2017 Cyclocoss Nationals

Normally this is the grand finale of the season but not this time! So before anything else I want to announce that I have been selected to represent the United States at the 2017 Cyclocross World Championships in Bieles, Luxembourg! This trip is going to be extremely expensive and primarily payed for by what I have earned working at my job and at races. If there is any way you can contribute please donate here: https://usacycling.rallyme.com/rallies/5659/sendcalebswartztoworlds

Now, time for the main event! We arrived in Hartford late Wednesday night and headed to the course early Thursday morning. It was bizarre to ride a course where all the deep mud ruts had frozen into gnarly trenches. Over the next few days the course conditions continued to change going back to full blown mud and finally settling on frozen ruts and ice covered in six inches of snow.

Photo: David Schlabowske

When I woke up Sunday morning on race day the temperature was 15 degrees. When we got to the venue I hopped on course for two laps to dial in the course and tire pressure. I nailed my warm up, bundled up, and headed to the start line. Unfortunately a snow plow had driven over the cable during the night so the live stream was spotty, but luckily there were also tons of fans.

Photo: David Schlabowkse

I got called up fourth and took my spot on the front row. After a few minutes of freezing they blew the whistle and we took off. I was top ten through the icy first corner and I started to move up as we passed pit one. First and second place got away through the huge off-camber while I was stuck behind traffic in 7th place.

I came through the finish in fourth place at the end of lap once behind Sam Noel. I came by him soon after and we started to pull away from the big chase group. During lap two I made a few mistakes and had a few wipe outs that kept me from getting a gap on fourth place.

I went into lap three on Sam's wheel again and made the pass before the large off-camber. I started to pull away from him and struck out on my own going past pit two. Ross Ellwood was the only left within range and he started to close in on me through the woods section. He passed me over the mini flyover close to the river and I jumped on his wheel.

Ross and I ripped up the fourth lap putting a big gap on the rest of the field. We were pretty evenly matched and we were both waiting for the final lap to make our moves. We came through the start finish together and I hit the big off-camber right on his wheel. I tried to make a difficult and risky pass by running below the main line around Ross. He remounted and started riding  before I could get around him, putting a five second gap on me. I started to close on him again past pit two but I slid out and went down in the corner after the pit exit costing me a few more seconds.

Photo: David  Schlabowske

We went through the woods and over the barriers. After the barriers I put in a major effort up the short climb and made contact again. We dropped down into the off-camber 180 turn and Ross opted to ride while I ran. Again I put it all out there and tried to sprint around him but couldn't quite make the pass. Still not panicking I continued to try and find a spot to get around Ross on the difficult course. We went up and over the fly over together, around the last two off cambers and into the final run up together. Ross had a small slip going up the climb and I put in one last surge to try and get around him but I just didn't quite get the advantage.

I crossed the line finishing in fourth place two seconds off the podium. Below is a picture of me shortly after crossing the line. I was very disappointing to have been so so close to my first ever national championship podium. It hurt a lot to miss out but the mistakes made were all my own and it was still my best national championship finish ever.

It was my last junior nationals and it was great to come away with a good result that showed all the work I've put in this year. I'd really like to thank my family, my coach and the whole Wisconsin and Midwest cycling for community for all the amazing support. I'd also really like to thank my team, Trek Cyclocross Collective and my sponsors Trek Bicycles, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, and Englewood Grass Farm. It's been an amazing season so far and I can't wait to finish it off with some great results at the Hoogerheide World Cup and the World Championships! Be sure to follow along on social media and on here to keep up with my adventures! Thank you for reading!