Jingle cross started with a little road trip over to Iowa. I started my journey Friday morning and stopped in at my Alma Mater, Marian University, where I picked up a road trip buddy (Cole McDicken). The entire car ride was filled with throwback stories and early 2000’s hip hop. When we made it to Iowa I had about 3 hours til race time. Friday night racing has always been my favorite part about Jingle cross, so I was eagerly awaiting the start. When the time came to line up, the sun was setting and it was feeling like GO time. When they blew the whistle the start was fast and the competition was fierce. The race was for the most part really well lit, the crowds were huge, and the mojo of the race was incredible. I left it all out on the course!
Saturday we had a nice little gap day to do some World Cup watching, and man after seeing the Euros throw down I was thoroughly impressed. Saturday night brought huge storms to Iowa. The loud cracks of lighting and thuds of the thunder woke both Emily and I up. But, we weren’t too upset about it because we knew with strong storms comes plenty of mud. We really only felt bad for the old doggo of the host house family that struggled to fall back asleep because of the storm.
Sunday morning we got to the venue and saw carnage everywhere. Lots of team tents had been destroyed in the storm. Em, Mo, and I hopped on the course… and to say the least we were right. There was mud! And plenty of it! The field was stacked on Sunday afternoon. The course was muddy, fast, and incredibly hard. The pit crew brought there A game, and it gave all of us a glimpse into conditions we will be seeing later in the season. The farmers almanac this year is expecting we see one of the harshest winters we’ve ever had… hmm almost sounds like a good thing for a Cyclocross racer. Until next time, see everybody at Charm City.