I went into today's race hoping for some snow and crazy conditions. My wish was granted about mid-way through the day when it began to snow quite heavily. The snow wasn't heavy enough to make the course muddy, but it definitely made it slick.
I had a pretty good start and I was in the lead by the end of the first lap. The race quickly separated into a lead group of 2 consisting of myself and CJ Faulkner with Jesse Reints chasing.
Mid-way through the race, CJ got away from me and Jesse began closing in on me. With 3 laps to go Jesse was right behind me and CJ was 20 seconds up. I intentionally rode the next lap easy in preparation for an attempt to chase CJ down in the closing laps.
With 2 to go, CJ still had 20 seconds on me, so I began chasing really hard. I was taking a ton of risks in the closing laps trying to gain time anywhere I could. With 1 to go, the gap was still at 15 seconds. I started chasing even harder and at the top of the "Stairway to Heaven" CJ had 10 seconds on me. I shredded the decent after the run-up, hammered the road section, and took the barriers at full speed and I was able to catch CJ and barely hold him off.
I am really glad to have won this race, especially since I've been doing it since my first cross season. Kudos to CJ for the awesome competition at States!
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