KMC Cyclocross Festival

I woke up at four AM Friday morning to fly to Providence, Rhode Island for my first ever 17-18 UCI race at the KMC Cyclocross Festival. I slept the whole flight and again on the drive from Boston down to Providence. One of my bikes and all my wheels went ahead the week before in the Trek sprinter van so I only had to fly with one bike which is always awesome. After a pit stop at whole foods we wandered around Rodger Williams Park until we found the race. I prerode with Tobin and Cody in the pouring rain and it was awesome! The course was super challenging and fun, with lots of technical sections, well suited to me!

Day One

Flying over Milwaukee

After about 11 hours of sleep I fueled up and we drove over to the course. Sadly the rain had stopped so the course was not the mud bath I had hoped for and was actually super tacky. I warmed up super well, tested out the course, tires, and pressure before heading to the start. Since it was a random draw for start order I was lucky enough to get second call up. I had a great start but because we sat around so long at the start my legs weren't warmed up enough. I was 5th into the first corner but people quickly swarmed around me in the next straight section. Going into the second lap my legs opened up a bit, but I then realized they were pretty empty as well. I settled in with Jack Tanner and we worked together until the second to last lap when he pulled away from me. On the final lap I went as hard as I could to close the gap on Evan Clouse who was in 10th and only a little behind Jack but I just couldn't quite catch him. I was happy to still take 11th with such bad legs but it was disappointing to not be able to show what I can really do.

Jack and I descending the flyover

Day Two
I did everything I could Saturday to help my recovery but as soon as I started warming up I knew my legs were flat again. I warmed up the best I could and did some laps on the now dry and almost loose course but I knew I was going to be in for some hurt and was going to have to do the best with what I had. This time I was not so lucky with the random draw and got second to last call up. When they fired the start gun I was almost last off the line but started to move up. I weaseled my way through two pile ups in the first couple of corners with out getting tangled up and settled into my group of four. I led the charge the whole race and slowly stretched out the group only catching one other person the whole time. Another rider and I fought it out on the last lap and after he hopped the barriers I jumped on his wheel and managed to out sprint him to the line to take 15th.

The weekend didn't turn out the way I hoped but I had an awesome time at the races and it was great to hang out with everyone from Trek CXC as well as see many of my friends from across the country! This coming weekend is the Trek CXC Cup race in Waterloo Wisconsin just 25 minutes from my house and I can't wait! After that its on to Boulder, CO for round two of the 17-18 UCI series and I'm looking forward to showing what I can really do!

Trek CXC with a strong showing in Providence!