Trek CX Cup

Trek CX Cup! One of my favorite weekends of the entire year, especially now that I no longer live in Madison. Thursday after class, Emma and I loaded up the van and drove the five hours back home. It was awesome to be back in town with my family and dogs and to get to ride through the UW Arboretum again!

Friday morning we headed out to Waterloo and checked out the course. It was fast dry and tons of fun! Then we headed back home again to stay out of the heat and to rest up for the evening's races.

After a brief warm up on course with Brian Matter and a finalization of tire pressure I rolled up to the start of my first elite UCI race. Although it was only a C2, some of the very best European riders were there including Mathieu van der Poel and most of the Telenet Fidea team. Right from the gun everything was full gas, starting almost last row I needed to move up quickly. I cut the first three corners as sharply as I could making up spots and by the time we came through pit one I was almost in the top 20.

Photo: Jeff Kennel

That first lap was unlike anything I had done since last cross season, I'd almost forgotten what it feels like to turn yourself inside out to the point of nausea in a single lap. On the second lap I put in the exact same time but drifted back a few spots losing the group with Brian Matter in it.

Photo: Jeff Kennel

I drifted back another spot or two as I recovered and then kicked it  into gear again as I settled into the next group. We rode together for the next few laps maintaining our positions and suffering in the heat.

Photo: Jeff Kennel

I was unused to the full out effort and the difference in handling between a cross bike and an mtb but as the race progressed I got more comfortable and felt smoother. A personal achievement for me was hopping the barriers (my first time hopping double barriers in competition!) and riding the log stairs every lap.

Photo: Jeff Kennel

By my seventh lap my legs were screaming and my back was fighting against me, limiting my power. Judging from time I was prepared to give it for one last lap but when the official waved me off the course it was a relief. I finished in 25th place, nothing spectacular but given the competition and the small amount of cross specific training I've done after mtb worlds I'm happy with my result.

Me explaining to teammate Tyler Renolds and company what it was to be in the same race as MVDP

Saturday morning we had a family breakfast and then headed to Camrock for the collegiate mtb race. At 11:00am, less than 18 hours since my last race I lined up again in the 90 degree heat. I was quick off the line and settled in on Ben Schmutte's wheel, ripping up my home trails. Part way through the first lap my legs seemed to suddenly fall off and my back tightened up badly. I finished out the lap and pulled the plug. It was just too much for my body in the brutal heat, so I resorted to playing with my pup, Milo and cheering the rest of the Marian riders on.

Sunday morning was the big day! Emma was racing her first Elite World Cup! Before, I helped pit for her I went out and did my first single speed race.

The make-shift single speed. Photo: Jeff Curtes

I don't own an actual single speed, but a zip tie does the trick! The difficult part was picking a gear without getting a chance to test it out on course, luckily there were plenty of friendly competitors willing to weigh in on it (they recommended I use the hardest gear possible).

Photo: Jeff Curtes

Thanks to my tall gear I wasn't the quickest off the line but by the time we went under the finishing banner I was up to speed and moved into the lead.

Photo: Jeff Curtes

For my first and second lap my gearing felt fine but necessitated some extra running. By the end of the third lap I started to feel the effects of my efforts but kept on spinning it out where I could. It was a different style of racing that made me focus on efficiency, carrying speed and nailing my lines.

Photo: David Schlabowski

 It was fun to take my first win of the cyclocross season and to get the ball rolling!

Grandpa Bill, my number one supporter!

Trek Family

The rest of my day was spent helping Emma and soaking in the awesome atmosphere of the first Waterloo World Cup. Everything about it was just top notch, the competitors, the fans, the course and the people at Trek behind the big show. The highlight of the weekend was certainly watching my sister race the World Cup just six weeks after breaking her elbow. What made that even sweeter was the the payout for the men and women was equal for the first time ever at a World Cup! Hopefully by next year I will have earned a spot in the Elite Men's race and will line up on my home course against the best in the world.

World Cup spectating! Photo: Palamino American Cyclocross

I'm stoked for another season with Trek Cyclocross Collective. Big thanks to Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix and new to the team this season: Challenge Tires!

Lastly thank you to the Agnew's at Englewood Grass Fed Beef for sending me home with tons of high quality protein to keep my dorm room stocked up!

World Championships - Cairns, Australia 2017

Way back in February after Cyclocross Worlds I sat down and planned out my goal for the 2017 mountain bike season. At the top of the list were two huge goals, win a national championships and to be selected for the 2017 Mountain Bike World Championship team. In July I accomplished that first goal and won the junior 15-18 short track nationals championship in West Virginia. A few weeks later, on the car ride down to Indianapolis to start college I received an email saying that I was selected to represent Team USA in Australia!

Crikey!

Racing the World Championships in Cairns, Australia was an incredible and eye-opening experience for me. I’ve raced cyclocross in Europe and experienced some pretty brutal and difficult courses but the course at the Smithfield Mountain Bike Park was something else. Difficult, technical, steep climbing, big drops, gnarly rock rolls and tire destroying rock gardens made up much of the course. On top of that I dealt with temperatures near 90 degrees, sticky humidity and blinding clouds of dust that coated everything making every corner loose and slick.

When the gun went off on Thursday afternoon it was full gas into whirlwind of gravel and dust. I snuck around a crash in the first corner and accelerated again into the darkness hoping that no one would go down in front of me. We tore up the start loop and I came through the start finish somewhere in the 50s.

On the rodeo drop off I took the B-Line around some downed riders and made up some time. On the crusher drop there was a line of riders who were stopped, waiting to drop into the steep rock roll. I took the B-Line again gaining a few spots. From there it was full gas all the way to the top of the course with my heart rate deep into the red.

Launching the Rodeo Drop

When I reached the top, I dropped straight into the infamous “Croc Steps” rock garden followed by the “Croc Slide” rock chute. I made it through cleanly and took the B-Line on “Jacob’s Ladder,” a vertical, flat inducing rock roll followed by a rock garden. I lost a few spots and kicked myself for still being skittish after I crashed hard there on Monday. Next up was the caterpillar jump section, the most fun part of the course and the only place I could really recover.

Boosting it on the caterpillar descent. Photo: Kenny Wehn

Coming into lap two I was somewhere in the upper 40s and maintained my position until the Croc Steps where I took the B-Line to go around a downed rider. I almost missed the corner that cut back onto croc slide and dabbed, launching down the sheer rock slide with one foot unclipped! I flew down to the bottom managing not die, and as a bonus the crowd went wild recognizing my narrow escape of a race ending crash. 

For the next three laps, I tried to move up the best I could, but the heat and humidity took its toll on my heart and body. My heart rate was so high (max of 202, average of 192 for 1:15) that I could hardly even push my legs without maxing out my HR. When I crossed the line in 44th I was utterly spent, but elated about racing my first mountain bike World Championships. 

Kevin Vermaerke and I left it all out there

My result was far from what I had hoped and trained for, and I am still quite disappointed in that. However, I rode a clean race and conquered every obstacle on the course overcoming my fears. In addition, I learned a great deal about international mountain bike racing, as it was my first ever over-seas UCI race and my fourth ever UCI cross-country race. On top of that I made lots of amazing new friends from the U.S. and other countries, swam in the ocean, watched the pro races, saw kangaroos and crocodiles, and overall had the trip of a lifetime!

I’d like to thank my family and all my friends for their amazing support and contributions, my coach, Joseph Maloney for helping me have my best season yet and accomplishing the highest goals I set, the Marian University cycling community for helping me prepare, and finally thanks to my amazing team Linear Sport Racing and to my awesome sponsors: Trek Bikes, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda, as well as Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Englewood Grass Farm, Wolf Tooth Components and ESI Grips!

In addition I'd like to thank Jason Jablonski, Marc Gullickson and USA Cycling along with Ken Whelpdale, our mechanics Kenny Wehn and Julian Petite and our soignuers Bernard Condevaux and Jen O'Connor.

I can't thank the amazing USAC staff enough!

Thank you all for reading and for being part of this incredible journey. I can't wait for what is to come!