Linear Sport Racing Team and Spring Update

Cyclocross season is well in the rear view mirror and MTB season is here! The big news is that I will be on Linear Sport Racing Team! The whole team is super passionate, motivated and I can't wait to rep their colors and our amazing sponsors: Trek, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda. For my personal sponsors I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Englewood Grass Farm, Wolf Tooth Components and ESI Grips again this season.

In early April team manager Steve Welk drove all the way over from Milwaukee just to see me race a local crit and talk face to face.

Three days after said crit I jumped on a plane to Arizona to shred with longtime mentor and teammate Brian Matter!

Picture time in Skull Valley!

On my second day there we descended down into Skull Valley which is a brutally hard climb in the middle of the Whiskey 50 off-road and slogged our way back up to this amazing look out.

After our big day on Thursday Brian and I hit up a dirt jump spot behind a local Costco. It was a ton of fun to brush up on my skills and nail some sweet lines.

On Saturday we ripped up five hours of dirt roads and single track in the mountains. On Sunday we loaded up our gear and drove 1.5 hours over the mountains to shred Sedona.

Woah!

Teammates!

Sedona seriously defied my expectations. It was unbelievably beautiful and every trail we rode was killer! Afterwords we stopped at a roadside taco truck and smashed some tasty Mexican food, officially making it a perfect day

The day after we rode in Sedona we headed out to what everyone calls, "the dells" for a chill ride with some gnarly skills practice. Local AZ Devo coach Eric Naumetz showed Brian and me some seriously technical lines that were a ton of fun. The two of them were both riding full on trail bikes while I was on my XC racing rig, but it didn't stop me from going full send and doing stuff I never thought I would even try!

Moment before the photo above was taken I went over the bars hard almost breaking my elbow on one of the least dangerous features I had ridden all day. It's always the little stuff that gets you!

When my week was up I was pretty bummed that I had to leave. I had a phenomenal time and I cannot thank Brian, Andrea and little Elmer enough for hosting me. It was a perfect week of riding and it felt pretty special to be able to train as peer with Brian. He is someone who I have looked up to as a mentor and hero for years and has played a big role in my development as a rider and racer.

It was also a lot of fun getting to know some of the Arizona Devo juniors who I'm looking forward to racing against this year. On top of that it was cool to get to know Chloe and Travis Woodruff and Rose Grant of the Stan's Notubes - Pivot team.

On Wednesday I flew home to Madison, got diagnosed with strep throat and then hopped in the van to head to Brown County.

Trek Top Fuel looks just as good in the Midwest as it does out in the mountains!

It was super awesome to spend some time with the team and get to know everyone better. On top of that, for the Midwest, you really can't beat the riding in Brown County State Park.

I've been putting in the work and now it's time to see how I stack up at the Englewood Opener for WORS #1! Check back in next week for a full race report but in the meantime stay up to date by following me on my social media. Peace!