🥈 Virginia State Crit Championship: Heartbreak in Chesapeake

I'd love for you to read my full report in the comments below. I write about the race in full, but more so reflect on the joy of the often misunderstood team aspect of cycling. It's such a beautiful sport. The highs and lows are extreme in a lot of ways, and the emotional toll of a season is sometimes overlooked. Even for the best of the best, cyclists lose way more often than they win. Sometimes the "lows" take center stage, but it's important to put it all into perspective. Ultimately, even the lows are part of what makes it so special. The joy, the despair- it's all gravy, baby.

In short, The Virginia State Crit Championship was a big goal for our team this year, and we left the race slightly disappointed, yet proud of our second place. We kept our heads held high and sure had a good go. In the end, Andre from Total Civil Construction was flying. But we were there, never on the back foot, and played our cards right.

I went for a long one this time, with a big solo move at 6 laps to go. Taylor Hayek bridged up to make it a group of two with 3 laps left. I went solo again at the bell, went deeper than deep, and got caught in the final corner. It wasn't all for nothing getting caught at the line- the plan was for a late move to help set the team up for the sprint. And Johnny went into the final corner with a great shot at the jersey. And we were so proud.