was similar but instead of the big Mt. Krumpet run-up there was a super long ride/run up on the back side of the hill and gnarly off camber sections back down the front of the "mountain." This time my warm up was a lot better and I took the hole shot right off the gun. I stayed in the lead and started to stretch my gap on Alex Morten, a 14 year old rider who I met this summer at Geoff Proctor's Montana USAC CX camp. I noticed that my front tire was very low on the second lap and went in to pit at the start of the third lap. Chris Schmidt was still power washing my B bike (the lines were super long due to about 120 racers on course and only 2 power washers) and my dad didn't have my C bike in the pit lane, so I had to continue with a flat. Extremely frustrated and worried, I rode the next half of a lap all the way up the climb and back down the massive off cambers with a front flat. I was especially worried that I was going to roll the tire off the rim on the off camber. That said, I could corner very well in the sloppy mud with 3 PSI pressure! Luckily I made it back to the pit and switched bikes. I rode my fourth and final lap cleanly (except for messing up a bit when hopping the barriers) and took the win with a 35 second gap. When I crossed the line I was very surprised to see Geoff Proctor standing just past the line waiting to say hi to Alex and I! He was there inspecting the course for the UCI commission for the possibility of it being a world cup event next year. After talking with Geoff and Alex for a few minutes I advised my dad on tire choice and pressure for my sister Emma's race, followed by a cool down spin. Next, I helped my Dad pack up after my sisters race before heading for dinner followed by swimming and hot tubbing!
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| Photo by Jeff Corcoran |
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| Dillon, Me, Alex |
Sunday
Sunday morning we ate at the hotel before heading to the course for the final day of this awesome race! This time my dad and I vowed to have an an error free race with no mishaps in the pits! The course was the sloppiest it had been all weekend and for the third day in a row, a single pre-ride lap was more then enough for the bike. Today we ran and rode all the way to the top of the ski hill before descending the run/ride up from Saturday which was incredibly muddy and very technical When the gun went off I was quick off the line but my legs weren't quit warmed up enough. I was fourth through the first corner and but caught up to first through the next corners and passed into first. Tristan Greathouse, a junior from Michigan, stuck on my wheel through the first lap and pulled through on the start straight going into the second lap. We both went into the pit and when exiting the pit I immediately made a quick pass on his inside and attacked hard. I hammered the next lap and continued to open up my gap. My legs really opened up going into the third and final lap and I could actually sprint full speed in each of the many running sections. My goal was to win by a large margin and it ended up being 1:32, which I did in only two laps of racing!
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| Photo by Wil Matthews |
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| Photo by JP Brocket |
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| Photo by Roxanne King |
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| Dillon, Me, Tristan |
It was an absolutely fantastic weekend of racing, winning all three days was more than I could have asked for! My legs were amazing all three days allowing me to go as hard as I wanted, whenever I wanted. I am also very pleased to have gotten to race three days in my natural habitat - brutal courses with tons of mud! Big thanks to my dad for keeping my running smooth in the pits with the help of Cale Dorn on Friday, Chris Schmidt on Saturday, and Henry Mcalvanah on Sunday! Huge thanks as well to Trek Cyclocross Collective for all their support this season and congrats to teammates Mark Savory, Scott Daubert, and Tom Price for taking the wins in the 35+, 45+ and 55+ all three days, as well as Dillon Mcneil for sharing the podium with me Saturday and Sunday with strong third places! It was such a fun weekend of racing with awesome people and awesome courses! Nothing beats feeling amazing and racing well to get the results you want. Next up is five weeks of brutal training to prepare for Cyclocross Nationals. I can't wait!!!
