CycloCross.....

Hi Everyone,

This past weekend The Lindsey Wilson Cycling traveled to Purdue University (Indiana) and Chicago, IL to compete in the teams first cyclocross races of the season. Saturday at Purdue University, other teams such as Indiana State and Missouri and a few others gathered to compete for the Mid-South conference points. The conditions were harsh, muddy, and the wind was consistently blowing at 30 mph, with a windchill of 19 degrees Fahrenheit. At noon the collegiate A (Pro, 1,2) men's race got underway, in which was competing in. A few corners after the start I was in the lead, with one of the Indiana University racers behind me. After the second lap the Indiana rider and I increased our lead over the rest of the field. As the race went on the gap increased over 2 minutes over third place, and lager gaps on everyone else. It was clear that the win was going to be between us. with two laps to go, in one of the technical sections of the course I made the mistake of trying to cut my competitor in one of the toughest turns of the race. That's when I slipped and went down sliding across the turn. The Indiana rider attacks as soon as I went down and got a gap that I couldn't close before the end of the race. So I ended up getting 2ND place. In the other races such as the Men's B race and the Women's A race, Lewis Almonte my roommate, friend, and teammate took the win of the Men's B race. Another powerful performance was put by Ashley James my teammate who took the win in the Women's race.

On Sunday, we traveled to Chicago, IL to race at "Lansing Cross Race" that was also part of the races that Purdue University put on, in which more collegiate points would be awarded. My category, the Collegiate  Men' A and the Elite Men were combined for the day. After the start of the race, once again I was in the lead for the first two laps, increasing the gap between the rest of the field. After a moment of rest, my teammate Clayton Omer and another elite rider from Chicago were on my wheel, but everyone else were far behind. Clearly, after 5 laps the race was going to be decided between us. After halfway, I noticed how terrible I was going through the "sand pit", which made my lower back hurt. When this happened I was unable to get the necessary  power in order to accelerate, and keep my speed up. Every other time through the "sand pit" Omer kept increasing his gap, as my back got weaker. He ended up taking the win for Lindsey Wilson. I took 2ND place for the day. After the race I was very disappointed how my body felt, now I'm reminiscing on what I did wrong so that next weekend does not happen again. 

In the other races, Lewis Almonte again took the win in the Men's B race and Ashley James won the Women's A race. Overall, Lindsey Wilson College overpowered the competition this weekend. Next weekend, Lindsey will host the Regional Championships. Stay tuned for results!!!  

Thanks for reading,

Danny Estevez