NoHoCX Top What?!!?

Airing it all out...
Photo cred: Uri Halevi

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into NoHo this past weekend. I had an unexpected weekend off of racing beforehand & felt status quo in my workouts leading up to it. However, I was happy with my race effort at Orchard CX two weeks before, which I felt like I was really racing back and forth with a few friends, so I was trying to bring that positivity forward into this race weekend.

I have always felt super confident at the Look Park course, eating up the little bit of techy parts and corners, while knowing that it truly is a powerhouse course in some of the straights and wind. I went out for a couple pre-laps in the bitter cold on Saturday and felt cautiously okay in them. I knew where I wanted to be at certain corners at the start and where I was comfortable stretching the tape in traffic, as well on the technical aspects of the course.

Photo Cred: Mike Rowell

The whistle went off and I was bummed at myself for a subpar start and felt like I was getting swallowed by the sprinting pack. However, my start corning plans worked to perfection and I surprisingly found myself in the top half of riders as we headed towards the woods. I tried to not lose any spots, but the power straights had me hanging on for dear life. I knew that the wood section after the pavement straight and before the run up, often throws people, especially in traffic.  As we approached the woods, I found myself in a strung out single file line as we were basically stopping and waiting for riders to go over a hump and complete a tight left hand corner around a tree. I watched riders take it wide and I went tight inside on the corner, bending my body around the tree and holding my line as I passed more people, trying to make my large body as small as possible. I really wanted to get ahead of the mass that was showing to be a bit tentative in spots I was really comfortable with.

After some passes and some back and forth in the woods, I found myself gaining on a group of three and eventually caught up to them. I eventually passed them in the finishing straight section (crazy me forgot to be the caboose/not be the engine) and lead them into the woods/run up again for the 2nd lap. After a spill by myself and then another rider, I found myself in a revolving pack of four throughout the latter half of the 2nd and third lap, with a lot of back and forth occurring.

Photo Cred: Alex Carlson

At the last lap, I had grown impatient and wanted to distance myself, but knew I would need help. I asked fellow awesome lady Kim C if she was ready. I could hear it in her voice when she said she wasn’t sure and was waning, but I encouraged her that we got this and I told her let’s go and we went! For the last lap we worked together to distance ourselves and it worked for some of the lap. In the end, I tripped up the final stairs, Kim passed me, and we both got out-sprinted in the finish line stretch of wind by a younger rider. Completely spent, we chatted and laughed afterwards that we needed to come up with a code word to use in future races, for when we are together and ready to lay the hammer down. We both didn’t know where we were in the standings, still hoping for top 15 and both expressing hopes for a top ten.

When Kim came back from looking at results, she let me know we got 10th/11th and I was floored/elated for both of us! Later on, when I looked at the finishing times and saw I was 2 seconds out of a top ten spot, I was happy and bummed at the same time, knowing if I hadn’t tripped on the stairs that may have been my only chance to snag that NoHo top ten I wanted. Yet, everyone kept saying it was possible to do on Sunday; I wasn’t so sure.

Sunday morning came after spending the night at my family’s place in the Berkshires and I was tired. Not horribly so, just that feeling of travel/full effort of racing the previous day, sitting in my legs. I kept thinking about that top ten spot though, but didn’t want to work myself up too much for it to be a disappointment. Again, I did a couple pre-laps much like the day before and I realized that the course was harder, which I could feel in my tired legs. Also, some corners had gotten wide and super greasy, so I was not sure how my cornering plan was going to play out if everyone picked the same lines that I did at the start. I was becoming more honest with myself, in that it would be really nice to do that top ten, but it would be a hard effort and I was not sure that was gonna happen.

Photo Cred: Angela Dixon

At the start, I was second row and when the whistle went off, I kept with the group and stuck to my race plan. After the first corner, I somehow found myself behind fellow PedalPow teamie Val T and knew if I could stick to her roadie power for some time, I was hoping it would distance me a bit from the pack. Then the third turn came and it was full on greasy mud, right into another greasy corner. I stuck to my plan and when I came out of those two corners, there were only a handful plus of riders in front of me. I took a mental tally of racers and thought to myself that there was no way I was already in the top ten and knew it was too early to have that thought in my head.  As quickly as it entered, it was gone, for as we raced to the barriers, everyone I passed in the corners came flying past me, up and over the barriers.

I was determined not to be dropped and not to let a number of bodies get in between Val and I, who I wanted to stick on for a bit. As we climbed, I pushed myself to not lose space and it hurt, for I knew the techy fun MTB stuff was coming up and I could get distance on riders in there. I passed inside when people went wide; I passed outside when people went inside. I was watching every single rider in front of me on everything! I watched how they handled the easy turns and hard drops and I made my moves on that. I felt more analytical in this race than any other race this season. I felt clear headed and strong in every move I made. I was feeling good, but cautiously so.
When I came around a corner I had my amazing wife Kristen and fellow Comp teamie C Todd cheering me on. When I passed them and C Todd told me I was in 9th, I literally thought to myself “Holy cow! Stay calm and don’t lose anymore spots and you will make top ten!! Remember keep it smooth, just keep it smooth,” for anything can happen in a 45 minute race. When I crossed the finish line banner, it stated 3 laps to go, in which I said to myself “Three more laps to keep this ship running as is, don’t  f ’up, don’t freak out,  and  keep it smooth.” I kept it status quo for the third lap, slowly catching a rider or two and passing them. Then it was 2 laps to go and somehow I had put myself into 7th place, with 5th and 6th inches in front of me. I made a move and found myself in 5th and tried to push it.

Photo Cred: Angela Dixon

Sometimes the thing with pushing it is you also try to be cautious at times because you don’t want to screw up. Sometimes THAT can screw you up and I did. After taking over 5th, I came up on a drop down section and scrubbed speed to enter it cleanly. However, I scrubbed too much speed and did a nose manual on a large root at the top of it, which sent me sideways over the bars, and quickly put me back in 7th. However, I grabbed my bike without getting upset and got back on to chase the two riders down as quickly as I could on the techy descent. I didn’t let it sit in my head or dictate my race and I was back in the group in a blink of an eye.

I was bummed to have relinquished 5th, but in the last lap it was a constant effort to get it back. The three of us rubber banded back and forth, switching positions at least a handful of times or more. I was starting to get slowly gapped and was tired. It was starting to feel like 7th was all that was in the cards and I should be happy with that. Yet, when it came to the last few greasy corners before the finish, I kept wide, gained speed, and caught up with Whitney who was riding in 6th. I wasn’t giving up yet, even as she started to pull away from me again. Entering in the last corner before the 100 ft sprint finish, I saw her go wide and I went inside and almost blindly sprinted in hopes that I was both keeping her away but maybe having a chance at 5th. In the end, I couldn’t catch 5th by one second, but I had secured 6th when I crossed the line! Whooped, gassed, elated, and drooling, I had made the top ten!

I gave congrats to the ladies around me and spun out the effort with fellow rad lady, Tara S. We chatted back and forth on how awesome the race was and that it was two great days of solid efforts and results. When I looked at the results, I realized I was the 2nd non-junior crossing the line, so it made my old body and brain feel good.



At the end of the day/weekend, HOLY CRAP!
Not only did I snag a Top Ten at NoHo, but I did it in a confident and controlled manner. I didn’t think I had it in me on Sunday, frankly. I never know what to expect lately with my body and efforts, but I’m always hopeful, but sometimes those hopes are dashed, even when I try as hard as I can to hang onto them. I have struggled with being too hard on myself this year, for I set high (sometimes too high) expectations for myself and beat myself down when they are not met, but I have always done that truthfully. This past weekend really helped me clear out some cobwebs on the race course and exceeded my expectations, probably because I didn’t set any. Don’t get me wrong, I did look at the fun race predictors for both days, which had me sitting only a few spots up from last place. However, I knew I could do better than that, but wasn’t sure how much better. I am hoping that this is truly forward progress and I can’t wait for more racing coming up!


THANK YOU again to my amazing wife, my awesome teammates, friends, and fellow racers for cheering/supporting/pushing me throughout this weekend!! I could not have done it without you all!!