Subaru Cup Pro XCT

I could definitely tell that the first day of Subaru Cup was going to be a disaster. Feeling sick the night before I knew that Day 1 wasnt going to be pretty. When the race started I immediately felt sick, and knew I had to DNF. About to cry I DNF'd and rested up for Day #2

You Can Def Tell I Look Sick 

Still Rocking the Salsa Though 

On the second day I felt loads better and I was ready to race Super D.

At the starting line I was next to a girl from Colorado who was also racing Juniors then the rest of the pro women. I ended up getting second place and I was totally okay with that. 

I wasn't too happy with the weekend but there's always hope for next year. 

WORS #5 Red Flint Firecracker

Leaving at 7:30 PM from home my dad and I embarked on our 4 hour drive to Eau Claire Wisconsin for the Red Flint Firecracker WORS #5. Arriving at the venue at 1:30 AM we quickly set up and went to bed knowing we had to wake up at 7:00 AM to pre-ride. Waking up was rough but what was even more rough was pre ride. During pre ride my shifter broke, leaving me with the three hardest gears on the big and small ring to use during the race. The 3 gears on the big ring were in no use for the course, so I was left with the 3 on the small ring. Figures the one time I race WORS with gears I can't use over half of them, Im pretty sure I'm destined to race single speed. When it came for race time, I knew that I just had to finish to get points. My start was awesome, but slowly but surely I fell more and more behind. The course was awesome, and I did take second but I wish my shifter would have worked.
Overall I was in love with this race course and a great day.

Before the rocky downhill!

Crash on the rock drop!

Rock Drop

My Medal

Chain Drive - KCDF

Pre Race

After the best week at Jr. MTB Camp, we all got to race Chain Drive! I wasn't really sure what to expect from myself because I was pretty exhausted from the past few days at camp, and it was my first race in a long time that wasn't on a s/s but on race day I felt ready to race. The race was only 16 miles so I felt confident with my training that it wouldn't be too much of a problem. The race had a long road roll out, I drafted off a couple of large dudes and when we got to cemetery hill I used my s/s skills to my advantage and killed all the way up the hill. On the single track I didn't hammer too much I used it more to catch my breath, but on the double track I went all out and somehow managed to take the muddiest lines every time. (I'm just excited for cx season) I kept passing guys and no girls so I figured I was either dead last or in first. In the single track my shoe hit a large rock and the rock unbuckled my shoe and it basically came off. When I stopped to fix it, the second place girl passed me, all the way through Aunt Flow (a pump track with large jumps) I was trying to catch her, and the rest of the race was a battle between her and I. At the end she beat me by 45 seconds, which was a bummer but I was still happy with 2nd overall!

Coolest Podiums EVER


Aunt Flow 

Instead of medals they gave a picture frame with a picture of the trails on it, I also got Infinit drink (maybe it wont make me sick like EFS, and 2 bottles! Overall it was a really great day!

My Stuff! 

WORS Red Eye Rendezvous

Saturday night I received a email saying the race my dad and I were racing the next day was cancelled due to flooding. Instantly dad and I packed up the van and left on our 4 hour drive to Wausau, WI. Arriving there at 1 AM we knew we had to wake up at 6 and pre ride the course before the races started. I was worried about the 5 hours of sleep, but I was more worried about how janky the motel was that we were staying at. Bates Motel/ The Shining kind of feel to it. In the morning I was relived to be alive when I woke up.

We got to the race course around 7:45 and we got changed as fast as possible and did pre ride. 

2nd Lap 

  1:30 we started, Rachel and I thought we were supposed to do 3 laps, but actually we were supposed to do 2. The first lap I felt VERY slow, but the gearing on my s/s was perfect for the course. The only part that was hard for me on the s/s was the climb after the rock garden. Finishing the race, I had no idea that I did an extra lap until awards when Rachel told me she did one too. I came in 3rd, and got an extra workout in with the extra lap. Stupid mistake but still ended up being a good day.

After Race 

Podium! 3rd Place!

Lookin' Scary

Iola Bump & Jump

I was super pumped for my first Junior 15-18 Cat 1 race, at the start line I felt a little off, maybe too nervous for the first MTB race of the year. Almost 90 degrees outside I felt hot and panicked. Instead of water in my Camelbak I had EFS drink, which I wasnt really used to and never trained using it.
Halfway through my first lap I started to get really dizzy and I had to stop and puke, after I got myself back together i finished the lap and DNFd my first MTB race of the season.
Later  I figured out that the EFS drink makes me dizzy and sick, too much sugar, and racing with water is the way to go for myself.

Post Puke

2013 Cyclocross Nationals

There's two words that can explain 2013 Cyclocross Nationals: Mud and Ice. I woke up early friday morning really not knowing what to expect at all. As I got all my riding gear on to pre ride the course the whole parking lot was a sheet of ice and the course wasn't any different. During my pre ride the course was all ice and snow and it was impossible to go up any of the hills (with my lack of awesomeness), with a couple hours until my race I was pretty sure I was screwed. After pre riding  I went to the Cycle-Ops tent that had around 50 trainers inside and I warmed up for my race. During the couple of hours between pre riding and my race the sun came on and melted a lot of the ice, making the course a complete mudfest.

Taken By: Tom Mosby

Walking to the start line was hell. The whole walk there was just all mud. Tom being the nice guy that he is carried my bike to the start for me, and I waddled to the start trying to not get my shoes wet, even though at that point 10 seconds into the race my shoes were going to be soaked. Arriving at the start line they immediately started calling out racers. As we got into our places I was wearing my blue warm GORE jacket, afraid to take it off because of the weather. 

 Taken By: Tom Mosby

It was finally time to leave the jacket behind with one minute until the race started. 30 seconds... 15 seconds... GO! I had a AWFUL start, but I slowly started catching up to people. The first lap was awesome. I had no problems until I swapped my Kona Jake 2011, for my Kona Jake The Snake that i don't usually race with too much. The brakes on the Jake The Snake weren't as good as the ones Activator Cycles put on my Kona Jake, in other words; I just wasn't used to the handling of that bike at all. My second lap was hell. I went over the handle bars twice. The second time I couldn't get up for a good minute or two because the wind got knocked out of me. The course was so slick. 

The last time passing the pits I grabbed my Kona Jake 2011 and tried to push myself being in dead last after my brutal crash. I caught up to a girl but she beat me. All in all, Cyclocross Nationals was an amazing experience, and I'm pretty proud of myself for my first CX season and 6th CX race! I can't wait for next year, I made my goal; To finish and that's what I did! Bring it on 2014