Nostalgia
I know that the cross season isn't over yet but I'm already nostalgic for the '05 season. I can't believe that there are no more Wisconsin Cyclocross races and that Nationals is less than two weeks away. Where has the time gone?
It was such a great season for so many reasons and here are a few of them.
1. The awesome women that came out to race this year!!!!
In 2004 I lobbied heavily and to anyone who would listen about how we needed to have three categories for the women. People listened and they agreed to give it a try. I'm not sure everyone believed me that there would be enough women racers to justify it but I believed. Looking back at the season I think it was a huge success. Some of the larger races had over 30 women and girls racing. It was so much fun racing with so many other women each week.
2. My Capitol Velo Club teammates.
Although I race cross for the Alan Factory Team I am also a member of CVC. All summer long they heard me talk endlessly about cross and how awesome it was. To my surpise many of them came out and gave cross a try and some were hooked. Linda came to the Cycle-Smart clinic, did every race, bought a cross bike and won the C Women series. All from someone who didn't know if she would like racing. My teammates also supported me and labored long and hard to make our race at Badger Prairie kick butt. Thanks everyone for listening to me babble about cross and then embracing the sport come fall!
3. All the cool people I've met through cross.
Cross racers are fun, friendly people and I've loved getting to meet so many people. That's the worse part about the season ending is I don't get to see everyone every weekend. I hope everyone comes to the cross banquet in January though. It's also cool to hear people talking about madcross.org and the photos and videos when I'm out walking around the course. The website can sometimes seem like a lot of work but it's all worth it when I hear how much people enjoy it. (Thanks to Dave for all his help with the photos, video and website and for giving up weekend rollerskiing to support the cross obsession).
4. My own racing.
2004 was supposed to be my "big" year. I trained with a singleminded focus to be able to hold my own racing in the Elite category. I planned to do some UCI races and go to Nationals. I wanted to do well. However, I tore up my knee the day before my first race of the '04 season and so I didn't do any of those things. At the end of January I was on the trainer for 5 minutes a day trying to break up the scar tissue in my knee enough that I could pedal a full circle. By March I could pedal for 20 minutes easy on the trainer. Over the whole summer my longest ride of the season was barely over 30 miles.
However, I hadn't forgotten my plan to go to UCI races and race the Elite category. Although it made no sense to do that in '05 I did anyway. What if the opportunity never came along again? It hasn't always been easy but I'm glad I did it. I think the experiences will payoff next year. And if I never raced again I could always look back and laugh about the fact that I was once the 58th ranked woman in the world for cyclocross racing. Someone once told me not to scoff about that as some people never even line up for an elite race so who cares if I got points just merely by showing up. And that's true as I had illusions of horribly humiliating outcomes as I stood on the line in Detroit for my first cross race of the season with women who all had UCI points from last year.
5. Ben Turner
Ben is my coach and in the past he had the same knee surgery I did so he understands what I went through. He has been a great coach and nothing short of a miracle worker. In July I told him that my knee was ready and strong enough to finally start training again but that Physical Therapy still needed to be my priority. That meant I had limited time to ride. I also told him I wanted to race the A race. Instead of telling me that I was crazy he came up with great training plans for me that really worked but allowed me enough time to continue all my PT. I think he had more faith in my ability to get fit than I did. He seemed to always have something positive to say about my races even when I didn't and always had a way for me to work on whatever thing I thought I did bad at in a race.
6. The Alan Factory Team
It's been great actually getting to race on the team this year. It's a big team with racers all over the country. I got to stay with one of my teammates (thanks Todd) at the Ohio UCI race and meet some others from that area. I've exchanged emails with Heidi from the MidAtlantic. Matt and I have had a good time traveling to quite a few races together and he has put up with my need to listen to "angry" music. He even got me to try wheat grass (once). In addition, all the Twin Cities folks are super nice so I must get to MN to race next year at least once.
Okay, enough reflecting back on the season for awhile since the season isn't even over yet!!!
It was such a great season for so many reasons and here are a few of them.
1. The awesome women that came out to race this year!!!!
In 2004 I lobbied heavily and to anyone who would listen about how we needed to have three categories for the women. People listened and they agreed to give it a try. I'm not sure everyone believed me that there would be enough women racers to justify it but I believed. Looking back at the season I think it was a huge success. Some of the larger races had over 30 women and girls racing. It was so much fun racing with so many other women each week.
2. My Capitol Velo Club teammates.
Although I race cross for the Alan Factory Team I am also a member of CVC. All summer long they heard me talk endlessly about cross and how awesome it was. To my surpise many of them came out and gave cross a try and some were hooked. Linda came to the Cycle-Smart clinic, did every race, bought a cross bike and won the C Women series. All from someone who didn't know if she would like racing. My teammates also supported me and labored long and hard to make our race at Badger Prairie kick butt. Thanks everyone for listening to me babble about cross and then embracing the sport come fall!
3. All the cool people I've met through cross.
Cross racers are fun, friendly people and I've loved getting to meet so many people. That's the worse part about the season ending is I don't get to see everyone every weekend. I hope everyone comes to the cross banquet in January though. It's also cool to hear people talking about madcross.org and the photos and videos when I'm out walking around the course. The website can sometimes seem like a lot of work but it's all worth it when I hear how much people enjoy it. (Thanks to Dave for all his help with the photos, video and website and for giving up weekend rollerskiing to support the cross obsession).
4. My own racing.
2004 was supposed to be my "big" year. I trained with a singleminded focus to be able to hold my own racing in the Elite category. I planned to do some UCI races and go to Nationals. I wanted to do well. However, I tore up my knee the day before my first race of the '04 season and so I didn't do any of those things. At the end of January I was on the trainer for 5 minutes a day trying to break up the scar tissue in my knee enough that I could pedal a full circle. By March I could pedal for 20 minutes easy on the trainer. Over the whole summer my longest ride of the season was barely over 30 miles.
However, I hadn't forgotten my plan to go to UCI races and race the Elite category. Although it made no sense to do that in '05 I did anyway. What if the opportunity never came along again? It hasn't always been easy but I'm glad I did it. I think the experiences will payoff next year. And if I never raced again I could always look back and laugh about the fact that I was once the 58th ranked woman in the world for cyclocross racing. Someone once told me not to scoff about that as some people never even line up for an elite race so who cares if I got points just merely by showing up. And that's true as I had illusions of horribly humiliating outcomes as I stood on the line in Detroit for my first cross race of the season with women who all had UCI points from last year.
5. Ben Turner
Ben is my coach and in the past he had the same knee surgery I did so he understands what I went through. He has been a great coach and nothing short of a miracle worker. In July I told him that my knee was ready and strong enough to finally start training again but that Physical Therapy still needed to be my priority. That meant I had limited time to ride. I also told him I wanted to race the A race. Instead of telling me that I was crazy he came up with great training plans for me that really worked but allowed me enough time to continue all my PT. I think he had more faith in my ability to get fit than I did. He seemed to always have something positive to say about my races even when I didn't and always had a way for me to work on whatever thing I thought I did bad at in a race.
6. The Alan Factory Team
It's been great actually getting to race on the team this year. It's a big team with racers all over the country. I got to stay with one of my teammates (thanks Todd) at the Ohio UCI race and meet some others from that area. I've exchanged emails with Heidi from the MidAtlantic. Matt and I have had a good time traveling to quite a few races together and he has put up with my need to listen to "angry" music. He even got me to try wheat grass (once). In addition, all the Twin Cities folks are super nice so I must get to MN to race next year at least once.
Okay, enough reflecting back on the season for awhile since the season isn't even over yet!!!
posted by MadCross at 4:57 PM
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