The Wednesday after the Hoogerheide World Cup team USA packed up camp from Sittard and drove in the fleet of vans and trucks 2.5 hours south to Luxembourg. The next day the rest of the junior squad and I opted for a spin around Luxembourg rather than over doing it on the course. It was pretty awesome to just wander around a completely foreign country with good friends. After the ride it was back to the hotel for food, rest and recovery. In addition to all of team USA, the Dutch national team was also staying at the hotel. It was pretty incredible to sit down to dinner at the table next to Lars Van der Haar, Marianne Vos, Mathieu van der Poel, and Sophie de Boer.
On Friday we went and pre-rode the course. It was a lot like Hartford in terms of the snow, but 1000x gnarlier and more difficult. There were lots of extremely tough off cambers, fly-overs, and steep technical drops. In summation it was, 'Shredtastic' -Maxx Chance. After opening up the legs with some final efforts we went back to the hotel for dinner, team meetings and number pinning.
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| Photo: Rob Jones/ASSOS/USA Cycling |
Surprisingly I slept like a baby despite the anticipation. I was in the van at 8:00 am and ready to head to the venue. We all hopped on course and did a few laps. Slowly it began to sprinkle and since the temperature was right around freezing all the rain froze onto the course turning into one big ice rink. Literally the entire course was black ice! Those conditions combined with this course made it an unbelievably difficult and dangerous (and awesome). With final tire pressure and line choice settled we unfroze in the vans, did our warm ups on the trainers and went to the start.
I lined up fourth row and prepared for carnage in the first corner which was a big 180 that went from pavement to dirt (ice) and back to pavement. When the light turned green some people crashed right off the line. The majority of the 80 riders shot into the black ice 180 covered in saw dust at 30 mph. There were four or five separate crashes in that one corner. I was extremely lucky not to go down but I got stuck behind all the crashes pushing me back to 50ish place. (Watch video of crash here at 2:30)
I started to move my way up while battling for positions along side fellow USA teammate Sam Noel. We both moved up steadily but when I went to attack a pavement(ice) straight away section I hit the corner with too much speed and absolutely ate it. My bike slid a few feet down into a drainage ditch on the right of the course and I had to reach down and get it. Surprisingly the bike and I were both totally fine and I launched right back into attack mode.
I lined up fourth row and prepared for carnage in the first corner which was a big 180 that went from pavement to dirt (ice) and back to pavement. When the light turned green some people crashed right off the line. The majority of the 80 riders shot into the black ice 180 covered in saw dust at 30 mph. There were four or five separate crashes in that one corner. I was extremely lucky not to go down but I got stuck behind all the crashes pushing me back to 50ish place. (Watch video of crash here at 2:30)
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| Photo: Hamvas/UCI |
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| Pure ice off-camber! Photo: Matthias Goossens |
The next lap I continued to move up, navigating the difficult course with 100% focus and attacking out every corner. Anything less than 100% focus would result in tumbling down a giant icy off camber and broken bones. Anything less than attacking out of every corner would result in losing positions to the other aggressive racers on straight sections. Even on the straight sections you had to watch for icy ruts that could grab your wheel and you needed to be extremely careful not to enter the next corner with too much speed.
The fourth lap I was mostly in no man's land until a Japanese rider caught me after pit one. I hung on through the start finish area but made a small error and lost some time.
Seeing that I was so close to cracking the top thirty ignited a fire in me and I poured my heart and soul into the final lap. I hit my lines, hammered the flats and managed to stay away from the big group of chasers, with only one British rider passing me.
I finished in 32nd place. It was truly surreal to cross that line. There were so many fans cheering and everyone was going crazy. I was herded into the finishing shoot where I regrouped with the other USA riders. I felt so proud and accomplished sitting there with my teammates. These are the guys who I have been racing against since I was ten and spent weeks training together throughout the years. We'd all come so far from grinding up the mountain together at Montana Cross Camp. (Thank you Geoff Proctor!)
On the way back to the team camp I did an interview with CX Magazine which can be seen here.
Afterward we all rolled back together analyzing our races. I got some food, changed and went to talk with my sister before her race. I left her with all the knowledge I had about the course and wished her good luck before she went to the start. After I talked with my parents which was extremely emotional. It was a proud moment for them and I am incredibly grateful that they were there to watch me race and for their unwavering and unconditional love and support for me.
I watched Emma race, cheering as loud as I could with my friends to spur her on in the tough conditions. She had a tough but smooth and steady race finishing 37th. Back in August she had a bad crash which gave her a concussion. She had to take over two months off the bike and it was amazing to see her cross the line. When she came out of the finishing shoot my parents and I met her and gathered in one big hug. We all teared up and were completely overcome with joy.
This has been an incredible season for me. I have grown so much as a rider and a person. I have worked so hard to achieve my goals and accomplished many of them this past season. It's hard to make sure I mention everyone but I will try. Starting off I'd like to thank my entire family, I couldn't do it without you. Next I'd like to thank my coach Joseph Maloney for always pushing me and knowing what I need to do to achieve my goals. I'd like to thank the entire Wisconsin cycling community. There are so many people who have stepped up to help this year through donations, advice and and have trained with me, pushing me and encouraging me. In addition I'd like to thank the whole Midwest and US cycling community. Also the generous people, some of whom I have never even met, who donated to my fundraising campaigns to help with the cost or racing in Europe and at Worlds. Thank you!
I really want to give a huge shout out and thank you to my sponsors as well. My team, Trek Cyclocross Collective and also the entire Trek family has been amazing. Thank you to Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Englewood Grass Farm who have all helped me in so many ways. Lastly I want to thank USA Cycling for helping make this happen. Thank you to Marc Gullickson, Jim Miller, Chris McGovern, Ken Whelpdale, Andrew Hawkes and the rest of the Team USA staff and mechanics for making it all possible.
Now it is time for the off season! A few more weeks of being off the bike and relaxing and then it's time to start training for mountain bike season! Thank you all for reading. |
| The most difficult and dangerous off camber behind me |
The fourth lap I was mostly in no man's land until a Japanese rider caught me after pit one. I hung on through the start finish area but made a small error and lost some time.
 |
| Photo: Rob Jones/ASSOS/USA Cycling |
I finished in 32nd place. It was truly surreal to cross that line. There were so many fans cheering and everyone was going crazy. I was herded into the finishing shoot where I regrouped with the other USA riders. I felt so proud and accomplished sitting there with my teammates. These are the guys who I have been racing against since I was ten and spent weeks training together throughout the years. We'd all come so far from grinding up the mountain together at Montana Cross Camp. (Thank you Geoff Proctor!)
On the way back to the team camp I did an interview with CX Magazine which can be seen here.
Afterward we all rolled back together analyzing our races. I got some food, changed and went to talk with my sister before her race. I left her with all the knowledge I had about the course and wished her good luck before she went to the start. After I talked with my parents which was extremely emotional. It was a proud moment for them and I am incredibly grateful that they were there to watch me race and for their unwavering and unconditional love and support for me.
I watched Emma race, cheering as loud as I could with my friends to spur her on in the tough conditions. She had a tough but smooth and steady race finishing 37th. Back in August she had a bad crash which gave her a concussion. She had to take over two months off the bike and it was amazing to see her cross the line. When she came out of the finishing shoot my parents and I met her and gathered in one big hug. We all teared up and were completely overcome with joy.
This has been an incredible season for me. I have grown so much as a rider and a person. I have worked so hard to achieve my goals and accomplished many of them this past season. It's hard to make sure I mention everyone but I will try. Starting off I'd like to thank my entire family, I couldn't do it without you. Next I'd like to thank my coach Joseph Maloney for always pushing me and knowing what I need to do to achieve my goals. I'd like to thank the entire Wisconsin cycling community. There are so many people who have stepped up to help this year through donations, advice and and have trained with me, pushing me and encouraging me. In addition I'd like to thank the whole Midwest and US cycling community. Also the generous people, some of whom I have never even met, who donated to my fundraising campaigns to help with the cost or racing in Europe and at Worlds. Thank you!
I really want to give a huge shout out and thank you to my sponsors as well. My team, Trek Cyclocross Collective and also the entire Trek family has been amazing. Thank you to Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Englewood Grass Farm who have all helped me in so many ways. Lastly I want to thank USA Cycling for helping make this happen. Thank you to Marc Gullickson, Jim Miller, Chris McGovern, Ken Whelpdale, Andrew Hawkes and the rest of the Team USA staff and mechanics for making it all possible.
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| Emma and I with Tim Vanderjeugd and our team manager Scott Daubert |
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