Uncharted Territory

So things have been crazy in that last few weeks and it’s been hard to find the time to sit down and write. But here I am sitting on a bus going back to Milwaukee with a ton of things to get down and some pretty sweet things to mention.

But to pick up where I left off, Subaru Cup was big. The crowd was huge and the course was awesome. And everything came together as I was able to have a best finish of 13^th place good for some UCI points which rank me internationally. My parents were there and so were just about all of my friends. To do something like that in front of the people you care about is pretty special.

Homecoming Queen

As I described before, the Subaru cup was something of a home coming for me as I’ve been off racing out of state at other pro XCTs in the last month. I was very excited to race with a home town crowd. After racing in Montana and New York and hearing the cheers for the locals I was missing the comfort of home, friends and family. So I got the word out there to make it big and it sure was. But all this is to come, I’ll start from the beginning.

Mikes Mix!

Last year, while working with the Wisconsin Cycling club at UW-Madison, I began working with a small local company that made a single product: recovery drink. They were simply looking o get their name out there and grow the small startup into something. Their philosophy is pretty simple, keep it simple and natural. Fast-forward to a few weeks ago and I was fortunate enough to pick them up as an individual sponsor. Beyond that their product line has increased to a whole catalog of endurance sports drink mixes.

 

What I like so much about Mikes Mix products is their simplicity. The classic recovery mix has 3 ingredients. It’s everything your body wants right after a hard workout or race, nothing more, nothing less. And yet despite this, it still tastes great. Not just good enough, but really good. The chocolate recovery mix makes a great hot cocoa substitute after hard winter rides too. The other huge benefit of its simplicity is the cost. Most recovery drinks will cost you $60 or more for a 4 lbs container. But you’re paying for a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Mikes Mix is just what you need, quality sugars and protein. All that and only a fraction of the price, $26.99 for the Mikes. As you might have noticed, I’m a huge fan.

WORS and Pro XCT Racing

With all the driving the last few weeks I’ve had a chance to do a lot of thinking, the good kind of thinking. But as the hours in the car add up, and the night falls you wonder why you’re doing this to yourself? Why would I drive thousands of miles just to race my bike? Why would I drive so far just to line up and watch the leaders ride away? Why all that especially when I have the biggest and most well run state series right in my own state?

And let me make this is clear. After traveling to Alabama, Missoula and Windham I can say with some certainty that WORS is run very well. I feel almost spoiled. Every WORS race is run as well or better than a PRO XCT race. The races go off on time, the course is clearly marked, there is support for riders. And there are spectators. WORS is top notch when it comes to organization. And lets not forget the competition. If you look at the USA Cycling ranking, we have 3 of the top 10 Pro racers in the US racing WORS often. And we have another 5 guys in the top 20. That’s huge! So with all this, why do I drive so many miles to race?

Windham

If you follow along closely, you’ll remember that my trip to Missoula Montana was amazing. If I had to sum up that trip, I would do so by saying it was life changing. The trails in Montana are in a different universe, technical in a completely different way than here in Wisconsin. The mountains are so beautiful; I was truly in awe the entire time. I returned a different rider for sure.

And return I did, for a short while at least. The weekend following, this past weekend, was another big trip to Windham, NY for the next round of the Pro XCT. This time I was driving out with a UW freshman Lukas Erdmann, who is more of a downhiller. The weekend was a UCI C2 XC race and a Pro GRT for Lukas who is  still a cat 2, but really pushing to make it big. We drove out Thursday morning to make the 15+ our drive in time to practice Friday, race Saturday and Sunday.