350 around the world

Downeast 'Cross

Last Saturday and Sunday, Curtis and I raced in maine for the 7th and 8th rounds of the Verge series. The conditions were extremely muddy both days. It was freezing and rainy on Saturday. It was nice and warm on Sunday, but muddy because they just ran the previous day's course backwards. I started out well on saturday and got the hole shot with Curtis right behind. I had too big of a gear for the extremely thick mud, so I went right back to 7th place. My legs just didn't work. (This was also due to poor race preparation on my part...) Curtis was with the leaders for most of the race and finished fifth. A few of the top finishers were mountain bikers, so they had an advantage in the woods section. On sunday, I used my dad's bike because it had a 39T little ring, which was needed for the mud. Again, Curtis was second off of the start and I led. Curtis and I changed bikes every half lap, which was extremely helpful. Curtis was with the third place rider for the majority of the race. I caught up to him in the long woods section. We were going to try to catch second and third place but his gears were shifting all over the place on a climb, forcing him to run. Curtis and I both held our spots for the next two laps to finish in 4th and 5th place. I learned a good lesson on saturday. A successful weekend overall for the New England Clif squad!

Kentucky USGP #2

Last weekend was our 2nd USGP race in Kentucky. We looked at the course on friday to check out the course. It was muddyish and in some spots it was dry. The next morning me and my bro pre rode the course and looked at it. Then we went to warming up on the road. When it became to the staging i got nervous. When we started i was going second into the first turn which was a great position. After 1 lap the field was split up already it was Chris Wallace, Robin(my brother) and me. After another two laps robin dropped back and it was only Chris and Me. Two laps to go then I put the hammer down through a really hard muddy section were i dropped Chris then. From that point on i was pushing as hard as i can to get me a win and get me closer overall to the leaders jersey. In the last lap i had a nice gap to second. I crossed the finish line in first and behind me Chris was fighting with Cody Kaiser the series leader and cody ended up second then becasue i just had a greater momentum going in the last mud section of the course.

So the results were 1st me, 2nd Cody Kaiser, 3 Chris Wallace, 4th Jeffery Bahnson and 5th Robin Eckmann

The next day they switched the course a little. It was robin who got the whole shot and was out front for 2 laps with a 5-10 second gap to the main group. After the two laps i attacked and went out front. I was leading the last 3 laps of the race and then in the last 200-300 meters of the race Cody Kaiser came from the back passing me and i tried to stay on him but at the last muddy section i took the wrong line that i thought was better but unfortunately it was the slower line so i didn't get on the road right behind him for the sprint so he got another win. I still finished in a strong second place.

third place was Chris Wallace

fourth Robin Eckmann

fifth Jeffery Bahnson

After the race my dad told me that if you don't look at the course carefully enough that this could cost you the whole race unfortunately that happened to me.

Yannick

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Weekend Wrap-Up, 10/24-25

The CLIF BAR squad was racing this past weekend in Kentucky, Maine, and Colorado...

At the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix Series in Louisville, KY, great results were achieved by Robin and Yannick Eckmann in the Junior 17-18 races, and Brady Kappius and Troy Wells in the Elite race.

Saturday: Yannick 1st, Robin 5th / Troy 16th, Brady 17th
Sunday: Yannick 2nd, Robin 4th / Troy 15th, Brady 18th

The East Coast crew was dealing with rain, cold, and mud in Maine at the Verge New England Championship Series.

Saturday: Curtis White 5th, Nate Morse 7th
Sunday: Nate Morse 4th, Curtis White 5th

Out in Colorado it was a muddy and snowy weekend, with races in Castle Rock and at the Boulder Reservoir.

Saturday: Conor Mullervy 4th, Kevin Mullervy 12th
Sunday: Colin Cares 16th, Mitch Hoke 26th

Connecting with the pavement

This past Friday Kevin and I made our trip over to the front range for some cross racing. Saturday was the Castle Cross race in Castle Rock. We had some nice weather and a muddy course. Since it had snowed a couple days before this the course was covered in mud making for a fun race. Pre-riding the course was interesting, considering some of the course was difficult to ride with all the mud. Though by the time our race started some places firmed up and made for some quicker sections, but was still muddy.

I had a good start this time, sitting in about 8th or so before we got to the first corner. I sat in for the first lap as Summerhill and Baker made there gap off the front. Starting the second lap I started moving up to try and close that gap as much as possible. I made my way up to 3rd after the second lap with Baker and Summerhill about 30sec. up and 4th about 20sec behind me. Though as I came into the finish I went wide to make the 180degree turn off the pavement. Though doing this I went threw some water greasing up the mud on my tires making it so I slid out on the corner hitting the pavement real hard. I laid there for a couple of seconds before I got back on. And by this time 4th place closed that gap on me.

This fall took a lot out of me, including a good portion of skin. I kept on going trying to stick with 3rd but by this time I was hurting a lot due to the fall. I managed to stick it out for 4th which is my best result this year. Kevin had some bad luck with a flat on the start, though he clawed his way back to 12th. Not bad considering he almost lost 2min by the time he got to the pit to get his new bike.


We heading over to the race today at Boulder Res. I decided I wasn't racing cause I am still real sore from the fall and I have a bad chest cold now. Kevin pre-road the course which was about 90% sand and most of it seemed to be un-rideable. So we decided it was best to head back to Junction cause the mountains are suppose to get a lot of snow.

Next weekend is a set of UCI races in Boulder that Im really looking forward to. I just hope I get over this cold and the passes are clear to head over.