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.

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.