The season had been off to a good start down in California for me. With this being my first year as a U23 and first year racing with TRT I wanted to make sure I set my season up as best as possible. I arrived down in Oxnard, CA on January 5 and have been bunking with some others from the TRT gang, Gillian Ellsay and Kyle Buckosky. The training has been very good down here with lots of long base miles in the Santa Monica mountains.
I have been training harder than ever with this year with some big goals on the road, I could not be more excited to be racing in the TRT colors. The effort you put in on the bike during training is something that you can use to separate yourself from the competition to get on that top step, I could not be more motivated to train when knowing I am racing for such a great team. The jump from U23 to junior is a time when you can seed the less committed athletes, from what I have hear it can be a bit of shocker, I am pretty stoked to be making it with such a strong team as well as the coolest teammates.
As well as getting great training in Kyle and I were also able to race up at a local race in Santa Barbra. For the women it was a very strong field with girls from KHS MAXXIS, Rally Pro Cycling, and Peppers Palace Pro Cycling. The race went really well for me, the full force of TRT wasn't here so I wasn't too aggressive until the last lap. On the final climb 5km from the finish I was able to get a gap that last until 2km, it was disappointing to get caught but I thought I could muster up my legs for the final. In the final sprint, with some very last minute position I was able to snag 5th and top U23 rider. I have taken away a lot of confidence for this season, I think it going to be a good one with TRT!
