Time for the third round of UCI racing on the east coast! This time in Baltimore, Maryland. Things kicked off Saturday afternoon with the C1 event. I lined up front row for the first time at a major event like this, which was very exciting especially with the live-stream.
I hit the first corner in the top five and managed to to stay in the big lead group for the first three laps. I dropped back a spot here and there until I started to dangle off the back. As the went on I fell off the back completely of that lead group.
I settled into some intermediate group around 15th place and we ripped a few laps tearing it up in the heat and dust.
On the final lap Daxton Mock and I broke away from the rest of our pack and brought it to the line and I finished up 17th. It was nowhere near as exciting as my C1 in Rochester, but still decent! I found myself longing for mud as I ate other people's dust...
On Sunday I set the goal of not pulling out of my pedal mid-sprint after the start (like I did on Saturday), which was an important intermediate step for my goal of getting the hole shot. Both went swimmingly and I found myself heading around corner number one in the lead of a major UCI race for the first time in my career.
I'd be lying if I said it was anything but thrilling! Anyways, the legs felt great and nobody came around me, so I lead for most of the first lap. Then I settled into the front group and felt comfortable there for the next few laps.
As the race went on I started to dangle again and soon found myself off the back. I connect with a few other groups of riders and we ripped the final few laps together until I made a mistake on the big off-camber and lost a few wheels. I rolled in for 15th on the day. Not spectacular, but I accomplished some personal firsts and learned a little more!
Checkout my vlog below and the race live streams replays on GCN for more in-depths coverage!