Battle of Camrock WORS #4

WORS #4 at Camrock was a great race. This is my home course and I ride here at least once a week. I missed this race last year and I was very glad to be able to do it this year. I was super stoked and my friend Sam Spende was racing sport for the first time so I was also looking forward to that. Its only twenty minutes from my house so I got sleep in pretty late. I got there and warmed up on the road until it was time to start. I powered up the huge starting hill right on my competitors wheels and on cresting the second hill I passed Kyle and a couple of other people into first overall in my start wave. I went into the single track being number one on the course I rode all the single track sections that I love and know from riding there all the time. After that I just widened the gap on my competitors and ha a good time. I had a huge home field advantage and that really helped, I ended up 11 over all out of 170+  starters!

Red Eye Rendezvous WORS #3

I was determined to win this race I hadn't got a win yet in the sport category of WORS and I was going to get it this day!  WORS number three was at Nine Mile in Wausau, WI. I have some bad luck here a couple times and I was determined to win problem free. Right before my race I was feeling pretty flat but my power-bar gel picked me up enough so that I could explode of the start line and hang onto first places wheel though the starting flat sections and jump ahead of him right before the first single track section. I moved my way through the traffic in the single track as fast as I could and continued to widen the gap the whole race with out seeing my competitors again. Some of the hills in the beginning are killer because there are multiple in rapid succession but then it is mostly single track for the rest of the lap. It was a great and I was happy to bring home the win!

Crystal Lake Classic WORS #2

Drove to this race 45 minutes from my cabin so I didn't have to get up to early! This course has a lot of flats which is not so great for me but I managed. Last year I came up with the Schmidts and got third in citizen. This year I am doing sport and have a longer more technical course which is great for me. It was a challenging because I was distracted before my race because I got lot and I was short on time but I nailed the fun single track sections and powered on the flats to get second which I was pretty happy with.

Iola Bump and Jump WORS #1

Well this was WORS number one here in Wisconsin and I was excited for the first mountain bike race of the year! We had to wake up super early to drive all the way up to Iola, but my mom and I made it. This was my first race ever in the sport category so I was excited for a longer more technical course. There were a bunch of monster hills in the first fourth of the course and then it  turned into almost all single track. I got second behind my friend Andrew Schmidt who won sport overall. I was happy to have completed my first sport race and get a medal.

Spring Break

For spring break of 2013 the original plan was to go to Brown County Indiana after going to the Barry-Roubaix gravel road race in Michigan. But the weather was not cooperating so after the race we had to go south, to Alabama. Me and my sister both won the junior category for the 24 mile and the two junior 150 dollar scholarships. My sister Emma Swartz, was first woman overall for the entire 24 mile and I was 9th in the 11-29 year old men category. So after this we headed down to the IMBA epic, Oak Mountain which was where we road in Alabama. We stayed there for three nights and rode some amazing trails like blood rock, Jekyll and Hyde, and BUMP. There is a pro XT mountain bike race there for good reason! Next we went the Bull Mountain IMBA epic in Dahlonega, Georgia. These were also great trails, they began with a super long down hill from the park lot that twisted and turned with burms and rock gardens all the way down to a river were we had to wade across a freezing cold river to access the other trails. They were all great and we only got one flat. We then packed up and started the journey home. On the way back we did a road race at the IndyCycloplex run by Marian College. I got sixth in juniors and my sister got 15. It was a great week of training with two races and 4, four hour mountain bike rides and I got to ride more of the great trails in our country.

The stream crossing at Bull Mountain

Barry-Roubaix podium

Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville Kentucky

Flooding!

WORS 2013 Schedule Released!

WORS 2013 Schedule Released!
Click on the link to see the 2013 WORS series schedule.