Derby City Cup

I started racing the Derby City Cup in 2012 and it was pretty cool to come back again to race this course as a junior one more time. Before I even got to Louisville I had to make a quick stop in Indianapolis. I stopped there to officially sign to Marian University! Starting next fall I will continue my education at Marian and race D1 collegiate cycling.

Coach Dean Peterson and I

Always fun to see the sites in Louisville!

Saturday

After earning some UCI points in the continental championships I was done with random call ups and lined up third. I wasn't super quick off the line but settled in 6th wheel. Through the sandpit third place made a mistake and got jammed up, luckily I saw it happen, dismounted and ran from 6th place to third place. Lane and Denzel pulled away and I chased hard trying to catch up.

At the start of the third lap Ben Gomez-Villafane caught up to me and we worked together to stay ahead of the chase group. On the fifth lap I made some mistakes that cost me a few seconds on Ben. I tried to make contact again but he held me off through the last lap by five seconds. I was pretty bummed to have missed the podium but it fired me up for Sunday!

 

Sunday

On day two I had a better start and sat in third wheel behind Denzel. I lost two spots before the stairs thinking I had a flat which was luckily a false alarm. Knowing I needed to be third wheel I made a risky pass around Ross and George before the sandpit. Unfortunately I lost a few seconds through the sandpit and Denzel and Lane got a gap.

I suffered out in no-mans land for a lap before Scott, Ross and Ben caught up to me. I hung on to the group for two laps but my back was slowly but surely sabotaging my race.

Photo: Andrew Aaron

I started to drift off the back and on the fifth lap Calder Wood caught up to me. I hopped on his wheel and held on as he closed back in on the group. As we closed in we passed Ben who was dealing with a flat tire. I started lose time on Calder and ended up riding the sixth and final lap by myself finishing in sixth place.
Although it was not what I was hoping for I'm still happy with how consistently I raced these past two and I managed to score some good UCI points.

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!

Thanks for a great weekend Louisville!

Now that this big block of racing is all finished up it's time to train like crazy and do a few local races!
Thanks for reading!

Pan-Am Champs and Cincy CX Festival

Saturday - Continental Championships

After terrible random draws in Europe I lucked out and was 10th call up, so 2nd row. When they blew the whistle I hit my pedal right away but a rock or something jammed up my pedal and I could't clip in. I was top ten into the first corner, avoided a big crash, and started to move up. Through the first few turns I moved into fourth wheel but started to drift backwards again and came through at the end of the first lap in 8th. My legs were fully warmed up then and I started to move up once again. I worked my way back to the front of the chase group and settled in. I was in fifth place leading a group of four, with another group of three and four close behind. We weren't going hard enough to stay ahead and since no once else was working I decided that I would have to do it!

Through the third and fourth lap I pulled my group well out of reach and it was now a three way battle for fourth place. I thought I be might able to ride Sam Noel and Tyler Clark (Canada) off my wheel and attacked the fifth lap pretty hard. Unfortunately it didn't work so I tried again on the sixth and final lap. Once again I just couldn't shake them and Tyler counterattacked with only a few minutes left in the race, managing to pull away leaving me to finish in fifth place as the third American

Sunday - Kings CX

After having a great race on Saturday I was super motivated and ready to put out a great result. This time I wasn't quite as lucky and got a third row call up. Since this was a narrower sketchier start on a course that involved a lot more group riding, the start was much more important. I got squeezed into the first corner and had to really get on the gas to start working my way up. This was a lot more difficult because everyone was strung out it.

By the end of the first lap I had moved up to sixth place a few seconds off the lead group of six riders. I dangled there for another lap until one rider got dropped from the group and hopped on my wheel. I kept chasing hard leading our group of three but no matter how hard we went the gap just wouldn't close! I lead the third and fourth lap whittling it down to five seconds but no luck!

Going into the fifth and final lap Kevin Gougen attacked and pulled away from me. Simultaneously the lead group exploded and reopened the gap. I rolled across the line in seventh place (5th American) bummed to have missed the front group but pleased with how great I felt and what I did with the cards I was dealt.

It was an awesome weekend of racing and it was great to score some UCI points as well as put some of what I learned in Europe to use.

As always big thanks to my family, my coach, and my team, Trek Cyclocross Collective for all their support as well as Trek Bicycles, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix and Englewood Grass Farm!