2018 Mountain Bike National Championships

Time for a nationals roundup! I rolled out on Tuesday the 17th and headed for Milwaukee where I picked up fellow WORS racer and friend Ben Senkerik. We then headed for Indianapolis where we stayed the night with my sister's boyfriend and Marian grad Ben Schmutte. We had dinner, spun out the legs and the next morning we were back on the road early to finish the drive.

Snowshoe never disappoints! 

The rest of the evening was spent riding, getting to know the Bear Development crew I was staying with, and hanging out at the Wisco/AZ cookout. One of the things I love most about cycling is all the friends you make and one of the best parts of nationals is reuniting with those friends from all over the country.

Hanging with the Bear Pro Team boys and Specialized Racing interloper Chris Blevins

Thursday I pre-rode more and got a few hot laps in. I felt fast and fluid on the course, but I made the mistake of going back to hit the big manmade rock garden one more time. On the exit I was I was just a few inches off my line and slammed into a rock super-manning over the bars. I got scraped up all over my body and hyperextended my left elbow. Overall I was in one piece and Ron Funston (Scott's dad) checked me out and taped up my arm.

Trek Top Fuel dialed and ready!

The next day I did one easy lap and then hit the rock drop a few times to regain my confidence before spinning out the legs. Then there was nothing left to do but rest, recover and focus!

The A-line over the rock drop. Photo: Jack Looney

Cross Country

Saturday morning, the Bear Pro crew and I all went through our race day rituals. Breakfast, coffee, watch the tour, second breakfast, and legs up until it was time to kit up. Then warm up and roll to the start. I lined up second row on the far right and charged up the start hill in the top ten. When we popped out onto the first climb people went around me like I was standing still. I tried to kick it into gear but things just wouldn't click.

Photo: Calder Wood

I went into lap two near 20th place, but this time when I got to the first climb it felt like a switch had been flicked. All of a sudden I was actually racing! I started to make up a few spots. At the end of the third lap, Cooper Willsey caught up to me. I hopped on his wheel and we started making moves. He had a very smart strategy, fast but steady on the climbs so that you weren't too gassed to put it down in the technical sections.

Photo: Calder Wood

By the final lap we worked our way almost into the top ten, Coop had a little gap on me after the last descent but both of us were clear from the rest of the group. Cooper finished in 9th just eight seconds ahead of me in 10th.

It was my first u23 nationals and earlier in the year I set the goal of cracking the top ten, but I was still disappointed. You know what really good legs feel like, you know decent legs feel like, and you know what bad legs feel like. On this day my legs were just painfully mediocre and far from what I needed to attain a big result. On the bright side, I was the top finishing first year u23 and my fellow Trek family members of the Bear Pro Team claimed six of the top seven spots!

Short Track

On Sunday we had to wait around all morning since we didn't race until two. That meant more Tour watching, lots of food, stretching and tired dudes talking about how much the short track was going to hurt.

I did a long warm up and got my call-up to the fourth row. I started hard trying to make up as many spots as I could quickly before I lost too much time. The pace was blisteringly hot and I struggled to hold on to my teammate Brian Matter's wheel as he moved up through the field.

Photo: Janice Jedlicka

He still helped me move up a few spots through the field and at the halfway mark of the race other races started to blow sky-high. I started making up spots passing the blown riders.

I worked my way close to the top 15 but lost some spots on the last two laps fading back to 20th place. Again, I was hoping for a better result but I really had no clue what to expect in my first Pro STXC nats.

Photo: Janice Jedlicka

In all I had a great week in West Virginia. The riding and racing was fantastic and I came away with some solid results and learned a lot. I have to give a huge thank you to Julia Violich and the Bear Devo program for hosting me for the week and making me feel so welcome.

Now finally I want to thank my amazing team, Linear Sport RT and our sponsors: Trek, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda. Big thanks as well to my personal sponsors, Englewood Grass Farm, TOGS, Fox Racing Shocks, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Wolf Tooth Components and ESI Grips for making my season happen. I couldn't do it without them.