WORS #1 Iola Bump and Jump

Since I have not written anything on here since January it is past time for a brief update before this past weekends race recap! After nationals I took about a month off before jumping back into training for the mountain season which is always a little rough given the weather in late February and early March. In the first week of April my family and I headed out to Boulder, CO for spring break. I managed to put in 180 miles in the first three days then 18 inches of snow "rained" on our parade. In search of dry trails, we ended up heading back east and rode the Switchgrass IMBA Epic trail in Kansas and the Berryman IMBA Epic trail in Missouri.

9,0000 ft up in Ward, CO

Since then it has been mostly training and school with the exception of my first race a few weekends ago where I got 2nd behind Nathan Guerra at the Englewood Opener MTB race. Equipment and sponsor wise, I am loving my 2016 Trek Top Fuel! It destroys downhills and climbs like a goat. Huge thanks to Emery's Cycling, Triathlon, and Fitness. I am thrilled to be working with ESI Grips and Wolf Tooth Components again this season and also extremely excited to be representing Mike's Mix Nutrition and Honey Stinger energy foods. Having the best ride/race fuel and recovery has helped take my training and racing to the next level.

Nothing like trashing the brand new bike on its second ride!

After achieving my goal of top ten overall in the pro field in my last WORS mountain bike race this past season I set high goals for this race. I wanted to place in the top ten for sure and hopefully make the front group and be on my way for a top five. Unfortunately, right from the start things got a little more difficult than I had hoped for. Starting third row I knew it might be difficult to hop on the front group who all started in the front row, especially because of the narrow gravelly climb right at the start up to the top of a ski jump hill. After Don did the starting countdown we took off like a pack of wild animals. I reached the top of the climb in about 20th place and knew then that I might be in trouble. I spent the rest of my first lap cross eyed trying to make up ground and eventually settled in with Fletcher Arlen. We were almost on the group that made up 5th through 7th place when I had a bobble around a stump and lost Fletcher's wheel. He made contact with the group and stayed with them until Isaac Neff put down some power through the first couple of climbs at the start and thankfully sent him back to me.

No longer solo, Fletcher and I worked together for two laps sitting 8th and 9th until Brendan Bellew, one of the top Minnesota racers, caught up to us. He rode right by us and hit the gas. Fletcher dropped back but I stuck on Brendan as well as I could knowing this was my ride up the podium steps. Brendan hammered the fourth lap making up ground a lot of ground and catching Casey Hildebrandt who sadly was fighting with some stomach troubles. Going into the final lap Brendan gave it everything he had up the start climb but I stuck on him like glue knowing that it would hurt a lot more if I lost his wheel and had to go solo or try and catch back up. Since he didn't shake me, Brendan asked me to take the lead for the second half of the lap. I put in a bit of work but mostly conserved. As we got into the last third of the course, which is mostly single track with two or three open two track climbing section, I started to ramp up the pace. On each of the short open climbs I gave it everything I had, knowing that if I made it into the last section of single track right before the finish I would have him. I managed to hold him off by about two seconds, despite some lapped traffic being thrown into the mix.

Finishing 7th overall in the pro men was a serious break through and confirms the hard work I've been putting in, and also a fantastic way to start the season! Next up is three weeks of training before the next WORS race at Camrock where I am setting an even higher goal for myself on my home course!

Exciting to compete against the best in Wisconsin!