U.S. Open of Cyclocross

Race weekend number six in a row, Boulder, CO for the U.S. Open of Cyclocross! After a busy weekend of midterms, Emma and I loaded are bike bags into the minivan and headed north to Midway airport in Chicago. From there it was a short flight to Denver, the tram to the baggage claim, and then a bus ride to Boulder. Our longtime family friend Eric Stonebraker snagged us from the bus stop in his Subaru Outback (the official vehicle of Boulder) and then we hit the hay.

Saturday morning, I built up our four Boones while Emma grabbed some groceries. In the afternoon Karl Hendrikse, fellow Wisconsinite and our mechanic for the weekend grabbed our extra bikes and bags to drop off at the course. Emma and I spun over to the venue and hopped on course to pre-ride.

Emma had a solid race, taking fifth in a strong field. Not bad for someone who just got over a bout of bronchitis! I had a slow start getting a little swarmed up the start hill. I made up some ground in the first off-camber, dismounting and running around some carnage.

Photo: Philip Mathys

I came into lap two in around 15th place. Over the next lap, I worked my way into the top ten and settled into a group fighting for 5th through 8th. Garry Millburn, Troy Wells, Yannick Eckmann and I traded off every now and then with varying paces. We started to close the gap on Cody Kaiser and with a few laps to go, I hit the front. In the flat, back section of the course, I had it down to about ten seconds. Naturally, I proceeded to slide out in a corner while on the front bringing the entire group to a halt. We got going again but were never able to catch back up to Cody. We’d lost a little bit of our mojo and Yannick had a mechanical taking him out of our group.

Gary, Troy and I stayed in limbo fighting for 5^th place until the very last lap. Troy put in some digs going into that final lap and on the long straightaway before pit two I counterattacked. Troy lost a few bike lengths on us, but Gary hung on tight into the last two climbs and descents before the steps. Going up the steps it was all or nothing since there were no more opportunities to pass and not much of chance for a sprint from behind. As a result, we sprinted up the steps as hard as we could. At the very top, Gary remounted on my inside a split second faster and got around me, sealing up fifth place.

Photo: Philip Mathys

Overnight the storms rolled in as predicted and when we woke up in the morning there were 6+ inches of fresh snow. The course was an awesome muddy mess with frozen chunks of muddy ice. I had a better start than Saturday sliding into the top ten. after the stairs. From there I settled into the group fighting for 6th through 9th. I felt comfortable at the pace but going into the final third of the race I started to fade. Like many others, my hands started to freeze solid and I had serious problems clipping in. I ended up 12th which was a little disappointing, but there are plenty more races this season and I'm sure I'll be back racing in Boulder again!

Photo: Kenny Wehn

First and foremost, thank you to Eric Stonebraker and Carrie Morrill for generously hosting Emma and I. Next up, thank you to Karl Hendriske for helping transport our gear to and from the races as well as amazing work in the pits. Huge huge thank you as well to Greg Keller and the Boulder Junior Cycling crew for letting Emma and me crash in their tent all weekend. Massive thank you to Greg as well for taking on the frigid pit work for me on Sunday so that I could keep racing hard on clean equipment!

Finally, thank you to my team, Linear Sport RT and our sponsors: Trek, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda. Thank you as well to Trek Race Shop, Englewood Grass Farm, Mike's Mix, and Sram. Thank you all for reading and be sure to follow along on my social media @cswartzz. Next up, Collegiate MTB Nationals in Missoula, MT!

Jingle Cross

It's the most wonderful time of the year... the Kerstperiode of the Midwest. Trek CX Cup followed by Jingle Cross. After a hiatus last year I was stoked to be heading back to Iowa City, Iowa for my 8th year.

After our physics class, Emma and I loaded up the car and trekked the five hours to Iowa. I got kitted up while she set my tire pressure. The course was just like I remembered, hard, technical, euro and the mud felt like home.

The start went off clean and I moved up the left side on the long finish straight sneaking up a few spots in the first few slalom corners. When we came through pit one I was in sixth place and moved into fifth place before going into the second lap. Along the start straight I moved into third position following a French rider and then into second place going past pit one.

On the third lap our group of six had a sizable gap on the field and I felt comfortable in fifth. On the fourth lap Diether Sweeck lit it up shattering our group. I pulled away from Gunnar Holmgren on the runup and finished off the last few laps solo to take fifth as the top American, my best UCI finish yet.

Check out the video below for a post-race interview with Wisconsin friend and Cyclocross Magazine writer/videographer/cx coverage extraordinaire Zach Schuster.

Also be sure to check out this amazing race coverage video by Bill Schieken from In the Crosshairs!

On Saturday it was all about Emma. I rode in the morning and headed to the race just in time to catch the last few laps of the men's race.

WVA

Then the women took to the course. Emma had a solid start and was in the low twenties for the first lap or so.

As the rain kept falling and the race got harder Emma continued to move up.

In the final descent on the last lap the u23 rider in front of her took a tumble(I watched this happen and was jumping up and down because I was so anxious) and Emma was home free to finish 16th overall in a World Cup and was the second u23!

I sprinted to the finish line and worked my way over to the podium tent anxious to find her. Eventually, she came out so I could hug her and a few minutes I got to watch my big sister stand on World Cup podium for the first time.

On Sunday it was time for the C1. I had a rough start almost getting caught behind a crash in the first corner.  I started to work my way up but plateaued in the first race hovering in the low twenties. Around the halfway point Jamey Driscoll came around me and I hopped on his wheel. He set a hard consistent pace that made me suffer but brought us into the top twenty. With two laps to go he dropped me.

In the final lap I passed Eric Thompson and finished half a wheel behind Gage Hecht. The picture above is me helping Gage up after he took a spill in a deep rut after crossing the line. In the end I finished 17th overall and was happy to snag the third step of the u23 podium with Gage and Brannan Fix.

Overall I'm pretty thrilled with how the weekend went. Took home my best results yet in a C1 and C2 and am happy with how I raced and felt. Cyclocross is so incredibly fun and I cannot wait for the next four months of racing!

As always big thanks to my team, Linear Sport RT and our sponsors: Trek, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda.
Thank you as well to Trek Race Shop, Englewood Grass Farm, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, and Sram. Thank you all for reading and be sure to follow along on my social media @cswartzz. Next up, Collegiate MTB Regionals in Copper Harbor, Michigan!

Trek CX Cup

Trek CX Cup! The first cross race of the season is always a cause for celebration and especially when it's back home in Wisconsin at Trek HQ.  Thursday after class I caught a ride with the Conaway's up from Indianapolis, since Emma needed to be at Trek on Wednesday. 

cx caravan 

On Friday I got to wake up in my own bed and hang around before heading to preride in Waterloo. The course fun, fast, tacky and perfect for a Challenge Grifo. After warming up with Brian Matter we rolled to the start and I got ready to suffer.

I started towards the back but moved up down the first descent to pit one and kept on the gas up the climb to the first flyover. My cross skills were a little rough but the fitness was there and legs felt good! I kept moving up until midway through the race when I found myself fighting for 13th with Jack Kisseberth and a European rider. We stayed mostly stayed together but as the race went on I found myself struggling to stay right with them. Not far behind was a group 4-5 riders including Matter, and they were chasing hard. That motivated me to keep hurting and I stayed ahead to take home 15th, as the 3rd American.

PC: Mark Zhao

On Saturday I rode the hour from Madison to Waterloo to race the P/1/2 race. Brian got away early and I got away in the last two laps to finish second in an exciting race. Then I rode back to Madison to call it a day!

On Sunday it was all about the World Cup. I got up early and did a big endurance ride out to Trek. Then I got changed, grabbed my camera and enjoyed the races from the other side of the tape.

WVA

Go Emma!

Fans!

Great to see the Linear Sport RT crew.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend of racing and a great way to kick off the cx season. Trek absolutely knocked it out of the park with this event! Nothing better than racing at home in front of the entire Wisconsin cycling community.

Lastly, I am very excited to be riding for Linear Sport RT and our sponsors: Trek, Bontrager, Wheel & Sprocket, Styled Aesthetic, Kettle Moraine Preservation and Restoration, and David Hobbs Honda.
Additionally, I am proud to be working with the Trek Race Shop, as well as representing Englewood Grass Farm, Honey Stinger, Mike's Mix, Sram and more to be announced soon. Thank you for reading and be sure to follow along on social media @cswartzz.