Ever since the Colectivo Coffee Bean Classic moved to Minooka park it has been one of my favorite races. It's a little lacking in climbs but with tight, fast, flowy single track with the occasional gnarly rock garden making up most of the course it is my favorite type of race.
After having pretty poor performances the past two WORS races I wanted to hit this race hard and come out with a great result. Two weeks before the race I put in the biggest training week I have ever done. The result was that I put myself into a bit of a hole. In response I took a few easy days before this race and the rest did a world of good for me.
Learning from past mistakes I knew the start would be the most crucial part of my race. I nailed my warm up, went to the start line, took a Honey Stinger energy gel and got ready to pin it. Naturally when Don blew the whistle I missed my pedal, but because of the big start hill I made why way back up. I fought for my position in the two-track before the first single track section and locked down 7th place.
I chased Ben Senkerik and Pete Karinen but just couldn't hold on. Soon after Justin Piontek came by me and I hopped on his wheel for a bit before getting dropped again. I killed myself for the rest of the first lap trying to catch back up but when Justin and Ben punched it up the start climb into the second lap the gap opened up beyond repair. Despite being off the front group my body felt good and ready to work. I settled in with Mikey Verhagen and we worked together swimmingly for the second and third lap. We ripped up the single track putting plenty of distance between us and the chase groups (must have been our matching Trek Topfuel 9.8s and Bontrager XXX Kovee wheels!).
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| Shout out to Gary Smits at http://www.xtrphoto.com for the killer shots! |
After working together with Mikey for almost three laps I knew that we were equal in the single track but I had a bigger motor for the climbs and straightaways. Also knowing that I didn't want to let it come down to a sprint I smashed the start hill going into the final lap and dropped the hammer going into the first single track section. This opened up a ten second gap. Keeping on the gas I hit the rest of the lap with everything I had, staying smooth in the single track and hammering the two track to finish with a 30 second gap on Mikey.
It felt really great to be back in control of my legs and my race again. Even more exciting was that I accomplished my season goal of earning a top five in the pro men at a WORS race and got to stand on the actual podium! As always huge thanks to my coach Joseph Maloney, my family and my team, Team Wisconsin presented by KS Energy Services/MOSH for
all the support! Also huge thanks to Emerys Cycling, Triathlon and Fitness, Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, Trek Bicycles, Bontrager, ESI Grips, Wolf Tooth Component, Mike's Mix and Honey Stinger
for all the awesome support!
In addition I am extremely pleased to announce my partnership with Englewood Grass Fed Beef! Ben and Kristi Agnew are avid mountain bike riders and racers and along with the rest of their family run their 100% grass-fed beef farm free of hormones and antibiotics in Fall River, Wisconsin, North-East of Madison. With all of my training and racing, I need a lot of high quality protein for energy and muscle building. Lean, clean, local beef is the absolute best source for that.
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| Kristi (Englewood Grass Fed Beef) and I with a cooler full of grass fed beef. |
Here are some of the benefits of eating grass fed beef, besides helping to support me and an awesome family owned business. (So place an order today and tell em' I sent you!)
- Lower in total calories and fat (up to 1/3 less) compared to conventional feedlot beef
- Extra Omega-3 fatty-acids – heart friendly, brain supporting, and a potent weapon against cancer
- Richest known source of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), another known cancer fighter
- Extra amounts of antioxidant vitamins including Vitamin E.
Thanks for reading and see you back here in a month because it's time to head back to Helena, Montana for Cyclocross Camp!
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