Diving head first into the mud.

"We begin the call-ups of Junioren now, first to the line, coming from the United States, Brannan Fix."

Standing on the start line of the BPost Bank Troffe in Essen, looking down the course, seeing, smelling, and hearing the sounds of European Cyclocross. The moment I have dreamt of for so long, was now a real moment and I was living it. The first 5 days in Belgium have been quite the ride, and I have experienced some things that I have been looking forward to for months now.

The trip began with a flawless overseas flight, and being picked up at the airport by Jan-Willem and driven to the house where I am staying for the next 2 weeks. I built up my bikes and went on a quick spin around the area to get my bearings, and that night I slept like a baby. The next day, all of the other racers showed up, built up their bikes and we had the chance to go ride together. Lance, Cameron, Cooper and I got a nice ride in, and fed some gigantic horses while out. We went to a bakery in Grobbendonk, and got delicious Applebol. The next day, Friday, it was raining very hard so we all decided to ride trainers to warm up the legs for the race the next day in Essen. After the ride on the trainers, I went into town with Ksenia and Libby to go shopping. At the carrefour we bought some food necessities and enjoyed grocery shopping in Belgium, and on the way home I got to buy bread out of a vending machine which is awesome to say the least.

Saturday morning, Cooper, Michael, Ksenia and I were all up at the crack of dawn to drive to Essen to do the first race of the trip. Once we got there we checked-in at registration which was in an elementary school of all places. Cooper, Michael and I all proceeded to get on course and check out what we were up against. The course was a true treat. The first half was a total mud bog where at one point, I was running for 1:30 straight, and then after going through pit one, the course became windy through the trees and there was a sweet section with a berm, and then it was back to mud before the finish. It was a true euro course, and I was super excited.

The gun went off and I entered into the mud in about 4th position, and battled with Belgians for the best lines around the corners. I stayed at the front of the race, and was very attentive. A few riders passed me on the running section, something I wasn't used to, and that was my weakest point. I rode with 1 other kid for a while until I upped the pace to try to catch 3rd place. I never caught 3rd place, and I rode into the finish in 4th place, 5 seconds down on 3rd place. It was beyond anything that I could have imagined, and to finish top 5 in my first ever European cyclocross race was very exciting for me.

Huge thank you to USA Cycling for helping all of us at camp achieve our dreams! As well as Dave, Niels, Peter and Kristoff for all of their support on Saturday, I'm excited to see what the next two weeks hold for me!

Until next time ---

Season Recap and Upcoming Racing

Without hesitation I can truly say that this season has been my best so far, and it's only about to get better; It's official, I'm getting the opportunity to fulfill my dream of racing in Belgium and representing the United States while overseas.

Lets back up a little bit in time since I haven't posted on my blog recently (senior year stuff happening) and recap how I got to this point in the season. The season started for me in October in Providence, RI where I raced to 12th and 10th place with a broken wrist. From there things could only get better in November and I finished 6th in Cincinnati on Saturday after a rolled tubular took me out of the running for a top 5. The effort I did on Saturday came back to bite me on Sunday for Pan-American Championships and I finished a respectable 9th place. After Cincinnati I had the opportunity to stay in the Ohio River Valley for a week and do some great riding there with my dad and friend Kasey. The next weekend we raced in Louisville where I finished 5th on Saturday and then another rolled tubular put me in 9th on Sunday. Some poor luck left me looking for more, but my results were still better than anytime last year. The next big race I did was in Los Angeles which is always a great experience and the weather is always wonderful. I finished 2nd both days in LA, which pushed me up into the top 16 of the UCI World Ranking, and placed me 3rd in the USAC ProCX Calendar ranking for juniors. It has been a great season so far and I could not be more excited about what is coming next.

What comes next is traveling to Belgium for the USAC Cyclocross Development Program Block #3. I leave for Belgium on the 16th of December and remain there until the 2nd of January. While there I get the chance to do some of the most iconic cyclocross races, and truly experience what it is like to race in Europe with the best. I get to race in Essen on the 20th, Diegem on the 28th, Loenhout on the 30th, and Baal on the 1st of the year. I cannot be more thankful for this opportunity, and huge thanks goes out to USA Cycling, my family, all of my friends, my coach Andy Clark, and every single person in the cycling community that has supported me throughout my cycling career. Getting the chance to live my dream is more than I could ever hope for, and I will always represent the values that I've been taught as a bike racer and do my best to represent the United States in the best way possible.

Thank you to everyone, your support means everything to me!

We Have Liftoff

To quote my favorite movie, “Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.” – The Dude.

This season so far has disappointed to say the least, I have very high expectations for myself and I didn’t deliver during the summer. But as always, every problem has a solution.

Starting in June things went wrong, I finished at the back of the Missoula XC race, a big target of mine. Then I DNF’d in Colorado Springs and then I finished 45^th at Nationals. Hardly the results I had worked for, and sweat for. It was a summer of frustration and slowly that frustration grew into an altered personality.

Now it is October and things have changed. I’ve worked hard, put in big hours at home and in Leadville, trained mentally with strategy games, and even pushed past a broken hand. I can now go into Providence Cyclocross Festival feeling better than ever, knowing I’m more than ready and can pick up this season just where I left off last cyclocross season; at the front.

The quote from my favorite movie - “Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you.” – no longer applies this season. I can move past all of the disappointment and anger to be better than I was, to learn and grow from experience. The new quote I use is only a one way quote by Sage Francis – “I'm gonna make em’ say Uncle, I don’t give up, I don’t give in.”

The End of Cyclocross (until next year!)

The end of the season came unceremoniously. No interviews, no photos, no podiums, and a sense of incompleteness.

Not that incompleteness is a bad thing, but something that could be avoided. A chord progression in music sounds incomplete without a return to a dominant chord tone, a meal is incomplete when you don't spice it up before serving it, and a season feels incomplete without accomplishing goals.

The season was full of ups and downs, but the results don't tell the true story about the ups and downs. In the long run, the season was a huge up, and I got to do so many amazing things which I am beyond grateful for. Louisville was a low point in the season, and led to a uncompleted goal.

The beginning of the season started at home, in Boulder, where I took the win at the Boulder Reservoir and learned that I really love riding sand and the skills involved with that.

From Boulder we went to Cincinnati, where the food was great, and the racing was even better. Racing at the front of a UCI race was the experience of my lifetime, throwing attacks and reacting to them. I got my first taste of what its like to race at the top, and wanted that for the rest of the season, only to show up in Kentucky to be no where close.

Kentucky was a taste of failure and taught me about the essence of persevering. No matter how hard it gets, you only go harder, and faster and keep piling it on until you get to what you want. The results I got there didn't reflect what I wanted them to reflect but I pressed on, wanting it more than ever.

Los Angeles was awesome, without a doubt one of the coolest trips I've done. The food was killer, the race was nice, and the city was cool to be there for a bike race. I finally got to race at the front of a UCI race again and be drilling it in a breakaway. If not for a dropped chain, I would have gotten the best result of the season, but I was finally back to the top where I knew I could ride.

After Los Angeles things stayed local and I got to race some fun races in the snow, and then State Championships. All the Boulder kids going to Europe were there and I got the chance to race them one last time to prove myself before Nationals. It was a great course and super fun conditions, which meant I was able to apply the lessons and skills from the rest of the season and put them into practice to walk away with the second win of the season.


Going into National Championships I had lofty goals, I wanted a top 5 more than anything. It was going to be hard against kids who had been racing against the best in the world, but I was ready. I lined up for the race in the 3rd row, but by the top of the first climb I was sitting in 6th place. Perfect.

Throughout the race I slowly faded until I was in a group of 3 battling for 9th place. It was still a great race and I got to duke it out with kids that I truly enjoy on and off the bike. Nationals felt like a homecoming and to ride top 10 was acceptable for me. I wanted better, but to feel the excitement of the crowd, the support of the Fort Collins community and my loving family was worth it. The race is mostly a blur, of wind and bumpy corners, but I feel that I proved something and showed people that even though I may not have gone to Europe, or finished top 3 in any major race, I have it to wrestle at the top, and I still have next year in Juniors! Regardless of how the rest of the season had gone, I rolled into the finish line with a top 10, and into next year.

Thank you to Boo Bicycles: Nick, Adam, Jacob, James, et al at Boo, you guys rock and I have loved working with you guys and riding the wonderful bikes you guys create. Your support has kept me rolling forward this year, and towards results on the National Circuit. Keep BOOing!

TrainingPeaks, Braaap Nutrition and Challenge Tires have provided support throughout the whole season. From Gear Fisher, CFO of TrainingPeaks, yelling at me from the side of the course and encouraging me all season, and having TrainingPeaks supporting such a great local company, I'm honored to work with the brand. Braaap is another amazing nutrition company from my hometown, whose support on the bike and off the bike has been indispensable, thank you so much Todd and Shauna. Challenge Tires has provided the basis for any CX bike and kept our tires refreshed all season long.

And of course the support of my family, friends, and acquaintances. Thank you to my mom Carol, my dad Matt, my sister Campbell, and my girlfriend Fiona. Your guys support mean so much and it is great to have you guys behind me all the time. Thank you to all my friends on CYF and pals, my coach Andy Clark who has been more than a coach, but a reality check too. Thank you to everyone else that has supported me this season, it means so much, and I hope I can give everyone someone to cheer about next year.

Until next year CX. Keep muddy.