Major Taylor Cross Cup

Now that I go to school at Marian University the Major Taylor Cross Cup is my home race! The race is held right on our home trails where I ride all the time and it was a bonus to be able to help design the course.

On Saturday things were a little unusual. Due to extremely heavy rain and lightning our race was delayed but thankfully still happened! I started second row but didn't have a great start, coming into the first corner around 20th. I went through pit one and took a bike to avoid a large mud puddle and made a pass or two. I moved up into a group fighting for the top got onto Drew Dillman's wheel. After another lap or two we got away and were fighting for 8th place. Over the next few laps I lost time to him on the big run but gained time back in the lower power section balancing things out to a 5-10 second gap that I could never quite close. I ended up taking 9th place in the extremely muddy, technical race, making it my first C2 top ten!

On Sunday the weather was very different! The temperature dropped from near 60 to the upper thirties but thankfully there was no rain. 

In the early afternoon I did the collegiate race to try and earn the Midwest Conference call-up spot for collegiate nationals.

I started third row and was fifth off the pavement but unfortunately a rider came up from behind me and cut across my front wheel when they hit a rut wrong, breaking a few spokes in my front wheel and causing me to dismount. 

I worked my way back to the front from the mid-twenties and caught up to first place (Marian team mate Cade Bickmore) by the start of the second lap. I started to put on the pressure and slowly got a gap that I extended over the next few laps to take the win.

It was great to race with all my Marian team mates and the squad is looking super strong for nationals in January!

Cade, Me, Nick

After the collegiate I cooled down, spun my legs out and the thirty minutes later I kitted up again to do the UCI race!

I started second row again but this time I had a great start, coming off the pavement in third place! Once we got around the first corner it was a running race to pit one and I dropped back a few spots.

I was in a big group fighting for the top five but doing two races just wasn't agreeing with my body. I tried to fight but I just couldn't stay with them.

My body just felt like dead weight as I slogged through the mud and as the temperature dropped I started getting colder and slower until it was almost a relief when the official pulled me.

I hate to get pulled but I still finished in a decent 14th place, which in retrospect wasn't too bad for it being my second race of the day.


As always huge thanks to my family, my coach Joseph Maloney and to my sponsors Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Challenge Tires, and Englewood Grass farm for their great support! Next up I'm headed to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma for the Ruts and Guts UCI race! Thanks for reading and be sure to keep up to date on my social media!

Derby City Cup

Derby City Cup race report coming at you! This race moved from Eva Bandman, where the 2013 CX World Championships were held, to Joe Creason Park. The course was full of fun technical descents, muddy ruts, tricky off-cambers, and leg sapping power climbs. The consensus seemed to be that everyone who had good legs loved it, those who bad legs not so much!

Saturday after a random draw for start position I lined up second to last row. When the gun went off I snaked around people slamming on the breaks to avoid crashing on the start straight. Things were going smoothly and I passed my way into the top thirty by pit one and stayed on the gas. On the technical off-camber before the stone steps I took the high line and passed my way into the top 20. I dropped into the technical descent after the stone steps right on another rides wheel, who proceeded to eat it hard. There was nothing I could do and I ran into him going over the bars. Our bikes got tangled up and by the time we got them apart I was in dead last with my chain off over a minute behind the next rider. 

Photo: Palomino American Cyclocross

I hopped on and rode my way to the pit where I exchanged bikes and got back underway. On the next lap, through brief yelling as I went by the pit my dad and I decided it was best for me to do a few laps, figure out my lines, and then pull out. I hate to not finish a race, but the Pan-American Championships on Sunday were the focus of the weekend. I needed to score some UCI points and that wouldn't have been possible if I blew my legs out on Saturday. So, I made the best of it and worked my way back into the top thirty after three laps. In that time I discovered my legs felt great and that I felt smooth and comfortable everywhere on the course.

My Marian team mate & room mate Nick Beirne post race. PC: Cameron Fisk

 After Saturday's debacle I was determined to have a great race and score valuable ranking points. Things started with a drawing the very last call up position but I put it behind me and focused on moving up. I had a good start but made a mistake in the corner before pit one costing me seven or eight spots that I'd just gained.

Photo: Jeff Curtes

It was a game of catch up again and I worked my way into the top 15 and found myself in a group with Cameron Beard and a Canadian rider fighting for the top ten. With two laps to go Spencer Petrov who broke a chain on the start line caught up to Cameron and I.

We picked up the pace and Cameron started to lose some time to Spencer and I. It was just the two of us as we headed into the lap battling for ninth place. I hung on tight and Spencer launched his attack into the barriers close to the finish by hopping them, and putting in an all out effort. I managed to hold pace a few seconds off his wheel but coming into the last technical section Spencer crashed allowing me to run around him to take home 9th place in the Pan-American Championships.

It was a solid result for my first u23 specific race and for being at the youngest end of the age group. Physically things were starting to fall into place and mentally I was 100% there until the end and hungry for it.

As always big thanks to my family, my coach Joseph Maloney and to my sponsors Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Challenge Tires, and Englewood Grass farm for the support!

Watch for my next race report after Major Taylor Cross Cup this weekend here on my home course at Marian. Until then I'll be enjoying these last days of fall ripping my Boone through the leaves! Thanks for reading.

Cincy Cyclocross Festival

Since collegiate mountain biking is over (check back for a Collegiate MTB Nats post soon!) cyclocross season if officially here! It had been over a month since I last raced cross but I was ready to dive back into it.

The course at Devou in Cincinnati was as technical and fun as always, but muddier than it's ever been. I got my lines dialed warmed up and staged towards the back of the start grid. When the official blew the whistle we ripped down the long start straight into the first big chicane. I got bogged down behind people on the inside line but managed to make up some spots through the next few corners by making aggressive passes.

I drifted back a few spots on the first lap and lost a few more on the second lap. I simply wasn't used to ripping around in the mud on a cross bike and wasn't used to that full gas cross effort. On the third lap I found my flow and remembered how to make it hurt like I needed to. My lap time got faster on that third lap and again on the fourth lap but I was stuck in no-mans land and had no-one within sight.

I crossed the line in 23rd place, my best UCI finish yet and it was my first C1 event! I was hoping for a better result but all things considered I'm happy.

Lucky to have so many tread options from Challenge Tires!

On Sunday we were back at Harbin park where I had last raced in 2014. The course was was soggy and slick but tacky in some spots making it a Baby Limus day. Due to random draw I was the very last call up but I made the best of it and lined up the fence so I could move up quickly. Right from the gun I weaved through people and shot up on the outside line with a clear path.

I made passes where I could and felt smooth through the corners. When we got to the short climb to the top of the course I lost quite a few spots and knew I might be in trouble. I managed to gain back a few spots and maintain my position but I could feel something was off with my back.

So coming into the fifth lap I pulled the plug rather than mess with my back anymore. It wasn't the way I was planning on my third UCI race of the year going but it was still a valuable learning experience and I'm excited for Louisville this weekend!

Stoked to rip these beasts again this weekend!

Big thanks to Trek, Bontrager, Sram, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Challenge Tires, and Englewood Grass farm for the support!