With the penultimate race of the year done, things are slowly starting to wrap up and change focus for next year. This season started off early in January with CX nationals, moved into road racing, then transferred to mountain biking, then collegiate mountain biking and now cyclocross. With only the state championships left I'm still pretty excited to keep riding and training. I think having some great results at the end of the season has helped.
This past weekend at Jingle cross I raced in the cat 2 race. On day 1 we raced under the lights. This was pretty cool seeing how this is the only race I do at night. The race was fast. I got out front early and held a steady gap of about 10 seconds behind the lead group, for the whole race, until the last lap when they picked it up and put 15-20 seconds on our group of 3. With 1 to go we hit a lot of lapped traffic. We weaved through them, politely asking to get by. Thankfully the lapped riders were nice and happily moved a side. This allowed me to stay with 4th place until the final straight when we both opened it up and he ended up getting me at the line. A solid 5th place on day one. With 2 more days to go I made sure to get my Honey Stinger protein bar in me and a lot of water followed up by some Texas Roadhouse for dinner.
Then on day 2 the racing kicked off at 12:10. The weather was pretty nice seeing how it was a 80% chance of rain. A little rain hit right before the pro women took off but thats it. Since I took top 8 on friday I got a call up today. When the gun went off I was a little slow getting clipped in and was sitting about 15th into the first couple corners. I moved my way up a few turns later and was sitting with a group of 3 guys, again places 4-6. This time on the new hill ride up, 4th got away and it was just me and 6th place. He seemed tentative in the corners and didn't have the best top end, but could definitely suck wheel forever. So on the big hill, where 4th got away, I rode hard up the first half and got a little gap. I tried to sustain it to the top and opened up the gap even farther. On the decent it stuck and I slowly pulled away only to catch a guy who fell off the lead pack. Now on the final lap, I pulled him all the way around until the final straight when we both sprinted for the line. He had a big kick, having had a lap of rest, and I ended up 5th again.
Now on day 3, the course had a slick top layer which made the corners slippery and made Mt. Krumpit unridable. This time when we took off I got clipped in and was sitting 5th wheel. With 2 days in the legs running Mt. Krumpit was really tough. I slowly faded each lap to end up with a 9th place. Still had a great weekend with some great results. This season has been long but wouldn't have been possibly without the help of a lot of people so Thank you to everyone who has supported me this year. With out my parents none of this would be attainable. Thank you to the Ripon Red Hawks for helping fund some of my none collegiate races. Thank you to Saris/ Cycleops/ Powertap, Honey Stinger, ESI Grips, Fox Shock, Crank Brothers and Mad Alchemy for generously sponsoring me this season. I wouldn't be able to do what I do with out all of your help.
This past weekend at Jingle cross I raced in the cat 2 race. On day 1 we raced under the lights. This was pretty cool seeing how this is the only race I do at night. The race was fast. I got out front early and held a steady gap of about 10 seconds behind the lead group, for the whole race, until the last lap when they picked it up and put 15-20 seconds on our group of 3. With 1 to go we hit a lot of lapped traffic. We weaved through them, politely asking to get by. Thankfully the lapped riders were nice and happily moved a side. This allowed me to stay with 4th place until the final straight when we both opened it up and he ended up getting me at the line. A solid 5th place on day one. With 2 more days to go I made sure to get my Honey Stinger protein bar in me and a lot of water followed up by some Texas Roadhouse for dinner.
Then on day 2 the racing kicked off at 12:10. The weather was pretty nice seeing how it was a 80% chance of rain. A little rain hit right before the pro women took off but thats it. Since I took top 8 on friday I got a call up today. When the gun went off I was a little slow getting clipped in and was sitting about 15th into the first couple corners. I moved my way up a few turns later and was sitting with a group of 3 guys, again places 4-6. This time on the new hill ride up, 4th got away and it was just me and 6th place. He seemed tentative in the corners and didn't have the best top end, but could definitely suck wheel forever. So on the big hill, where 4th got away, I rode hard up the first half and got a little gap. I tried to sustain it to the top and opened up the gap even farther. On the decent it stuck and I slowly pulled away only to catch a guy who fell off the lead pack. Now on the final lap, I pulled him all the way around until the final straight when we both sprinted for the line. He had a big kick, having had a lap of rest, and I ended up 5th again.
Now on day 3, the course had a slick top layer which made the corners slippery and made Mt. Krumpit unridable. This time when we took off I got clipped in and was sitting 5th wheel. With 2 days in the legs running Mt. Krumpit was really tough. I slowly faded each lap to end up with a 9th place. Still had a great weekend with some great results. This season has been long but wouldn't have been possibly without the help of a lot of people so Thank you to everyone who has supported me this year. With out my parents none of this would be attainable. Thank you to the Ripon Red Hawks for helping fund some of my none collegiate races. Thank you to Saris/ Cycleops/ Powertap, Honey Stinger, ESI Grips, Fox Shock, Crank Brothers and Mad Alchemy for generously sponsoring me this season. I wouldn't be able to do what I do with out all of your help.
