Hard to believe we are already two weeks into this season! After spending the week in Virginia I headed up to Rochester, NY on Thursday. Friday we pre-rode the course and then it was time for the C1 on Saturday. I will give a short run down on my race, but I highly recommend you watch the replay on GCN! I found myself with a solid amount of airtime and it is great to have live-streamed racing back in the US.
I got off to a solid start and was rolling in the top ten on lap one. I moved up into the top eight by lap two and started to latch onto the back of the lead group. Things heated up and I started to dangle a bit as the leaders lit things up. I was able to claw back from the attacks and ride through other riders as they flamed out of the top five.
By the halfway point I was able to get around Lance, and then Gage moving into fifth. I made it on to Michael Van Den Ham's wheel and we worked together vying for the fourth place spot. We held off a charging Gage Hecht and were set to sprint for fourth, but I suffered an unfortunate mechanical with three corners to go and had to run to the finish line. I lost about 30 seconds and Gage, Lance and Curtis passed me in the final minutes of racing to finish eighth. It was sad to lose that top five finish, bu eighth is still a personal best for me at a C1 by a long shot. I proved to myself I can keep up with some of the top guys and I'm excited to put in the work to hang on to them longer and longer.
On Sunday my start was not as smooth and I found myself around 20th. I moved up throughout the first lap and into the top ten, but the front group of six was going full gas and I missed that train. I hung onto Van Den Ham for a lap, and then Gage for half a lap, but I just couldn't hold their pace. I slipped back a few spots to just outside the top ten with two laps to go.
Eric Brunner came around me and I grabbed his wheel. We separated from a few chasers and I was able to hang tough finishing in tenth place, snagging that singular UCI point.
All in all I was happy to put down some more consistent rides and score more UCI points in fully loaded fields. Having such competitive fields, live tv coverage and plenty of fans is a real treat. Thank you to my incredible sponsors and everyone cheering from near and far. Next up is Charm City Cyclocross in Baltimore, Maryland. (Day one photos by Zoe Mae and day two by Dan Brock).