What a break-through day for our CINCH program! Lauren De Crescenzo was able to successfully defend her Mid South title while our 21 year old Caroline Wreszin finished a massive 2nd for the team to go 1,2 on the day!!!!
The race started off well with Lauren getting into the lead early on. But things got wild as she got stopped by a train in the first 40 miles with a 5 min lead solo. The train completely erased her lead and changed the dynamics of the race. She was back in a group of male riders with competitions Ruth and Emily and team mate Caroline. The group negatively raced against Lauren but she relentlessly kept attacking and finally broke away with 50 miles to go. Despite huge winds and chasing groups behind Lauren built up a large lead. She soloed to victory and the course record. Caroline rode flawlessly all day making the key selections, staying within her zones, and moving into second in the final part of the race like a veteran despite her young age!
Holly Mathews and Tori Dippold rode smart and steady all day in the top ten with Holly finishing in 9th and Tori finishing in 12th in her first major gravel race. Two on the podium, three in the top ten, and all in the top 12 shows the hard work we have done in the off-season in our CINCH 4 pillars of performance (fitness, technique, nutrition, and mindset) has put us in a good position.
But that’s not where the breakthroughs stopped! Kirsten Alder PR’d everything include last years performance on her way to 5th in the Women 40-49. Dean Myers rode a smart race overcoming some mechanicals and a crash to take a strong 6th place in the Men 50-59. Bergen West rode a fantastic race finishing strongly to get 7th in the Men 19-29. Donoven Francais rode his best race PR’ing every zone, finishing as the first U23 and 8th in the Men 19-29. Julie Fisher won her rider successfully returning to racing after a bad crash last year left her with a TBI.
Lastly, while we did end up with good results, the focus is always on personal progression. It is the story and the learning that come from the experience that has the true value.
Results guide, they do not define.