Reforestation Ramble WORS #9

This race was in Green Bay, so we drove up 2 and a half hours up there for our 11:40 start. I warmed up and went to staging, this was going to be a 24 mile long  race so I had a lot of energy food. The start was super long, flat and open before the single track and I knew it was going to be tough to hold on to the group. My dad was racing too so I stayed on his wheel on the flats and held onto first, but second place caught up and passed me right before the single track. I tried to stay with him but he had a little gap and once we got back out in the open he was gone. From there I just rode my own race with my dad and hung tough. I dropped my dad towards the end and noticed that third was closing in. The finish was a super long flat sprint with a right hand turn then some more flats. I got caught behind a guy who was slow in the single track but fast on the flats so once we got out in the open I sucked his wheel and we just flew down the trail going 25 mph I was holding third off but in the final turn he took the inside line on me and there was nothing I could do. I was thrilled that I beat my dad and almost beat my sister, but it was a really bad course for me so I hope to win in two weeks in Lake Geneva.

My sister Emma Swartz

Alterra Coffee Bean Classic WORS #8

 So I just love this race, the course is great and with the changes and new trails this years course was fantastic! I have won here the past two years so I was hoping I could do it again. I arrived at 10:00, got my gear on, registered and started warming up. I rode the first section of the course and kept riding around until it was time to start.

I got my call up to the front row and waited for the count down, 10..9..8..7..6..5.. Gooooooooo!!! We took off and started up the first monster climb before the single track started. I was 6th up the hill and in second in my age group, we sliced through the first section of single track and got to a open section and I blew by 4 people into first place. I stayed with the same group of people the whole race the second lap I got stuck behind some slow people in the first section of single and lost some time. I had led the whole race and on the last lap I looked back and unfortunately could see second place, and this was right at the end and I knew he would catch me on the flats. He was right on my wheel going into the finishing hill and I was just shot, we were on a short false flat when he passed me I was a few feet behind him and starting to gain when some people got in my way,  I couldn't keep my speed up and just couldn't do it. I was super disappointed but I will get him next time!

Sun Burst Showdown WORS #7

This course is a tough one for me and last year I managed to pull of a win but it was a major struggle. This year they added in more climbing and single track which was good for me but still wasn't a huge help. We started and there was just to much open two track and climbing before the first single track section, so I couldn't hold onto first places wheel. From there I just held onto second place and rode my own race until third place caught up on the last lap. Then I was sprinting to be first into every single track section and up every hill. I lost some time on first place because some other riders were crashing and holding us up in the last single section. I knew it was going to come to a sprint so I made sure I was ahead exiting the last single section before 70 yards of open grass to the finish. I whipped around the last corner and put down the hammer to successfully second place.

Subaru Cup Pro XCT 2013

Well this was my last race before mountain bike nationals and I was pumped for the mid-west championships. We drove up on Friday and prerode, it turned out I rode to hard on Friday and was a little bit tired for my race on Saturday evening and didn't have great legs. There were some super fast boys from Colorado and Utah who ended up getting on the podium at nationals. But it was a hard race and I was in 6th for most of the race and lost 6th place because I crashed twice in two dumb spots which was very unfortunate. I lost time and the person in front of me got away. I ended up 7th which was pretty good and I was 3rd in the mid-west. We then went back to our rental cabin and swam in the beautiful lake there and rested up. The next day I had the super-D race. I was excited because I got to race my new scott scale. I had a great start and was in 4th place, right on 3rd places wheel but I slid out on a tricky corner and got passed by  5th I lost the two in front of me and ended up winning a sprint against my friend Nate which is shown in the video. I ended up sixth because a junior in a different wave had a better time. It was a good weekend of racing and was fairly happy but was not pleased about the crashes.

Road Nationals 2013

Well road racing is not really my thing but I still had a good time, did pretty well, and didn't crash. This year Road Nationals were Madison Wisconsin which was very convenient. The time trial was first. I started at 4:22 on Thursday. I was the first starter on the course for my age group which was unfortunate because I had nobody to chase. I took off out of the starting ramp and put the power down, it was only 5.6 miles so I could go hard the whole time. There were only a couple of small hills and it was completely straight except for the turn to the start/finish. I ended up 37th out of over 70 kids. On Saturday I had the road race. It was a very hot day but I was well hydrated so that wasn't a problem. The start was just chaos with all the racers crammed into the starting grid, there were multiple crashes in the first 5 minutes of the race. One was right in front of me and almost took me out, I got a little freaked out and dropped back a bit to avoid crashes and I lost the front group. But I stayed with the third group the whole race and hung tough.  For the finish you did a 80 degree turn, the sprinted up a hill and then had 70 yards of slight downhill to the finish. I was third wheel going into the last turn with about 10 people right behind me. The two guys in front of me took off too early going as hard as they could, I stayed on there wheels easily and about half was up the hill I put on the gas and blasted past them and crested the hill with a twenty foot gap over every one else. I then flew down the hill to the finish and got 32 out of over 80 people. Unfortunately my friend Andy Schmidt crashed and fractured his wrist and my friend Sam Spende got a flat. On the plus side my friend Simon Jones got on the podium with 5th place. The next day was the criterium on the square which is about 5 minutes from my house. I stayed with second group the whole race and made up a lot of time up on the hill. I ended up 37 out of over 75 and Simon got third! It was a fun week of races and I am looking forward to it next year.

My sister got 5th in the road race on Wednesday

Red Flint Firecracker WORS #5

I was super excited for this race after all the great things I have heard about the course and was ready to race.We got up early for the three hour drive to Eau Claire.We pre-rode the course and I was pretty excited by it because it was fun!  My dad was racing single speed which raced at the same time as me so we were going to race together. I got my call up to the front row and my dad rolled up right along side me, a minute later we got the count down and we took off down the flats until we got to the rolling jumps and i was seventh overall going into the single track and I was in first in my age group. I was moving up but then there was a rock paved uphill and downhill and some one stalled out and blocked the path and my dad who was ahead of me manged not to get caught up to much, but I lost time because I had to get off and go around a bunch of people and my dad got away. I was really disappointed because I wanted to race with my dad and hopefully beat him! But I powered down the flats and  sliced through the single track without crashing at all. It was a great race and I won by a pretty good stretch.

My dad won the single speed division

Tour Of Americas Dairyland at Road America

This was the first Junior race in the Tour and I was super excited because the course was on a Road America race track in Elkhart Lake. I had just got road pedals so I was a little worried about clipping in fast, but I managed to have a great start and clipped in perfectly. My dad told me not pull and at the start I went full throttle like I would at a cyclocross start and then had to slow a bit so that I could be in the pack. I rode near the front the whole race and followed when ever some one made a jump. I was right with group as we went into the hill right before the finish on the last lap and I was third up the hill and managed to hold third for the next 100 yards to the finish. It was a very painful sprint but it was good practice for road nationals next week.