How it all started.

This is going to be a major flash back. All the way back to when I first started.

When I turned 9 I finally decided I wanted to try to ride my bike again. A couple years before this I had my training wheels taken off and I never wanted to ride but this year Santa had bought me a new bike. It was a baby blue Schwinn and I thought it was beautiful but I had no clue how to ride it. I took it outside into the grass and got on then promptly fell over. This repeated until I was covered in grass and bruises and I still couldn't ride the stupid thing.

I was pretty pissed at the fact that I had this "nice" new bike and I couldn't ride. I don't remember much but I eventually got to the point where I could ride no problem and started riding down the gutters (the ones on our roads were not so smooth) and trying to ride no handed going down the street.

A couple of years after I learned how to ride my dad got back into cycling. After riding for a year he joined a team and started to race and I wanted in on the fun. For my 12th birthday I asked for a mountain bike so we went out and looked at a bunch of different bikes. I settled on a Garry Fisher Tasahara. I took it into the stores parking lot and did a couple of laps. When I stopped back at the door my dad asked me if I liked it. I said this is the one. He thought that we should look some more before we buy it but I was set on this bike.

We built it up and a couple of days later went out to Shawnee Mission, Ks to ride on the mountain bike trails there. I remember when I started the orange loop (easiest of the 3 trails- orange, purple, and red) I freaked out at every little rock and root on the trail.

That's a big root...

My second ride was a Landahl in Blue Springs, Mo. My dad and I met up with some of his friends and we all rode the "Family Trail" which is not family friendly. I crashed pretty hard on this ride and bloodied up my arm and knee pretty bad.

After around 2-3 months of just riding I wanted to start racing so my dad took me out to St. Joe, Mo. I was a little worried when we got there because the trails out there are so freaking hilly and it was 7 miles long and I had never ridden my bike for that long. I lined up with some older girls and started asking them about the race and seeing how strong they were since I thought that they were in my race. They both had been riding for a while and they looked pretty strong but all I wanted to do was have some fun and race as hard as I could. I'm positive that I did more walking up in this race than riding and within the first mile I had almost crashed really hard once because I came into a down hill too fast and at the bottom there was a sharp left so I slammed on the brakes and fishtailed before taking off again. That kinda freaked me out but I didn't go down so I got over it.

I finished the race super tired but with a smile on my face. Even with all of the walking I did I still had so much fun even watching everyone else out there racing. After the race there was a raffle for a bunch of different things and if you entered the race then you got a ticket for the drawing. My dad had to go to the bathroom so he gave me his ticket and while he was away they called his number for a pair of Tifosi sunglasses.  They fit me perfectly and it was exactly what I needed so my dad let me keep them.

Later that year I stopped racing junior women because I had no competition and I started racing the beginner women category. My first beginner women race was a Landahl, which we went to ride the day before to prepare for the race and I ended up getting lost. I raced against a lot of women and I came in 3rd. The two women who beat me were some ladies who raced road and were pretty strong but new to mountain biking.

After my first couple months of racing my dad got into contact with his cycling team that he just joined and asked if I could join since I decided I really liked cycling and wanted to race more. I joined SKC and started racing in their jersey and having teammates that I could race and hangout with.

I raced under SKC for 2.5 years, my first half a year I did a lot of mountain biking and 2 'cross races on my mountain bike. My 1st whole year I got a new Specialized mountain bike and a 'cross bike which I went to state with and won my age group. My 2nd whole year I kept my old mountain bike but got a new 'cross bike. I went to mountain bike camp, Nationals (where I got 5th), and some bigger mountain bike races. For cyclocross I went to some bigger races like Jingle cross rock and Mo State championships but mainly I raced locally. I really fell In love with 'cross during this year.

This past year was my 3rd full year of racing. I joined a new team (Ethos- my current team) and I also got a coach (Adam Mills- Source Endurance). At this point I was ready to commit to the sport and I was gunning for a top 3 at both MTB Nationals and 'Cross Nationals. I got my VO2 max tested and borrowed a power tap to put those numbers to use. I also got a new mountain bike, cross bike, and borrowed my friends road bike to try my hand at some road races. My dad and I made it a point to hit all the Pro XCTs and USGPs possible so we had a lot of travel to do. I had a great season with the help of my supporters, sponsors, family, and friends.

 This year as I continue to train in both mental and physical aspects of the sport I hope to gain more experience with my sponsors and being able to ride better, more efficient and faster. I also hope to see more women get into the sport this year! It's so exciting to have other women who enjoy the same things I do out there racing with me and cheering everyone on. If you live in the KC area I would recommend looking up some group rides put on by KC WOW (Women On Wheels). They are super supportive!

I am going into my 4th full year of racing this year! I'm super excited! My first race is going to be the first race in the Spring Fling series on February 25 (I'm going to actually try some road races- i.e more than 3 races the entire year) and my first mountain bike race is Mellow Johnny's Classic on March 3rd.

It's GO time baby!

Missouri State Championships and Boss Cross 4 Weekend

They may be the ugliest jersey ever, but it is still one I am proud to have won!

You ask and you shall receive, MUD!

After having some success at Jingle Cross Rock I had been craving to race again in mud and I know that my wicked fast State Wheels glued up with the mud loving Challenge Limus tires wanted more play time in messy stuff. All week I was checking the weather to see if it was going to rain and the chance of precipitation just kept going up. On Friday it rained all day and yes, there was going to be MUD.

Boss Cross 4 Mud! (dad racing in the pic)

It just so happens that we live about 6 minutes (give or take a few seconds) from the race course. We timed the drive a few times so we knew exactly when we needed to leave home so we could stay warm and dry before our races both days while warming up at the house. On Saturday (boss cross 4) we got there early so we could register and check the course. We had so much rain that everywhere there was an incline water was running down the course. I already knew the course from when we ran it for boss cross 3 and there were only slight adjustments to the course. Last time I struggled because there were a lot of flat power sections with not much technical so I was really hoping that the mud would slow some of the less technical roadie type women down.

I warmed up in the garage at home until 20 minutes to my race start then jumped in the warm car and made the 6 minute drive to the course. I tell you what, it was sooooo cool to be literally racing from home vs driving some 8 hours away then racing, nice for a change. I line up right next to my teammate and we immediately gap the field from the start with me up front and Sarah (my teammate) hot on my wheels. This was the race that didn't matter much for me though so I let Sara go and I spent the whole race trying different lines to prepare for Sundays race but kept the gas on enough to hold off 3rd place, Ethos Girls 1/2 on the podium again! My plan worked and at the end of the race I still had plenty of energy and was feeling primed to shred at the Missouri State Championships. The course was so wet the mud never really stuck to the bike which is rare for the super sticky stuff we have here in KC.

Ethos 1/2!!!

As expected the wet soupy mud from yesterdays racing got really sticky as the course started to dry and people were breaking chains and derailleurs left and right. My dad had his race right before mine (he won the Master 35 title) so when I was going to line up he pulled me over and talked me through some good lines that I would later put to use. The course was run in reverse from the previous day so the lines were mostly all new and messy, several sections were much more technical/tricky with the conditions.

We started and it was the same top 3 from Saturdays race pulling away from the field. Sarah, the lady who got 3rd yesterday and me. Eventually Sarah and I pulled away from the 3rd place girl but it was pretty close at first as we were feeling out the course and conditions. I had a decent start sitting 3rd going into the first turn then attacked hard coming out of turn one and by the end of the next straightaway had moved into first and was looking to gap the field but I overcooked the next turn and ended up in the bushes off to the side of the course!. Quick dismount and run back putting my bike down right in front of another racer holding them off then attacked hard again to regain my teammates wheel where we battled back and forth for a while.

I have a good piece of advice for racing in the mud. Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT listen to roadies with little CX experience when it comes to mud riding, especially the ones that have never even touched a mountain bike. "Ride to the bottom of the muddy hill and then run the mud the rest of the way" was what we heard from several others, well if you have offroad riding skills it was faster to ride the whole thing and saved a ton of energy vs slogging through the mud on your 15 pound mud covered shoes. Our first lap we wasted so much energy trying to run through mud, it was like walking through chewed up gum on a hot summer day then attempting to remount and continue riding into more mud. At least I spared my drive train some mud but my wheels were pretty mad that my shoes got to have all the "fun" going through the deep muddy bog. Haha

After that  first lap mess up I rode that muddy back section that I ran earlier and cleared the whole thing which opened up a 5-10 second gap on my teammate. As soon as I saw that I had opened a gap I took off and rode my limit to make that gap stick. By the end of the lap I had around a 20-30 second gap and was riding away from the field. Winning races is all about taking advantage of the things your can do well and the areas of the course you can gain some edge. If everyone else is running, try like heck to ride it if faster, look for advantages and go after it.

My dad asked me around lap 3 how I was doing and I told him that I could barely carry my bike over the barriers at all. I swear the sticky heavy mud  and grass made it weigh at least 20 pounds more. He told me to stop in the pits next time through and we would try to knock some of the mud off of it. When I got to the pit I had a 45 second gap and when I left it I had 20. I dug deep and put in a couple huge efforts to try and bring the gap back up and pull away from the quickly gaining 3rd place who was closing on my teammate. 3rd place ended up passing my teammate at the start of the final lap and I could tell she was coming after me next but I had not trained hard all season to lose the race on the last lap!

I was racing to win it on the bell lap which takes a combination of riding on the edge and keeping the rubber side down. You take very calculated risks and push your body to it's limit.  Unfortunately my teammate never pitted and broke her chain and messed up her derailleur which resulted in her slipping back to 5th and running a bunch, no Ethos 1/2 today. I  crossed the line with my arms in the air and won my first Elite women state championship in a hard fought race with tough conditions, the way it should be won, this win meant something. I looked down at my bike after things settled down and saw how stuffed up my derailleur was with mud and grass,  I realized just how lucky I was and how smart it was to make that pit as without that quick bike cleaning I doubt I would have finished without a mechanical failure. It's time to build a pit bike!

Over all it was a really fun race and I gained valuable experience in the mud which may be critical for having success @ Nats. I could not have won my first Elite Women's State Championship without my rock solid State Wheels. They are hand built here in the USA and the owner, Joseph, is super nice. If you have not had the chance to ride or race on a lightweight stiff carbon tubular wheelset you are missing out (look me up at the next race for a test ride!). The advantages are incredible and they make CX racing so much more fun. Also if your are in the market to buy a set of wheels please check these out, and if you are really serious about it let me know and I can get you special pricing.

Happy Wheels!

Another season goal checked off  with the Women's Elite Missouri State Cyclocross Champion and another big one right around the corner shooting for a top top 5 @ CX Nationals the first week of Jan.  It's going to be an epic race as all the fast girls from east cost to west coast are all registered, time to focus and finish strong.

Lots of bikes to clean. 3 Champions in the family today, Dad (Masters 35), Me Elite Women and Tori Junior Girls!

Local KC peeps come cheer me one at the next three races, Boxing Day CX on the 26th, Grote Prijs Wed night the 28th, and Cross off the Old Year the 31st.

How to Dominate

Jingle Cross Rock- Iowa City, Iowa

1. Preparation-

Got Mud? State Wheels love to play in the mud!

There are a lot of things that go into preparing for a race; Tire pressure, shifting, brakes, hydration, breakfast/energy, clothes, and course. My bike was dialed and ready to rock, of course it wants to go faster than I can ride but that's okay with me, and the State Wheels were amazing in the mud. I had the best kind of energy that I can get, a banana 3-4 hours before my race then a Naked smoothie throughout the remaining time before the race start. I also had a glass or two of water earlier that morning so I wouldn't be dehydrated but I also wouldn't be too hydrated. I half rode the course but I only rode a part that was taken out for my race and another part that was really easy. I didn't ride over half the course but I figured I would just end up following someone and would see the lines or that there would be crashes and I would have to make up new lines. 

2. Warm-up-

Warm-ups are one of the most important parts of racing, the only time you really don't need one is for a long race 3-24 hours. I got on the trainer under the KCCX/ Fuji tent about 40 minutes before my race and did a 30 minute warm-up. After my trainer warm-up I headed to the start line and did a couple of laps around the grass with my teammate Sarah Worthington.  

Hammer the start!

3. Good Start-

Getting a good start includes registering early, something that I failed (my dad) to do. I was third row and number 27 for the call up (out of 40). The only good thing about that was that I lined up right next to my team mate. You also need to stay warm until the start of the race. I got my jacket off as late as possible but unfortunately right after that a blast of freezing wind came in and it stated to rain harder. With 30 seconds till start I was in my pedal  and with 15 seconds till start I was in my saddle with slight pressure and on the pedal and brakes. When the sound was made for our start I let go of my brakes and immediately moved up to the line in front of me and was gunning for the lead hard. 

Staying upright was key.

4. Move up (Be aggressive)-

From the gun I was on the gas trying to move up. I was cutting people off in corners by taking lines that were faster but pretty sketchy, taking some of the corners tape to tape while pushing some of the women all the way up against the tape in the process, jumping on the gas out of corners, staying upright, and by running faster. By the end of the first lap of the race I had moved into first and was already putting a gap into second.

5. Stay upright-

You can't win the race on the ground. Even though I wasn't going too fast through the corners I was taking them so that I wouldn't end up on the ground but still trying to put time on the field. The one time I did try to take a corner too fast I ended up on the ground and second place caught me (my second lap). Put in some really hard efforts and never saw her the rest of the race.

6. Race Tactics-

Flyover!

I know that what I do pisses people off sometimes but rubbing is racing. I used some tactics like cornering tape to tape and I was cutting women off just to get up front but I had to do it. On my second lap when second place caught back up to me she was taking some of the corners wide and slow. There was one particular corner that I could take sharper that her. It was a 180 right next to a barn so I went on her inside then rode next to her while closing in and pushing her up against the barn so she had to slow down and get behind me. When she had lost all of her speed I took off and never looked back. After my race I heard that she had flatted and that she was also the winner of Friday night's race. 

7. Gap the field-

After every corner I was out of my saddle sprinting and I was running every section as fast as I could run with the slick and muddy conditions. Every lap I was putting in time on the field and by the third lap someone yelled out that I had about a minute lead on second and third who were battling it out. Every time someone told me that they were closer or gaining I would go a little faster. 

8.Ignore the Elements-

Running up a hill (As fast as I could)

I was dressed perfectly for the weather at the start of my race, base layer and skin suit. I was a little chilly at the start but I knew that is how I was supposed to feel. It was raining but it was also muddy and even though that made it colder I was still dressed perfectly. Then a cold front moved in during my third lap and the temperature dropped from 53 to 42 in a matter of seconds. I started to get really cold but I knew that if I went faster I would risk crashing so I stayed the same speed and payed the price. When I finished my race I was soaked and frozen but they wanted to do the podium right after the top three women came in so I had to wait 5 minutes for them to get ready. After that we didn't know that they had a shower so my dad took a hose and sprayed me down with water which just made me even colder. During my race I ignored that I was cold and that I was getting mud and water all over my face and in my eyes so I could focus on staying upright and keeping my lead on the field. 

9. Leave everything on the course-

At the end of my last lap all I had left was a small sprint for the crowd. I had put in sooo many efforts to keep my gap that all I wanted to do at the end of my race was collapse. When I finished I had this plan for if I ever got first that I would sit up and throw both my arms in the air and smile. All I could do at the end of my race was throw one arm in the air and put my head down and smile. 

I won!!!!!!!!

Interview right after my race, sooooo cold!!!!!!!!!

Allergies...

This one goes out to all of you who have any type of seasonal allergies.
Ruts 'n Guts- Broken Arrow, Oklahoma


So this year I found out that those colds I get every year at the start of the fall season that last for a couple of weeks are actually fall allergies. I went into the beginning of the cross country season with a runny nose, cough, mucus in my throat, and feeling groggy with horrible race performances. I should have know earlier, considering my dad has really bad fall and rag weed allergies along with my sister's tree, tree nut and fall allergies.


At Louisville my dad and I were feeling the effects of a southern wind. After my race on the first day I was having a little trouble breathing, I had a cough, and my nose was running when it wasn't even that cold out. My dad had to slow way down so he could breathe, he couldn't get any air and there was no reasonable explanation for it. We also talked to another Mo guy out there who has issues with allergies and he said that he was also having the same symptoms. Obviously the south had not frozen yet.


On Thursday night my dad calls me (I'm at my mom's house) and asks me if I want to go down to the Tulsa area to race. He tells me there is a huge pay out ($750 for first place pro/1/2 women and $1000 for first place pro/1/2 men). There were around 15 women who raced last year and the pay out goes 15 deep. I agreed that we should go with there being no races around KC on Saturday. The other possibility for racing was Lincoln but it was really cold there, all of my competition had gone to that race, and the payout was no where near as big.


Apparently the south has decided to stay warm for the winter and we had a southern wind (20-30 mph winds) this weekend onto of Oklahoma being warm already. It was around 70 degrees when I lined up to race. I had a women I have raced against a couple of times but never fresh, a lady who I raced last year but haven't raced this year and her teammate who I had never even seen before. Our race was going to be 50 minutes and when we asked them if we could shorten it they said yes, the race will now be 45 minutes long. I think when I stopped my Garmin that my total race time was some where around 43 minutes but I don't know if that's because of them shortening it or because of us racing faster than expected.


Right before the start of our race a guy passed out on the side of the race course. I'm pretty sure he was drunk and the guy who was going to start our race was saying he had had a couple of drinks earlier and couldn't even walk straight. Needless to say our race was delayed by a couple of minutes while they made sure he didn't actually have a heart attack or anything like that. (Hint Hint- don't drink)


So our race started but we didn't go off very fast and I was having no problems staying with two of the three women. We dropped the third woman right out of the gates and it was just the three of us. We all took our lines pretty good until we got to a section where the course had a short punchy climb. When we hit that the woman that I had never beat before made it up but the lady I had raced last year stalled at the crest and I rode right into her. We both got off and ran but she had a perfect remount and I screwed up and had to run all the way up the rest of the hill after that. 


From all of the running I was breathing hard and I had to put in some hard efforts to try and catch back up to second place. On my second lap my legs started to feel really bad and every time I put in a hard effort I noticed that I wasn't getting very much oxygen into my lungs. With every breathe I was getting about half to a quarter of what I normally would take in while racing. 


About half way through my second lap I slowed way down and stopped worrying about catching back up. I knew that I needed to calm down and try to breathe deep and steady. Third place ended up passing me on the road right after the punchy climb so I jumped on her wheel, but that didn't last very long.


The Cat 3 women raced at the same time we did so the first place cat 3 caught me (they started at the same time and we had originally dropped them but I had slowed so far down they caught back up....). We battled it out for a while but ultimately I was stronger and dropped her with 3 laps to go. 


I ended the race in dead last but I think if the stupid south would freeze already I might have been able to get first or second. I have had good days and bad days and the ones with allergies involved are the worst.


Over all the race was a pretty good venue but nobody showed up to race. The course was good with a lot of different terrain varying from flat road to single track. Maybe next year.........

Can't win the race on the ground.

Bring on the cowbells- Derby City Cup Louisville, KY


Out of all the Cyclocross courses I have ever ridden on, this has got to be the best. Louisville has a park used almost specifically for cyclocross. There are man made hills, sandpits, burms, and bumps just to make things interesting. On top of all the things that are permanent to the area, barriers and the aptly named Green Monster (flyover with really tall stairs, steep decent, and is painted green) were also added for the enjoyment of the crowd and the pain of the racers.


The races on day one started out on a flat stretch of road about 100-200 yards long which transitioned into a pretty wide hole shot grassy downhill. The downhill turned into a flat with a sweeping turn into a 2-3 foot tall hump, another sweeping left turn into another hump with barriers immediately afterwards. This section was very fast and really crowed because of the little time we had to spread out. After the barriers was the Green Monster and some flat grass sections (power to the roadies....) that were really bumpy with a head wind. Pretty much the whole course was against me except for the back section where steep climbs and burms were a mountain biker's heaven (on a cross bike).  I saw no places where you could really crash unless you rode the sand stupidly with too much pressure on your front wheel. That didn't stop me though.


The only thing I dislike about USGPs are the starts. They make you sit there for 2 minutes, count down to 30 seconds, then anytime within those last 30 seconds they can blow their whistle. The single speed men started around 20 seconds before us even though it was supposed to be thirty. The official blew his whistle and we half sprinted to the hole shot. I missed my pedal and ended up getting boxed in so I took it as a chance to start my coaches Garmin (I left mine at the hotel...). I went to the inside of one of my competitors when we got to the whole shot and passed around 3 girls on the first down hill and flat. The bumps where easy to get over and everyone held there line on and immediately after. My barrier skills on the first lap where kind of crappy and my remount lost me a spot. The section between the barriers and the Green Monster was a flat power section where almost every lap someone got a round me.  The Green Monster was a mess, some of the women where practially walking up it so even though I had not tried to run up the stairs on any of my pre-rides I ran up them thinking the whole time, "You guys are just going to let me around?" My remount at the top wasn't as good as I would have liked but I took it and passed 2 more women before we got to the sand. 


I screwed up pretty bad in the sand and ran into a couple of girls who were running it while I was riding. I got off my bike but by that point I had already been passed back up by the 2 women I had passed earlier after the fly over. Now we were into the first of two mountain bike like sections that were fast but had some sharp turns. The burned in line isn't always the fastest one and I showed some of the women exactly that. On my pre-ride I rode part of one lap with one of the guys that had carpooled with us. He showed me that there was a line through some leaves that was a lot faster and you could cut off someone (or a couple of people) because It was a straight shot and you didn't have to use your brakes to stay on a set line. I took this and pulled those ladies back where they belonged- behind me.


Everything was going smooth after that. I continued to try and pull the front in and pass single speed men. My crusade was short lived when on a flat section before the second sand pit I wasn't as strong a lady went around my right side then proceeded to stick her back wheel into my front wheel. I lost control of my bike and went right through the tape. I was really pissed about the crash so I tore the tape off my bike and got back on the course. I wasn't really paying attention and 2 ladies came around me the first one on the left and the second one on the right. This made me even more mad and kind of freaked me out. I took off after them. The three of us got to the sand pit about the same time and I tried to go in between them. Mistake number 1- Riding too close to other people. Mistake number 2- Trying to ride in between them. Both of the women couldn't ride the sand and ended up falling to their insides. I ended up with both of their bikes on top of me, more time in between the leader and me, and my bike was tangled up with one of their bikes. I ran out of the sand and had a perfect remount. With all the adrenaline I had from those crashes I was flying. 


I took the rest of the lap clean and ran up the last steep hill before the road section right on another one of the women's heels. On my last lap I ended up in forth behind one of Maian's racers. We were head on head until the barriers where I proceeded to smash my front wheel into the barriers and have a horrible remount. She started to pull away and I was thinking," Hell no. You are not getting away from me!" I put in an effort and right before the fly over she crashed. I used this to my advantage and ran as fast as I could up the stairs, jumped onto my bike, and took off, never looking back. I ended up dropping her then pulling in second place who I dropped in the last section where my mountain biking skills came in handy. I rode all the steep climbs perfectly. On the last run up I was yelling at my self to go and not to look back. I knew she had to be close because my dad was yelling at me to go hard and not to stop pushing. I put my bike in it's biggest gear and sprinted to the finish fearing the worst because my skinny self cannot sprint if my life depended on it. 


As my coach told me a little while back when I got crashed at New Belgium Cup in Colorado, you can't win the race on the ground. Throughout the whole race I pushed as hard as I could but after those crashes I couldn't pull back in first. My lap times show that I was pulling her in but when you add up all those seconds that the crashes cost my you see around 30 seconds to 1 minute lost. I lost the race to first by 29 seconds. Although this was one of my best races I am stilled pissed about my results.


Results for day 1


Day 2 was when I was supposed to redeem my self. I wanted the first really bad and I was ready to jump on the girl who won on day one's wheel and stay there then try to out sprint her if it came to that. Yet again crashing took me out. 


At the start of the race they told us that they had made a change to the course but they didn't say where. All of us where confused and upset that they hadn't made the change earlier so that we would be able to pre-ride it. It ended up being on the back part of the course and not too hard that any one couldn't make the new turn, it was just kinda irritating that they had done that. 


My first lap was really clean up until the first sand pit where I must have put to much pressure on my front wheel and ended up taking a slap to the face with sand. I was sitting second when I screwed up and the sand. I didn't lose any spots but 3rd and 4th caught up and first pulled farther away. 


I wasn't having a good race at all today. I continually crashed or made stupid mistakes. It only took two laps for the lady who got first on the first day to go around me and to end up with 4th place and a cat 4 who had worked her way all the way up to the top ranks of cat 2/3 women to end up on my tail. 


I was so red lined that I ended up pulling my foot out of my pedal multiple times throughout the race costing me multiple seconds. The last time I did that it was in the second sand pit and I lost all of my power right before going into it. I got stopped dead half way through the sand and 4th place plus the cat 4 lady went right around me because they both were able to ride it. They took off and started to pull away while I was left in their dust to try and power through the wind.


In the last section of the course I tried to use my mountain bike skills to my advantage and pull them back in. I could see that I was starting to gain on them but not enough. It was going to take a crash for me to catch them again. Although the crash happened it happened to the wrong lady. The cat 4 women couldn't quite make it up the hill and I got around her still trying to catch third place. 


I ended up finishing out the race in 4th because of how many times I had crashed. I think that because  I was going so hard when I was already tired from the previous day  I couldn't control my bike very well and every time I crashed I was freaking out more and more. 


Results from day 2

We found out that I am still slower than the girls who I am going to be competing against at nationals (both CX national champs) by around 20 seconds per 10 minute lap. The good thing is that my development curve should be a lot better than theirs considering I have not been racing near as long as they have so that ~1min gap in a 30 minute race will only get smaller.  I also know how much harder I can bury myself for 30 minutes at nationals compared to how hard I pushed myself at Louisville considering we went 40+ minutes both days. 


Next race up- Ruts 'n Guts

USGP Derby Cup Video

Video my dad compiled from the USGP Derby Cup of my racing over the weekend, race report coming later, have a lot of homework to get done after missing more school (totally worth it!).

    

First USGP. Ever.

Whats better than missing school? Missing school to race your bike!


Ok, so maybe missing school isn't the best thing. You have to make up tests, learn assignments on your own, and do extra work that the teachers think you deserve because you missed a day. (Bonus- I had to get up earlier than if I was going to school on a normal day....)But I had 11 hours in the car to work on what I got (Surprisingly, not very much) so it was all worth it. 

My spoke pony. I love her!

4 'o clock wake up call and a bowl of oatmeal before we hit the road to pick up one of my team mates Cameron Rex. Once we get on the highway we are really flying with the new speed limits through KS and it ends up taking 9 to 10 hours to get to Ft. Collins, CO, with stops for food and gas. 


Preride time! 
It was really warm and dry/dusty for the preride which made the course pretty slick. It was also really bumpy and hard to hold on to the handle bars. Lots of hills, 2 barrier runs and a flyover! Really fun course, physically demanding, and in a really neat location. A news writer parked next to us and we got interviewed for a local paper which was pretty neat. About halfway through the interview  I spotted a friend and went off to preride the course with him because he had already ridden a couple of laps. He helped me spot out a couple of basic lines then I rode a lap with my dad, sister, then a hot lap by myself. I ended up getting a total of 5 laps in and pretty much had the course dialed.


For the rest of the day we went to my dad's friend's house and did homework, played with his dog, went to pickup numbers, ate at a vegetarian restaurant, worked on bikes, and finally went to bed to get plenty of sleep. 


Race day number 1-

Me Battling it out with the girl who came in 5th place.

Up at 6 in the morning to race at 8:45 and a breakfast of champions for race day, Naked smoothie watered down with some added electrolights. The course was exactly the same as when I prerode it but it was really cold that morning. Even though it was dusty the tire choice  was still Challenge Tire's Limus. I lined up and unfortunately had a not so good start and went from the front line to very last into the whole shot. I used the first few corners to get around everyone except the first 3 women. I continued to battle it out with 3rd place until the middle of the second lap where I cut her off on one of the up hill switch backs. She stayed pretty close to me (10 or so seconds) for almost all of the 4th lap when I crashed on a tight corner before the stair run up. She ended up right behind me and I had to go completely red line for the rest of the lap. I finished the last climb about ready to puke because I was going so hard but I had a big sprint to the finish and beat 4th place by 6 seconds in the end. 


For the rest of the races after mine it was a constant and very cold down pour. I was not too happy that I didn't get to race in mud or rain. The pros were pretty cool to watch and Katrina Nash won day one for the women with Ryan Trebon finishing first in the men and J-Pow in second (Jeremy Powers). Ate some more good food then went to sleep to prepare for race day number 2. 


Results for day #1. 

Podium shot!

Race day number 2-
Thankfully it was much warmer on Sunday and we had mud on our hands. Because of all the rain the previous day the ground was soft after the cat 4 men warmed it up.  There were some tacky areas but it was mostly slick.
I warmed up under the KCCX/Fuji tent and got some last minute bike fix ups which resulted in a late roll up for me when my call up would have been front row. I rolled up a little under 2 minutes before the start. I had a great start unlike Saturday but got stuck behind some women and couldn't go as hard as I would have liked to. 

The course was really slick around the first couple of corners and there were multiple crashes. I avoided the first one but got caught in the second one on the second corner. The girl in front of me slid out into the fencing and the back of her bike flipped out into my way. I ran right into it and then fell right onto her chain ring with my knee. Although this is partially my fault for following her too closely I was still pretty pissed about the crash. I got up as fast as I could (which was pretty slow if you were counting the actual seconds even if it felt like I was up really fast) and on my way to chasing down those who had passed me. The first girl was pretty easy. I was faster than her on the run up and the down hill so she told me to go around her and to chase down those other women. 


I felt pretty strong on my climbing and I was running both sets of barriers and stairs as fast as I could but it still felt like forever to get back up to some of the other women. On my second lap there was a lot of going back and forth between the two women in front of me and myself. I would catch up to them then they would take of and try to drop/break me. The whole lap was this way and it wasn't getting us any closer to the top women. I could tell on the final climb before the lap was over that I was gaining on them on the climb so I put everything on the course just to pass them on the road section. I sprinted past one then cut the other off right before the last corner. Some one came up to me after the race and told me that the announcers had yelled out,"There goes Karen Brocket at Hyper speed trying to get around some women late in the game!" Personally I thought that this was pretty funny and wish I had heard it while I was racing but all I could think about was that it was the bell lap and I had some people to catch. 


For the rest of my last lap I was completely red line making sure that the women I had just passed stayed behind me and trying to catch 4th place. I don't think there is a time in my life where I have raced harder than that except for Subaru Cup but that was a long Mountain bike race. I ended up pulling away from 6th place but I couldn't catch 4th. Maybe if I had one more lap I might have been able to but that didn't happen. I ended up in 5th place but had a lot of fun even if I did crash a couple of my brain cells out (that's probably why I love cyclocross so much....I don't have any brain cells left.... Ha ha). 

Fly over

Results for day #2.

I can't wait to race some more USGPs. The atmosphere is soooooo amazing ad everyone there is cheering you on. Also there were some tents out there with food. All I can say is thank you Bob's Red Mill for letting me eat lots of your oatmeal! KCCX/Fuji were also really helpful in support before and during the race. 

In love.... with Cyclocross!

And Summer turns to Winter. Wait, where did Fall go? Gotta love the weather in the Midwest...


Herman CX- Herman, MO September 17-18
Even though the weather is indecisive about the current season it is yet again that time. Cyclocross. The love of my life. Who couldn't love riding your bike in the freezing weather with mud, ice, snow, rain, and barriers? Anyway, as  I was saying, some of the first races of the season kicked off a week or two ago. My first race; Herman CX.  We start the day off by going to see my dad's GF and her niece run a charity 5k for the black footed cat at the KC zoo.  Immediately after they finished we took off to pack the car and wait for Chris Lock the get to our house. He had a friend taking his bike down but needed someone to drive him down to the race. 2.5 hours later we are in Herman, MO with a couple of hours until my dad's first race at 4:00 pm.


Race time- (Day 1) 4:00 pm
My dad went out with his first race of the day in Masters men 30+. Using it as a warm up he spent the whole race screwing around and checking out different lines for his more important race and my race. He pulled in a second place regardless of his lack of racing and came back with a couple of really good lines that we applied during my pre-ride.
Pre-ride and warm up- my race

Small barrier with Sunny on my heals

Props to Jeff Yielding for putting up an awesome course with lots of turns and a variety of terrain (except for hills). The course started out with a fast road sprint into a dive down a hill onto the outside of a baseball field with a couple of sharp turns to make things challenging. After a long ( and tiring) flight of stairs we went back around the outside of the baseball field, did some turns up and around some pine trees, across a short burst of road and into a sand pit. More turns and then another sand pit with a little bit of a twist. There were barriers right after the sand pit. Both of the barriers were short and the first one was ride-able but the second was on a off camber up hill and if you tried to bunny hop it you would spin out. Some people rode it but most didn't (That whole section was kinda challenging just because you were coming out of a sand pit with some speed then you had to run and remount on an off camber hill side). The rest of the course was pretty fast and really flat (power section) with a lot of hairpin and momentum turns. But right before all the fast stuff they had to through in another obstacle. Huge barriers. The first day on them was easy but the second day the area where you needed to dismount was really muddy from the water run off of the bike wash. There was also a contest going on for the first person to bunny hop the barriers on the first lap of every race. Needless to say, none of the open women even attempted to. After the pre-ride I just rode around, did a couple of sprints and dismounts/remounts to get ready for the race.


Race time- 7:00 pm

Rolling in for 4th with the lights coming on

I get to the start line and there are 12 other women. I wasn't really nervous because I didn't know anyone one out there except for talking to them a couple of times at other races or before our start. The rules were set and they blew the gun only to have me left in the dust of everyone's sprinting legs because I couldn't clip in! I jumped onto one of the women in the back of the pack and used her as a slingshot around everyone except the top 6 women on the down hill grass with a line my dad showed me. Unfortunately I might have made one lady mad because I cut her off on the next turn by going tape to tape... I passed 6th place on the stairs and 5th place right before the first sand pit. I ended up right behind the top 3 women  but Kelly and Carrie pulled away from 3rd and myself before the end of the second lap. I stayed with 3rd (Sunny Gilbert) for part of the 2nd lap but ultimately she pulled away and I was left in la la land between 3rd and 5th place. Towards the end of the race 5th place (Stepanie McCreary started to pull me back in but I held her off and took 4th. I raced on all my new sponsorship items and loved the setup. Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, State Wheels and Challenge Tires Limus. The whole combination was grippy, fast, and I managed to stay upright the whole race with absolutely no problems. Can I have two loves because I'm pretty sure I love my bike & Cyclocross too!

LOVED IT!!!!!!!

Race time - 9:00
Final race of the day and Jeff saved the best for last, Open Men. The fastest and loudest of all the races might I say too? The rest of my teammates raced at 9:00 including my dad. The start was pretty exciting even if my team didn't line up exactly how they wanted too. There were also quit a few crashes during this race, one of them took out Jeff Yielding. We did pretty good with two of our guys in the top ten, Andrew Coe in 4th and Travis Donn in 9th. Unfortunately one of our other riders had to pull because his crank arm came out. Here are day 1's Results.


Day 2
I raced at 1pm and my dad raced at 3pm. My race went the same way except that the course was a little sloppier and I pulled pretty far ahead of 5th place. That was really fun though because every time 5th and I saw each other we yelled encouragements. Kelly finished first again, But Carrie and Sunny switched places and Sunny got 2nd and Carrie got 3rd. 5th place and I both finished in the same place. 
My dads race wasn't so good after he went down and started to have issues with his ribs which he had crashed on earlier on in the week. Ethos did well over all with 3 of our guys in the top ten. Travis came in 5th, Andrew 6th and Cameron Rex in 9th. Here are day 2's Results.


Over all it was a great race weekend on a good course with perfect cyclocross weather and a great venue. Another race I will probably try to hit again next year if possible!

Tall Oaks Challenge (my first race report)

Getting up early everyday is supposed to be confined to school and work days, that is unless you are a cyclist.

Can't have enough cowbells! (Bell Lap Bell Lap Bell Lap)

5:20 A.M and all I want to do is slam my alarm off and fall back asleep but the bike calls and I must leave the comfy,warmth that is my bed. I drag myself, dog, and siblings out of bed and give the commands. Brother cooks food, sister takes dog out, I load bikes, all while my dad is off taking his GF to the airport. About 3/4 of the way through all of our work my dad gets home to help with the final touches and make our super high energy tea smoothie.

On the road again....
We make it out between 6:00 - 6:30 and start heading out to Jeff city for the Tall Oak Challenge 6 hour mountain bike race at Bender Lake. Nothing like getting to see the sun rise on a beautiful day for a ride (66 degrees out when we left the house). The weather was looking promising. Always good to wake up to some friends too. We saw Kat and her husband on their way to the road race out in Sedalia and a couple partners in crime (more of the Ethos crew riding up in Burnsey's van) who we caravaned up with until some one had to make a potty break.

We got to the race just in time to get a primo spot for our team pit. We needed a lot of space considering most of our team was out there racing. Got all of our bikes down and placed them to seal our pit right next to the course so we could set up the shade and water when Burnsey finally pulled up. My dad and I register and of course I got some ties that were pink and green. Gotta match the team colors even if they don't match the bike. By that time we had some shade set up and we could pull everything we would need for the entire race out and set it up. The rest of the team pulls up and gets changed right before they call 5 minutes till rider meeting. What a great reason to ride right there. Lots of team mates and friends to support you and cheer you on!

With a speedy riders meeting a shotgun shot starts us off on our first lap. We start on a small section of pavement, make a hard right onto a grass path, go through the start finish, and head onto the trail. At first it was little hard to regain my bike handling skills because I hadn't mountain biked in a while but around 1 mile in to the course I started to feel better. For the first 2 miles I rode with a friend who is faster than me but eventually I let him pull ahead so I wouldn't burn up in my first lap. I finished my first lap in about 45 minutes and at that point knew that I would have to slow down a lot if I wanted to keep riding for the whole 6 hours. Even thought I went too fast I was having a lot of fun. This is why I race my bike.

My next two laps went by in a blur. I knew that I had slowed down but I was still going too fast by turning over 50 minute laps now. Every time I came in for a lap I would get some water with EFS and Mango smoothie mixed together and I would eat some cookies or fruit. At this point I could defiantly  feel my legs from the CC meet I ran the previous day but I would have to tough it out. About 3/4 of the way through my 2nd lap I dropped my chain right before I hit the technical rocky climb and Kay passed me up to move into first place.

When I came in after my third straight lap in a row I had to stop and eat more food. From what my duo teammates told me Kay was about 2-3 min in front of me now. I took the time to replenish my hydration and drank some straight smoothie and some straight water.I also went up to check on the times and see how I was doing. Unfortunately the time keepers made a slight mistake which they fixed while I was out on my 4th lap but, none the less, cost me. They put my lap time on another solo 6 hour female rider so it looked like she was ahead of me. After a couple of min of rest I left for my 4th lap which was a little slower than previous ones but I was on the chase to catch my teammate and the phantom rider in front of me who actually passed me while I was checking my time...

When I was in the middle of my 4th lap I started to feel the pain from going to hard in the begging and started to slow a little. Climbing more consistent and bombing the down hills. When I came in for the start of my 5th lap I was a cooked goose and wanted to stop to take another rest but with the help of my teammates I was encouraged that continual movement is better than stopping and I started off on a very slow 5th lap where I basically spun my legs out. My 6th lap was very similar but this time I had the power of Coke on my side. Caffeine does wonders to numb the pain, along with mind power. If you just tell yourself that there is no pain you believe it.

I knew that we were getting close to the end and I was happy, but also a little sad because I was starting to really be able to shred the downhills and let loose. I stopped at the tent to see how much time was left and they told me 20 minutes. Ok, that can be either good or bad. So I asked how far back 4th place was. 9 minutes. In a split second decision I take off and yell "One more lap!" My dad yells back and tells me not to burn up in the first part of the lap.

This is what I live, breath, and sleep cycling for. The moment where you can just let yourself and the bike be one. That's what I did on my 7th lap. I time trialed the whole last lap and I'm pretty sure that my final lap was the fastest of every single lap I put our there. I left everything on the course, sprinted the up hills, peddled on the downhills, powered the flats. Everything I could think of the drop the lady behind me even farther back. I felt like I was flying. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I was loving every second. I didn't want to stop. But all good things must come to an end though. So I finished my race in 3rd place and despite the pain, was quite happy to have done that well. Needless to say, the Tall Oak Challenge is not an easy course.

Ethos Grrrls Rock (grrrlz rule and boyz drool)

I took in my recovery drink, talked to a couple of other juniors out there that had raced, and got my awards. Ethos had a strong race with Kay getting first in solo women, me getting 3rd in solo women, Travis and Garrett getting 1st in the open duo, and Jp and Jesse pulling in a 6th in the open duo class.

It was a great race made even better with friends and teammates. Everyone out there raced strong and the Tall Oak Challenge is a race I will defiantly consider going back to next year.
Big thanks to everyone who put on the race and who cooked the food!