Cyclocross Season... Nationals Etc.

So after taking a month off racing after a decent result at the UCI race in South Carolina, I headed to Madison WI for nationals. Me and Steve K took the fit. No exterior racks. Everything inside. 34mpg for 1200 miles round trip.

Pittsburgh had some seriously awful weather which made working out outside pretty tough.I did a lot of trainer riding for two weeks. In fact I did more in the first two weeks of December than I did in the 8 years before. That sucks, but what can you do?

I figured that I would race my hardest, put no pressure on myself and have fun. Then I saw this on a popular race predicting website.

That got the nerves going.

Saturday: 30-34 Champs I had a second row start. The conditions suited me to do well. I had a killer pit crew and was ready to take 2 bikes per lap. Unfortunately the mud iced over and I didnt need to.It also turned the race into somewhat of a drag race and less of a steering contest. I dangled in the 6/7/8/9/10 spot for bunch of laps and ultimately got 10th.

Elite Race I actually felt good. I was warm. I could feel my fingers and had on gloves that allowed me to have dexterity. I started a little bit fast and eventually worked my way back to the 30's. This was fine. For my last lap and a half I couldnt get into my pedals due to ice pack. At one point I honestly thought that I had knocked my cleat off while smacking it off of my pedal. I would put my foot against my pedal and it felt like a road shoe with no cleat on it. I was so frustrated. I had a few groups ride through me while I was kicking my pedals and pedaling with one foot. So be it. 48th. Nothing to be ashamed of.
My coach, Kris Auer at Athlete Development Group told me earlier this year that my heart has always been in it, but I finally stepped it up. This season was great for me and I have no regrets. It was by far the strongest,smoothest and most confident that I have ridden. I had great equipment and was constantly surrounded by good people. With that I do have to thank everybody. I raced 26 cross races this year. That is a lot for me.

Coach Kris at ADG and twenty/20 cycling. He definitely moved me up a group as far as where I was finishing. He also ran the team and stood in the pit at every race. On Saturday at nationals he raced at 9am and then stood in the pit for the 6 hours after.

C3 teammates. I still feel like one of the new guys and a bit of an outsider due to me living in Pittsburgh, but I got to do a lot more races with everybody and am stoked to be a part of the team. Watching and helping with the Charm City weekend was the definition of team work.

Pittsburgh travel posse. Ed and Brett are my boys. We drive a lot. There is a hashtag for instagram #bikeracermarriage because we hang out more together than with our wives sometimes.