Cyclocross Nationals 2015

After months of racing and training it was finally time for the season finale. We drove down to Dallas the week before to do the Resolution Cross Cup race. I pre-rode the course on Saturday and it was super muddy and sloppy. I was only racing on Sunday because that's when the 45 min open men's race was. Sunday the course had dried and the mud was sticky like modeling clay. I warmed up (insufficiently) and went to the start, I lined up next to Evan Clouse, one of the fastest guys in my race for nationals. We took off and I would have pulled the holeshot but I pulled out my pedal and was 5th into the first corner. On the downhill after the start climb a guy crashed in front of me pushing me from 3rd to 10th and was about 40 seconds behind the leader, Evan. I went crazy and by the time we were going back through the start straight for the second lap my legs had opened up and I had just blown by the group of three fighting for second place on the start pavement. Our race was only three laps long (it should have been 5) because the race started late but in those 26 minutes I managed to get within 10 seconds of Evan. If only we had one more lap!

Sunday night we drove down to the Gulf coast where we had a house rented. We relaxed on the beach for a few days and then drove to Austin Thursday night. We pre-rode the course Friday and Saturday and rested up in our hotel room for the rest of the time.

We got up at 6:15 for my 9:30 race on Sunday. I pre-rode the course and it was an absolute mess after all the Saturday races in the poring rain. As I rode back towards my car my dad walked up to me, he said he had some bad news... "Nationals was canceled!!" I didn't even know how to react, I couldn't comprehend the idea of 10 months straight worth of work with the hardest training I had done, along with all the things I had sacrificed being for nothing. I was struck dumb thinking about the first time in my cycling career that I was a contender for the podium and that chance was gone. I just kinda wandered around in a trance for a bit and then figured I should still warm up just in case. I, along with many other confused racers warmed up in the Saris tent as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. All anyone knew was that it was suspended and not canceled, but no one knew why, or for how long, or what was going to happen.(Read the full story on what happened here). All Sunday races were rescheduled to resume Monday at noon. This created an unbelievable mess for thousands of racers and families. We had to cancel plane tickets, miss more school and work, rebook hotel rooms and drive all the way home instead of flying. In summary it was one of the most stressful and traumatizing days of my life but I was just glad I was going to get to race. That night we went to a awesome junior dinner put on by Tim Johnson and then retired to our hotel rooms.


Monday morning (as I should have been going to school) we packed up and got ready to race. My mom, my sister, and I went to the mega Whole Foods a few blocks away for breakfast, which has an amazing selection of hot food as my dad went to the race to start getting bikes ready along with our friend Rob who flew down to watch the races. (Thanks Rob! couldn't have done it without you!) I raced at 12:30 and pre-ride didn't open until 12 which was not enough time to switch bikes and get to staging. I walked the course and looked at all the changes made and then went and warmed up. I went to staging and got my front row call up. We started and I was 8th into the first corner. In the following straight away and 180 turn I moved up to 5th and was about 10 ft behind the lead 4. I feel lucky to be in the front row, especially since there was a pile up at the start!

crash at the start

Andy in 4th with me chasing right behind him at the beginning of the first lap

After we came by the pits for the first time and did an off camber 180 climb I got onto 4th place's wheel. Denzel Stephenson had attacked and was about 15 seconds in the lead. My friend Andy had a brake rubbing and after the first run up and descent I passed into 4th in the off camber running. Denzel had crashed and dropped back to third, and Scott Funston and Evan were fighting for first. I came through the start in 4th place 7 seconds behind Denzel and I caught him right after the first turn. He is super strong and powerful but he wasn't loving the mud so much. I just sat on his wheel and tried to get by him a few times but couldn't, finally I snuck by him and attacked right before the second pit passing. He didn't follow and I instantly got a 20 foot gap. Unfortunately the pit was super long and muddy so he just powered through it and caught up to me again. We dismounted after the 180 and began running but I decided to get on and ride but I got bogged down and all the mud build up around my brakes brought me to a halt. It was so packed up my wheels couldn't even turn. If only I had pitted! I ran the last part of the lap until the start stretch where I got up enough speed to get the mud off. I switched bikes on that final lap and the difference the clean bike made was incredible. If only I had switched earlier! Everyone was so spread out and I had lost so much time I only caught one person. I finished 10th which is my best finish at a Nationals race yet but was so disappointment to lose the podium to the only mistake I made the entire race which was not pitting that lap. My first lap was 4th fastest, second lap was 25th fastest losing over two minutes due to my mechanical, and then my last lap was 9th fastest as I slogged to the finish, heavy with disappointment. I might have been even as high as second because 3rd place who I was racing with finished only 6 seconds behind second and I made up that much time on him when I attacked on the second lap! Then again this is what racing is, you can't control or plan for everything! Even though I don't have the medal in my hand I am still very very thrilled with my best nationals finish yet and mostly to see all the training and hard work I have done this season pay off as I raced with the fastest boys in the country. In Boulder last year after I finished 31st, I never would have thought in a million years that one year later I was going to be fighting for the top 3 instead of the top 30! I could never of had the best season so far without my coach, Joseph Maloney who has truly showed me my potential!(Click here if you want him to make you faster) I also never could have done any of this without my team KS Energys Services/ MOSH/ Team Wisconsin who have given me great support this season! Also, huge thanks to  Emerys Cycling and fitness who helped me get my incredible Trek Boone 9 racing machine! Finally I want to thank my family and friends who have helped and cheered me on all season long and especially my mechanic/driver/pit crew/piggy bank/strategist/event planner, my dad! I am already super excited for the coming season and have very big plans and goals in the works! Now its time for a few weeks of rest and then its time for base miles!

Fighting for third

Too much mud! :(

Wisconsin State Championships

After not racing for a few weekends and getting some hard training in I was hungry for some racing! I was racing the 15-18 juniors and the cat 3s so we had to get there pretty early. The course was really fun and technical as well as physically challenging. I won the 15-18 which was under 25 minutes long and then rested until it was time to get warmed up for the cat 3s at 3:30.The course went from frozen to muddy through out the day and then back to freezing as the sun went down during the 3s. We lined up and took off, I would have pulled the hole shot but halfway down the starting straight my front derailer shifted my chain off to the out side for no apparent reason. I was 10th into the first corner and unfortunately my good friend and hardest competition, Andy Schmidt was first into the corner and took off. I made a few aggressive passes and once we got to the huge hill 1/4th of the way through the lap, I charged up it and into second place. Unfortunately I didn't have the legs to charge all the way up to Andy, so I rode the whole six lap race solo, about 20 seconds ahead of a group of four chasing hard. I had to work super hard to stay ahead and was a bit disappointed that I lost the chance to battle it out for first due to dumb mishap and bad legs. It was still good fun and now a lot more training until nationals!

Jingle Cross 2014

Friday
It was about 25 degrees while I was warming but as the sun went down it dropped down below 10 degrees. I lined up 4th row because we didn't register fast enough and after the category 2s went off we followed. 10 seconds into the race there was a unavoidable crash and I piled on top of it. I untangled my bike after losing about a minute and started chasing. I fought super hard and my whole body was numb from the cold and I basically went on autopilot. I kept moving up the whole race and got all the way up to 6th!

Saturday
Luckily today we were staged by finishing order from the day before so I started first row. I pulled the holeshot and led until the off camber section up top when I had to get off and run by cat 2s we had caught, second place managed to stay on the bike and get a gap. I chased him for two lap and then rode away from him and soloed the last two laps. I was super glad to get the win after such a struggle the night before. I then returned to my hotel room and spun my legs before lying in bed with my legs up for another 4 hours until we went to the pool.

Sunday
After getting 5 inches of snow Saturday night the course was was super slick and sloppy. I was super excited to race in the mess! I warmed up and got my call up, I was second into the first corner and jumped on firsts wheel. I went by Cormac Dunn and led until an off camber section at the end of the lap when somehow my rear break had become unhooked and I had to stop and fix it. I lost about 30 seconds but I laid down some power and managed to catch who I thought the leader was at the beginning of the second lap. We rode together for two laps until I gradually rode away from him. I rode the last two laps by my self but lost a lot of time on the final lap because I couldn't clip in due to the frozen mud in my pedals. I was pumped to get the win but as it turned out one more guy had slipped by me when I was fixing my brake that I didn't know about. I had gone hard until I caught who I thought was leading and then recovered but if i had known there was another guy I would have kept pushing! I super stoked to get the overall cat 3 jersey despite my issues and get some great results at the best race in the US and my favorite race! Huge thanks to my team and team mates as well my dad and Emerys Cycling! Now time for a lot of hard trainer work outs and a few races until nationals.

saturday podium

trying to get the "snowicemud" out of my cleats

day 3 podium

Louisville Derby City Cup

Day 1

After staying in hotel an hour away we drove in to the race Saturday morning around 12. I hung out for a bit, prerode, and then messed around until it was time to warm up. Because we had not preregistered in time I was starting 6th row but I made due. I hadn't eaten enough as it turned out so my tank was pretty empty so I ended up 30th out of over 120 riders.

Day 2

Sunday we fixed my start order and I was  for action. I had a good start and was about 10th into the first corner the front group pulled away and I settled in around 12th my legs were a little tired from the day before so I eventually slipped back to 15th overall, and 2nd in the cat 3s. I was happy to have redeemed my self a bit!

Cinicinnati 3 day Cyclocross Festival

We arrived with plenty of time before my race on Friday and it was going to be muddy. I prerode the course and it was a slippery, sliding mess and was awesome! I finished warming up and went to the start line. I started 3rd row, we took off and everyone was very aggressive but I held my line and was top 20 into the first corner. I began moving up but unfortunately I had picked the wrong gloves and my hands were getting colder and colder as they turned into muddy blocks of ice. I slid out towards the end of the first lap and lost a few places but slowly got them back. I moved up slowly though out the whole grueling race and got as high as 13th. But sadly in the middle of the last lap I slid out in a corner and broke my derailer hanger. I ran a quarter lap to the pit but found my dad had left with my bike to look for me, so unfortunately my race was over.

Saturday I woke up and was fine but something I ate for breakfast didn't agree with me and I got food poisoning. I rested up and got ready for the next day.

Sunday I was out for redemption after a few bad races and to test my self against some the fastest boys in my age group in the country. I prerode the course, which was fantastic, warmed up and went to the start. I started 3rd row next to my friend Andy Schmidt. They blew the whistle and we took off, a big crash happened right next to me and almost took me but I squeaked by. I got stuck behind some traffic in a off camber section where more people had crashed and I lost some time. my age group leader got away and Andy and Scott Funston were about thirty seconds up. I  rode with Edward Fritzinger but after 3 days of racing he was low on gas so I pushed on. Cassidy Bailey caught up to me and I stuck on his wheel for a bit but he dropped me and caught up to Andy and Scott. I slowly regained ground and by the end of the 4th lap I made contact with the group of 3 when Scott rolled a tubular right before the pit. I rode with Andy and Cassidy until the barriers but I had gone to hard to catch up to them and couldn't hold it. I rode the lap with Scott but towards the end of the last lap some debris flew up into my wheel and I last a few seconds as I pulled it out and Scott got away. It was a super hard race against some super hard competition and I cant wait for more!

Sun Prairie Cup CX and Carpentersville

Sun Prairie CX Cup

My first pro1/2/3 race! Unfortunately my legs were dead, but I warmed up and went to the start. They blew the whistle and we took off, some people slid out in he first corner and I got stuck behind them for a few seconds but got right back on track. I continued to move up to 9th after a while but David Blodgett caught back up to me. I rode his wheel for two laps and attacked on the last lap. I pulled away and managed to hold him off. I was pretty happy with 9th in my first pro1/2/3 race!

Carpentersville

The next day we carpooled with my coach Joe Maloney and arrived in time for my sisters race. I warmed up, prerode the course, and went to the start. This was my first Chicago Cross Cup Pro1/2/3 race and there was over 60 riders! I started third row, they blew the whistle and we shot off. I got bumped around a bit at the start but held my ground, I slowly began to move up. It was a 60 minute race but my legs opened up and I kept moving up. I would catch a group of riders and slingshot around them as soon as I could. By the end of the 4th lap I settled in a group of three other riders fighting for 7th. I sat in for two lap and some guys were starting to fade. So after the flat open power sections after the start I attacked going into the technical off camber sections. After the section in the corn field towards the end of the lap there was only one guy left and he came around me on the pavement section. I jumped on his wheel and tried to recover for the sprint. The finish was a long and flat and I tried to sprint around him but the finish was so long and I was pretty spent from two days of racing and I just couldn't get around him. I was super stoked to get 8th in such a competitive field, my coach and team mate Joe took the win so that was awesome as well! Next week we hit the road to St. Louis  

Grafton Pumpkin Cross and Further Cross

Grafton Pumpkin Cross
My dad and sister drove to New York for the UCI race so my mom and I were left to fend for ourselves. We got there early and I prerode the course. I warmed up and went to the start line. We took off and I would have have been third into the first corner but I pulled out of my pedal which I made sure to fix before Sunday's race! I moved up and got on first's wheel. I passed him at the beginning of the second lap and pulled ahead. A guy caught me and we rode together until the middle of the second to last lap where I attacked at the top of the big hill. I soloed the last lap and half and made sure not to make any mistakes.

Further Cross

This race was only 20 min from my house so I had plenty time to relax in the morning. I arrived early and took a few laps and warmed up. We lined up and took off, I was first into the first corner and I led the first lap. A guy surged around me at the start and I hopped on his wheel, he hammered for a lap and half with just me and Jason on his wheel. Jason attacked super hard part way through the 3rd lap and it took me until the beginning of the fourth lap to get back on his wheel. I sat on his wheel for two laps and at the beginning of the last lap, I sprinted around Jason at the start straight and attacked. I did the last lap full sprint and almost made myself puke. My last lap was 20 seconds faster then my first lap, I ended up finishing with a 10 second gap on second. It was super satisfying to get the win on such a tough course! Next week I will be doing the 1/2/3's in Sun Prairie and Chicago!