The two weeks after nationals have been eventful in their
own way, but not nearly as eventful as the nationals weekend so in a way it’s been restful.
It’s hard to say why it’s felt restful, but if I had to guess it’s been that I’ve
just been enjoying riding more than I have before that. It’s a feeling that has
been expressed very well by one of Team Wisconsin’s leaders and friend Jason
Kayzar. He recently wrote about the rediscovery of living in the moment that bike riding and racing can bring you. And that’s
exactly where I’ve been the last few weeks. It’s not that things have been
going particularly well or that anything bad has happened, I’m just enjoying the
experience of life more. Read about it HERE
It’s left me in a lighter mood. Which really did come in
handy after the first WORS race of the season. I came into it light hearted,
determined and focused to first do well, but enjoy it as well. With the start
being its usual all-out effort, I was surprised to be handling it pretty well. I
think it’s safe to say training has been paying off. It also helps that I’m 2
months into racing already. But I was sitting pretty, feeling good in the front
group of a WORS race. I was calmly pumped. But as the first lap went on, I
started to feel the effort and could tell hanging on was going to be a tall
order. This was made even tougher by the air slowly leaking out of my rear
tire. I stopped to put some air in it hoping it would seal up, or some magic
would happen. It didn’t. From there it was much the same. I was able to hold
position, and even more. I was attacking the course feeling good and catching
back on with each stop. Well almost catching back on. But when the tire finally
ran out and the air was gone, there was nothing left to do but enjoy the trail.
I rolled in for 31st, where a top 10 was all but certain. But that
light heart mood kept my head up because I still had a blast. It was good to be
on the dirt again.
With the Mountain biking season rolling in, it was time for
that last big road race weekend of the year, memorial day weekend racing in
Iowa. I first did these races 2 years ago as a 3 and had some success at the
snake. It’s a unique weekend with the snake and the melon city crit. Finally
the rock island crit tops it off with a more traditional crit. But first things
first. Friday is a road race, 100 miles. Very fast and a lot of sitting in. At
least I’ve been told. It ended up being the opposite as a large group rolled
early. Everyone let it roll, but we should have taken notice that Cole House
was there with a teammate. We saw them after the turn around and they were not
coming back. As I made my way to the front a group got off the front again and
I knew it was going to be a break away battle to the finish. So I made a point
of getting into the next group and we drove hard. Maybe a little too hard as
the group just couldn’t close the gap to chase 1. I was getting frustrated by
it but I was determined to keep pushing until people literally just stop
pulling through. I was annoyed. But we got the pace where it was comfortable
and we stay ahead of the rest of the field. I was able to win the sprint from
the group and was just outside money in 27th.
Saturday was all about snake alley. With rain threatening
all day, I was relieved when it cleared for race time at 4pm. I was back row so
the start was critical. Hooray for CX and MTB. Within 2 laps I was to the front
group just as things were starting to thin and split. I was able to sit in for
the most part on the flat and hold position. With a few laps to go I fell back
a few spots thinking I would be able to hammer harder, but when the time came I
just wasn’t able to move up as much as I hoped. But the result was still there,
23rd in the snake and some cash in my pocket. I was pretty pumped.
Melon city was tough. I’ll keep it short because in short, I
was really feeling the days race before. My back was a little sore and between
the rain and cold I wasn’t able to make the power I wanted to. But my head was
there so I battled hard to keep in contact. Results say a DNF, but I’m getting
that looked into now. If I had to guess, I’d say somewhere around 30th
place. I’ll take it.
Then to cap it all off, the quad cities crit held in the
district on rock island. My memory of this race from last year was that it was
both tough physically with the pace being very high and tough mentally because
of the poor road surface and multiple corners. After Sunday’s tough day I was
hoping to have the legs come back around. And they really did. The result didn’t
show it too well, but I was riding strong and confident all race near the
front. With 10 to go I started making my was to the front and hopped on to a
break thinking it might stay away. It was quickly shut down so I took my place
in the top 20 places ready for the sprint. But with 4 or 5 to go a guy ate it
hard by overshooting a corner and going into the “cage” (the cage referring to
the chicken wire that the course is surrounded by to keep the drunks off the
course). I leaned back and put my foot out motocross style and literally rode
over the crash. But was pushed out of position and had to fight for a good spot
again. It never came and I sprinted for a 35th place. Not the result
I wanted, but still very happy to have all my skin and a great weekend of
training. I’m feeling tired, but I’m ready for next weekend’s Pro XCT.
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