LaBagh Woods CCC #1

CX is here! After almost a month off from racing it was time to get back to the start line and kick off the season! My dad and I made the drive down to Chicago the morning of and I hopped right on the course. It was a pretty basic with one set of barriers, two logs, no elevation change and mostly consisted of tons of turns.

I started front row and when they blew the whistle I was first off the start line and through the finish area. I settled in at fourth wheel and tried to hang on. Fellow Wisconsinite Dan Teaters went straight to the front and pulled away and stayed away the entire 60-minute race. Michael Dutczak and David Reyes slowly drifted away from me as well and I soon found myself trying to chase back on. It was very difficult to make up time through the very twisty, loose, circuit but luckily Jordan Roessingh caught up to me and took over the chase.We stayed together until the start of the fifth lap when he flicked his elbow signaling me to take the lead. I hammered down the start straight trying to make up time on third place and accidentally rode Jordan off my wheel.

Thanks to Snow Mountain Photography for these rad photos!

 I realized that I had actually made up some time on Reyes so on every open section after that I gave it everything I had. I brought the gap down from 20 to 8 seconds over the next three laps but felt my strength start to fade and I saw that I was loosing time to Reyes again. Going into the 8th lap Jordan caught back up after dangling for the past three laps. In the last two lap Jordan came around me and I just couldn't quite stay with him. I stayed focused and was sure to make no mistakes in order to cross the line in fifth place.

In retrospect I really should have waited for a few seconds and let Jordan catch back up sooner. If we had worked together we definitely would have been able to catch Reyes and maybe even Dutczak. It's always hard to make sure you play your cards right in the middle of the race and since it was the first race of the season I won't beat myself up too much for it!

After the race it was pretty awesome to talk with multi-time World Champion, Sven Nys again! He remembered me from the CXC team clinic he did for us at Trek World. After that he got a full dose of American amateur cyclocross by giving donut and cup cake hand ups to the Cat 4/5 (beginner) racers! He was in town for a CX clinic and to meet the Telenet Fidea team before heading up to the Trek CXC Cup. Speaking of Trek CXC Cup that is this weekend! Here is a link to a little course preview video I made last week, get stoked people!

Lastly big big thanks to my coach Joseph Maloney, my family, and my team, Trek Cyclocross Collective for all the support! Also huge thanks to my sponsors Trek Bicycles, Bontrager, Sram, Englewood Grass Fed Beef,  Mike's Mix and Honey Stinger for all their awesome support!