Before I start I’d like to give a huge thank you to my sponsors and family for making Nationals a reality for me! I couldn't have done it without them.
I took off for West Virginia to compete at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships with my Dad on Wednesday night. A huge thank you for him driving most the way so I could get some sleep. After the 14 hour car ride we arrived at Snowshoe Mountain early Thursday morning. I got all settled in and went to get my race plate and numbers for my cross country race on Friday.
After meeting some fellow Wisconsinite friends a group of us gathered for a pre-ride on Thursday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and I really had a chance to take the time to scope out the course. My long time coach and mentor, Aaron Mock and his son Daxton, helped me pick lines and get familiar with this tough Nationals course. My first thoughts on the course: extremely technical, rocky, lots of roots and some tough climbs. Expecting nothing but the less from this course at the national venue. After two laps, I was fairly confident with the course and the conditions present on Thursday hoping for a good race the next morning. We then watched the junior short track and watched a fellow Wisconsin kid take home the National title home! I was feeling pretty good and was excited to give it my all on race day.
When I woke up on Friday for my race, mother nature had other plans in mind. It had rained through most the night and was continuing to rain that morning. I knew exactly this would be a totally different race. When we got up to the venue from our hotel, the mountain was covered in a dense fog. Making visibility no more than 50 yards. This would make for an interesting yet fun race on this technical course. My race was scheduled for 10:00 am start time and 4 laps. Due to the conditions present USA Cycling decided last minute to postpone the women's race prior to mine setting my race time back till 10:30 and only 3 laps. This made for a frustrating warm up, having to warm up twice. After a solid warm up, I was feeling good but questioning the course conditions. Watching women riders come back covered in mud and looking frustrated. The rain had stopped just prior to my warm up but the fog was still relevant. As we went to staging, for the Cat 1/2 19-24 race, I knew the competition would be tough.
I got the 5th call up spot and was feeling anxious to be on the front line for Nationals in this tough field. As the whistle blew I had a pretty good start, right in with the first few riders. We then took off down the cobblestones for the lead out and things went south. I took a sharp left hand corner to fast and crashed hard; losing my glasses, water bottle and some holes in the kit. I got back up and was setting in last. This would become a tough game both mentally and physically for the rest of the race. The game of catch up began for me. On the first climb before the dreaded root filled singletrack, I had passed a few guys sitting right in the middle chase group going onto this single track. As the conditions were present I knew this section wouldn't be easy. The roots and moss from the pine trees made things very challenging and slow. I noticed immediately I was running a bit too much PSI in my tires for the conditions, this would issue would lingerie then entire race. Through the first lap I was still sitting pretty good in the middle group, as the lead group had taken off. The famous rock garden for spectators was coming up and I knew things would be slick so I decided to run through this sections, along with others, to save the time instead of riding it. After a few more technical rock sections and steep climbs thing started to settle down and become slow. The group was starting to disappear. Going into my 2nd lap I was beat, not physically but mentally. This course was taking its toll on me. I tried to remain calm and just focus on the section present. The second lap was definitely my slowest. The slick terrain made for a slow and frustrating lap. I used this to my advantage, kinda, and took my time through the technical singletrack and gave full effort on the opened ski trails/double track. After a few small almost wipeouts I had caught up to another rider in my field and hung onto his wheel for the rest of the 2nd lap. Going into the third lap I knew I was sitting top 20 or so and just had to finish the race with everything I had left in the tank. This lap was by far the hardest, mind over matter kinda lap. I had gained some time through the first half of the loop and really focused on the rock sections, with 2 miles to the finish. This area was my strong suit in this race so I knew I could make a move here. This section was basically a river full of mud and rocks at this point. I powered through that section and made a move on the final climb. I couldn't hang on to the other riders and ended up crossing the finish line alone.
This hands down was the most difficult, technical race I have ever had. The conditions played a huge factor and became the issue. I’m glad I finished and saw close friends and my Dad at the finish line to greet me on a great race. I was officially beat. I had zero energy left both mentally and physically, knowing I left it all on the course.
I ended up finishing 15th in the Cat ½ 19-24 field against the fastest kids in the nation. I was happy to at least crack the top 15 but not exactly the result I wanted. Most importantly it was the experience I had from this race. The good and bad will help me to grow as a rider and continue to train for a better result next season. Knowing the competition in the nation and what I need to work on as a rider to rank higher amongst the nation. The memories and experience from the 2017 Nationals will forever be special to me, I can’t wait for next year.
As a I recover from this I head to Wausau, Wisconsin for the famous Wausau 24 this next weekend. I’m competing in the 24 hour race with the four man team!
Again thank you to my sponsors, family and friends for making the 2017 Mountain Biking National Championship a reality. It means a lot to me have such amazing support group to race at a huge venue like this!
Thank you to:
2 Rivers Bicycle and Outdoor
Trek / Bontrager
ESI Grips
State Farm - Zempel Insurance and Financial Service
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