Writing the start of this from the Airbnb in Fayetteville sitting on the couch next to two of my favorite boys, Louis and Jordan. They, along with Tony, Tini, Waverly, and Hailey have been supporting us really well so far, cheering us on and keeping us fed.

Wednesday I left with Chase and we were on the interstate by 2:45. We managed to do it with only one stop, at the worlds nicest Kum & Go, where I bought an Italian Panini made to order. They also complimented my hat.

Thursday Time Trial for the 1/2 field (there’s a pro men and a pro women field here as well) started at 2:30, so we had a lot of time in advance–we woke up pretty late and talked to everyone who had come in different cars. Me, Jordan, and Chase went to the grocery store to get some food for the weekend, then we had breakfast and lounged for a few hours before we headed to the course at 12:30.

The course is three miles long, pretty much all uphill, but it flattens out towards the top and dips down before it kicks back up. I went out a little hard, 455 watts for the first 5 minutes, but this is a course to go out too hard since you get a little respite towards the top. 200 meters out I came up on the guy who started a couple spots ahead of me and thought I could catch him, so I sprinted harder than I would have. Probably saved me a couple seconds.

My timer said 10:24, so I knew I had a pretty good result based on last years times but wasn’t sure exactly how good. Fellow Minnesota racer Jameson Ribbens absolutely blitzed the course with a time of 9:46. Results came out and I was in 12th place, with Chase (64th) and Logan (90th) putting respectable times in. Chase was a little disappointed, and swore to get in the break the next day. We’re joined by U of M alumni Jacob Okamoto (Oko) this weekend and he put in a less than stellar, but somewhat expected time. (133rd)

We ate Italian for dinner and discussed the race plan-I decided I wasn’t high enough on GC to really commit the team 100% to me, so we decided that Oko would do his best to stick in, Logan would cover stuff if he felt good and position me towards the end, and Chase would go for the breaks.

9:45 AM sign in meant a pretty early morning so I could stuff myself with oatmeal and poptarts and make my way over to the start in time. We rolled out on time down a big highway with full road closure, which was dope, and it was kind of boring the first 30 miles. I rolled off the front so I could pee (everyone else was peeing off of their bikes at like 30 miles an hour but I couldn’t work up the courage) and then got back on.

I went to the front to try to make a couple of moves and kind of tried to get something to go. It wasn’t fruitful or smart. especially with 70 miles to go still. A little move got away with Chase in it, and I tried to bridge up over a pretty steep hill and through the feedzone. I lost some time on them through the downhill and decided it would be a waste to try to make it up.

The next 25 miles were uneventful, with a few superfast descents. Somewhere in there Oko got dropped. 72 miles in there is a 10 mile climb–I didn’t even realize it coming up until Logan rolled up and asked if I wanted to get towards the front. He positioned me really well and hung on for dear life until he got popped halfway up.

I thought Chase was still up the road, but it turns out he had been dropped from the break up the climb, then dropped from the group. So I was obliviously isolated after that point. The pace up the climb was frenetic and there were groups attacking and coalescing the entire way up. There were a couple dangerous splits that I was on the wrong side of where 15ish people would get 10-20 seconds on the main group, but they never cooperated very well. We reeled in some breakaway remnants on the descent, but there were still two guys up the road (Peter Olejniczak, Mt. Borah Factory Racing) and Spencer Seggebruch (Big Shark Racing). They were already both ahead on GC so I wasn’t particularly concerned. 10km to go the group was a little sketchy, but I stayed towards the front as best I could. I cramped a little but was feeling ok towards the end. There are a couple pitches in the last 3k that really sucked, but I kept moving up until the final kick up, which a lost some spots. A guy jumped out of the group and caught the Spencer and Peter O, winning the race 9 seconds ahead of the field. I finished in the lead group, same time as pretty much everyone high in the GC. U23 GC leader Thomas Wavrin finished on the wrong side of a time gap, which brought me up to 11th overall for GC and 1st U23.

We ate Chipotle for dinner and I felt horrible all night. In the morning I was really nauseous and didn’t want to eat or drink much, but I tried to do as much as I could. I knew I just needed to finish with the main group on Stage 3, that the race would probably come together by the end, and that I could hold my GC spot.

I felt a little better on the start line, although it was pretty hot. The loop is a pretty flat run in to a pretty hilly circuit of 23 miles which we rode 3 times, then back in to town. A break of 11 got up the road which had some pretty significant GC threats in it. It got up to 3 minutes on the main field and I thought it was gone for good about halfway through the second lap. I sent Chase up to the front to try to help reel it in, but no one was cooperating that well. The last time up the big hill on the circuit I felt horrible, and in a crosswind section I got distanced from the main field by a couple seconds. I thought it was over, and we still had almost 30 miles to go. I couldn’t get any food down so I just kept drinking the bottles I had so I would at least have something in me. I made it back on after a few miles and tried to move further up in the field so I was in less danger of getting dropped but I just couldn’t. But I knew if I made it to the turn off, I could make it to the finish with the main group.

We finally made it to the turn off and I realized the race was survivable. I hung on for dear life. At one mile to go, we go over a highway bridge which is 4 lanes wide, so the field spread out. On the bottom of the bridge, a small crash happened

The last half lap we were going screaming fast trying to reel in the break. How people were riding so hard at the end is beyond me. There was a crash just after a mile that I got caught behind, but Stage Race rules state that if you have a mishap within 5k you get the same time as the group you were in. So I finished at the same time. Peter O. won the stage. I moved up to 10th on GC. All I wanted to do was hold that.

I was ridiculously wrecked afterwards, nauseous, chilled. I felt so horrible. I sat in the car and tried to get some Clif bar down but it wasn’t easy. I ate a protein shake. At dinner we had pizza, and I could only eat a couple of slices. Stage racing is so hard on your body-and this field is next level. That coupled with the super long distances made for the hardest racing of my life.

We woke up, packed, ate oatmeal. Then to to the crit where I knew I was gonna have to rip the technical descent and sprint up the hill every lap. It started off furious, but I felt ok. We came around after a few laps, strung out the entire time, and they called 14 laps to go.

I thought I could make it, but at 9 to go, after a cash prime was called, and a gap opened up, and another gap, I saw the main group drift away. Chase and Logan were already popped, so I had no team support left. I counted 6 seconds to the main field at the finish line. The next time around the damage was a little worse. Our group got larger and larger, and with a few people I recognized from the top 10 in GC, I still thought there was some hope for a top 20 finish for GC.

I attacked out of the last corner last lap so I could maybe get a time gap to the other GC contenders in my group, but I didn’t have anything left and finished with the same time as the 15 or so others in my group. 134 started the stage race and only 79 finished.

I stuck around to see how long the time gap–I thought there was a chance that I was somewhere in the money but I wasn’t. I finished 40th, and I no longer led the young rider competition. I was pretty gutted.

Overall this race was an impossibly hard and amazing experience. It took strength I didn’t know I had. I exceeded my expectations and proved to myself that I’m ready to compete with the big boys. It was awesome and horrible.

My teammates Logan and Chase were amazing, always willing and (most of the time) able to sacrifice for me. I’m so grateful to be racing with them this season on our new team, Apollo Racing. Let me know if you want to sponsor us. We’re gonna win some races this year, I’m sure of it.

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Also thanks to Cassidy.