State Champs

So like I said, state champs were this past weekend. There are a few reasons why this race is hard. The course last year was pretty tough. And from what I understand it’s been similar for a long time. The course has plenty of tight technical sections, but if I had to call out the most defining feature it is definitely the long straightaways. The fact of the matter is that riding across a grass field on a bike is hard. In addition to that, the fact that a jersey is on the line people seem to go harder. This is true from Cat 4 up to the P/1/2. There was an obvious absence of some of the big dogs from Wisco, but I’d like to think that the guys who took the top step could have given even Tristan or Brian a run for their money.

Really love the barrier section in Hales Corners

To start think off I missed my pedal. Something I was really hoping would go away since I switched to Shimano pedals, but besides missing my pedal on the start they are a million times better. That missed pedal got compounded with the two riders in front of me throwing some bows and pitching me back. Things opened up and I think I went into the first corner 10^th or so, no awesome as I like to start ahead of where I finish. But those first two laps were tough. I really would have liked to ride in the front group for a while and see how I measured up, especially because they seemed to be either playing games or not really much faster than I was. But by the time I had a shot to get to them, they were long gone and the gap was huge.

Lionel went back in forth for the first
half of the race

I ended up following Lionel’s wheel from lap 2 to about lap 4. I was able to ride with him, but I don’t think he was putting the full gas on. About half way though he passed and dropped me when I dabbed my foot down. The good news is that while we rode together we passed about 3-4 guys putting him in 6^th and myself in 7^th. Once he got away I had a hard time fully finding my rhythm until I noticed I was getting caught by a Magnus guy and my teammate Mark Norton. I did want to get caught so I focused on keeping the gaps and then tried to reverse it. But They caught me. I rode Mark’s wheel for a lap or 2 and after a little crash I got back around him while the Magnus guys was stuck back. I gassed it hard to open up a gap.

Once the gap was there I tried to maintain the pace. I remembered some breathing exercises that I had done during the week to help open up my chest. So I focused on riding hard and breathing deep. I was able to really pin it a lot harder than I thought I could and was able to hold off the chase. I finished 7^th behind Lionel and one spot out of the money. Solid race, but I really think I learned a lot about how my body work, so a little personal victory for me.

The short sand pit was long enough to
slow you down if you didn't ride the ruts
well. 

Next week I’ll be home for Thanksgiving before heading to Iowa for Jingle CX. This will be the biggest race I’ve done on a cross bike, and I think I have a solid shot at a win in the 2/3 field. That is if I don’t die from overeating Thursday night.