Posts in category the racer’s view

We spoke with Emma Swartz and Laurel Rathbun after the finish of the first-ever U23 Women’s Cyclocross World Championship race.

Cyclocross Magazine caught up with Ellen Noble just after her race at the Women’s U23 race at the 2016 Cyclocross World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The …

Catherine Vardaros spoke briefly with French National Champion Caroline Mani, Pavla Havlikova and Team USA’s Meredith Miller during course inspection day at the 2016 Cyclocross World Championships. See what each had to say in these videos.

Cyclocross Magazine’s Christine Vardaros caught up with Katie Compton after her Friday pre-ride to see how the 2016 Cyclocross World Championship course in Zolder is …

We were all, at some point, new cyclocross racers. And some of us get to be, at some point, new racers in Europe. For Cyclocross …

Before tomorrow’s Elite Women’s World Championship race, Cyclocross Magazine’s Christine Vardaros sat down with Belgian racer Ellen van Loy (Young Telnet-Fidea) to talk about her season, find …

“Dreams with hard work come true! It made me very happy to be named to the Worlds team. It represents seven years of hard work. With how my season was going I thought I had a chance, but after a Nationals result that was under my expectations, I thought my chances were over.”

Two whole weeks? What does off the bike mean? Off the road bike? Does MTB count? How about I take this week off, but do 200 miles with some friends this weekend? Why take a break? There are mental and physical reasons to consider.

We’re continuing our look at what we found to be the more memorable moments from the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships, and today we’re looking back to the future at the youngest Junior races.

Continuing our look at some of what we thought were the more memorable moments from the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships and the people and events struck us as having an impact on the event, today we’re looking at the Women’s and Mens’ Elite races.

We’re sharing some of what we thought were the more memorable moments, people and events from the 2016 National Championships that struck us as having a real impact on the event. Today, we’re looking at two great rides from two younger stars of the sport, Sofia Gomez Villafane and Tobin Ortenblad.

Over the next few days we’re looking at the people, events or situations that struck us as having an impact on the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships. Today, we’re looking at 2016 Nationals MVP Georgia Gould.

Looking back at Nationals there were many great moments. Not everyone experienced a championship-winning ride, but nearly everyone we spoke with enjoyed Asheville. We’re sharing some memorable moments from the course at the Biltmore Estate.

For the first time in a while, Jonathan Page is lining up at today’s Cyclocross National Championships as a longshot in most fans’ minds. Racing …

We spoke with Catherine Moore (Trek Cyclocross Collective) the 2015 Women’s 45-49 National Champion, this afternoon as she pre-rode the 2016 Cyclocross Nationals course at the Biltmore Estate with her husband and mechanic Ian Moore.

The National Championships has us thinking about past champions and future prospects. Someone that fits both bills, is 20-year old Logan Owen. The ten-time National Champion and reigning U23 title holder has elected to race the Elite Men’s race at this year’s championships.

“You still have to adapt though, because there’s no disputing any feature here, get over it or don’t ride. So why all the gushing about how different and difficult things are on this side of the pond? It goes back to the purpose of this camp: excellence.”

“On recovery days our rides are always super fun. Today for instance, we had planed to do just an hour of easy riding with some “openers” in the middle to get the legs ready for tomorrow’s Bpost in Baal. We were not even 5 minutes into the ride before there was already some sort of competition going on.”

“If, like me, you find yourself in a slump half-way through the season, take a break. Ride your mountain bike. Do something different. Put away the training log for a while. Remind yourself how much fun it is just to ride your bike.”

“I was heading into a long straight away with a lot of speed and could see the next group up the road. And as I turned the next corner, I see that the marshalls had opened the course crossing up, and a lone lady stood right in my path.”

There’s more cyclocross on the horizon including the 2016 Cyclocross National Championships and the World Championships at the end of January. But the end of the 2015 has us thinking back over the last 12 months and reflecting on those moments that had the cyclocross community talking.

“This was my very first trip to Europe to race. I had been here before to visit my Grandparents in Germany but I hadn’t done any riding while I was here. Today’s race was in Loenhout and it was a very good day for Team USA. We had four riders in the top ten, and the other members had strong rides too.”

“We ride smooth as a group and everyone is socializing. On our way back towards the house we make a mandatory stop at the famous Coffee Mundo, located in the main square of Sittard. Following 9 or 10 lattes, Team USA rolls back to the lovely team house.”

“The World Cup at Zolder was nothing but demanding, particularly the section with two very steep sand run ups followed by an even longer and steeper hill. That alone, could have done my legs in for a weekend, but I know this is why I am over here. To ask more of myself than I ever have.”

“Four hundred meters of full sprint elbow to elbow, bar to bar at 35 mile per hour. I push through small holes trying to get an extra position, any advance at all. Riders yell and swerve, I protect my front wheel.”

“I focus my attention to my starting position, which is quite precarious. I have taken the rightmost spot in the third row, which means virtually nothing in Europe, as the rows blend together, each person half-wheeling the rider in front of them.”

“After getting a face full of cobbles in Namur, I fully realized how crazy a European race start is. A few hundred meters into the course it makes it’s way into a tight S turn. Being Europe and a different style of racing, the Europeans turn on their instincts and dive bomb the corners, which sent me and another American off our bikes.”

” Geoff Proctor gave me the Christmas Day diary entry since I somewhat started the Secret Santa tradition when I bought all the guys underwear from the European dollar store as a junior. I’ve come to cherish these traditions and special times that often seem so small.”

“The group of riders and mechanics that are here currently have decided to get into the spirit as well. It has become a tradition in the past few years of the Christmas block cyclocross camp to create a Secret Santa.”

“Christmas is very big over here, and in the town square of Sittard they had a huge structure that had an ice rink and live music inside. They also had a huge Coca-Cola truck that children could go in to meet Santa, along with about a hundred other people dressed up as Santa.”