Zolder World Cup

The day after Christmas was my first opportunity to race in a world cup. I was lucky enough to get selected to do The Zolder World Cup while the team is over in Belgium. Me, Maxx and Spencer all got to start this world cup which was really cool. This race was one of the hardest I've ever done because it was against all of the best racers from around the world. I learned so much about my self as a racer and racing in general.

I started right behind Cooper Willsey, who took the whole shot in the race,  and when the gun went off I sat in behind Peter Goguen during the start straight and was able to sit mid pack into the first corner. The whole american team ended up one right after another for part of the first lap which was nice to be riding with some of the people you know against people you've never raced before. It broke up over the next few laps, Peter was fighting for low teens, Maxx broke out into the upper twenties and I was hanging in the lower twenties right in front of cooper, Austin, and Ian. I was having an excellent race, keeping calm and making few to no mistakes until I messed up one corner in the second to last lap and Cooper, Austin, and Ian got around me along with a few other riders. I fought my way back up to those guys but didn't have the legs to pass them back in that little amount of time leading up until the last lap. I did however catch Ian on the last run up and was able to pass him along with some other riders right before the last decent and start stretch. After Passing Ian and getting on the start strait I began to sprint as hard as I could to get the kid just in front of me but to no avail he was just a little to far for me to catch before the finish line.

Overall this race was so fun and super fast with lots of the best competition. Doing this race really showed me i have a lot in can still improve upon in my riding but also showed me that i can rival the top riders and not get blown out of the back of the race. Im so happy I got the race this world cup and can't wait to come back and race nationals back home in Boulder.

Right after the first decent heading towards the run up.

Seconds before I messed up and Cooper, Austin, and Ian got around me.

  

Euro Land Adventures

We are coming up on the midway point point of the trip and I can only describe everything as crazy.
Everything over here is so different, but it is an amazing place to race and train. We've been here for 6 days and are finally starting to settle in to the life of racing in Belgium. The first couple of days were very hectic just trying to find my bearings and not get lost on training rides. It helps a lot that we are living with Maxx and Garret, who came over here for "hell week'" last year. We are also staying with Spencer Downing who has spent the fall living and racing in Belgium  and Spain, so he has been really helpful showing us around. Cormac and I raced in Waremme as our first race over here. It was a smaller local race, but a good race to help us transition to the aggressive racing here in Belgium. The course conditions were the complete opposite of the dry races in Colorado. The entire course was caked with inches of heavy mud. The start was crazy, all the Americans started last row regardless if you had UCI points. I had a okay start and by the first corner I was mid-pack. I moved up 3-4 spots a lap and ended up 6th. Cormac came across 11th. I had no expectations coming into the race, so I was really happy with a top 10. The next 3 days where relaxing training days were our only goal was to get lost, and we managed to do so every day. Here is our schedule for the rest of the trip, Loenhout on the 27th, Bredene on the 28th, Diegem on the 29th, and Baal on the 1st.  Make sure you check back in for updates on those races and a race report of the Zolder World Cup from either Maxx or Garret.

 

Cormac drilling it in Waremme

 The van packed up for Waremme

 The main church in downtown Oudenaarde, the town we are staying in.

We found some big carrots on a training ride 

Thanks for reading

-Liam Dunn

1st race, Essen

Yesterday was the teams first race in Europe this trip. Garrett, Nolan, Spencer and myself went out to the race for the team as the Wonder twins only got here the day before.

We showed up to the race on time but registration is very poorly marked and not super close to the venue and most of the traffic guides don't know where it is. so after a while of greg driving around the town we finally found it at the school.

because of the delayed set up due to registration, we were unable to pre ride before our race, witch always makes the race more fun on lap one...

I got the 16th call up and after the gun went off had a great start. I was 3rd in the hole shot ad quickly took over the lead. I managed to create a small gap on the rest of the field and was able to hold it for a little over a lap before getting passes and passed and passed and passed and passed and then passed some more. only needed to pit once because it was kind of dry for a european race.
in the end I finished 15th, my best result yet in Europe!

I had a great day and learned a lot from leading the race for a little.

Nolan came in 18th and garrett finished 28th after getting taken out in the start.

next race is the Zolder World Cup, Can't wait!

me leading on lap one

me slaying it

me suffering

muddy muddy legs!

thanks for reading!

-maxx