Hi Team,
I made the trip with Justin to the Cyclocross National Championships, which were held in Louisville, Kentucky, for the second year in a row. I raced the Men 55-59 event on Friday, and Justin was racing twice with the collegiate race on Thursday and the U23 Men on Saturday.
The course was similar to last year, so we knew what to expect and were hoping for no rain since the clay-based soil in Louisville is unbelievably slippery when wet. There had been rain earlier in the week and then temperatures below freezing, but for Justin’s Thursday afternoon race, the course was mostly dry with just a few sections in the woods that were super slick.
Justin had a second-row call-up and got a great start, immediately moving into a front group of four riders. That group became just three riders by the end of the first lap, and then Justin was able to go solo and finish the second lap with a 15-second gap. He continued to ride strongly and smoothly to win by over a minute, taking his second collegiate national championship of the year after his MTB win in November!
Friday was my turn to race, and temperatures were just above freezing, which made for partially thawed mud in sections that were quite treacherous. I used toe spikes for running sections and aggressive mud tires and low tire pressure. Unfortunately, I was placed in the 6th row since California does not have cyclocross races that are sanctioned by USA Cycling, which meant that my ranking points were terrible.
So I committed to trying for a fast start and mostly succeeded, working my way up to 7th place at the end of the first nine-minute lap. But the leaders still had a twenty-second gap, and I knew it would be difficult to make the catch. I continued my full-speed effort and made it across to the three leaders with one lap to go.
The last lap was full of attacks, and I led some sections, but coming into the final set-up barriers with about five turns left, I was in second. I attempted to run by the leader and had gained a couple of steps, but when we both set our bikes down, his handlebars were still in front of mine, and he then turned and took me into the course tape. That was enough for me to lose a couple of bike lengths, which I attempted to make up in the last few turns, but ultimately I finished 2nd, just one second back. Exciting racing, and I’ll be back next year, but this time with a front-row start earned from this result!
The final race for us was Justin’s U23 competition, where he was lined up in the second row based on UCI points. He has been racing this fall for the Bear CX team, which has given him mechanical and logistics support at the bigger cyclocross races in the US. Justin started well and had a relatively clean race to finish 11th, which is his best result over the years in the ultra-competitive U23 category. He is now headed to Europe for two weeks of racing in Belgium, where cyclocross was born! He will be able to do a mix of U23 and Elite races with hopefully a couple of U23 World Cup starts. When I have a complete schedule, I will send it out since many of these races are streamed on Flosports or Max, so you might be able to spot him!
