by Maghalie Rochette
Bogense, Denmark; a tiny maritime village of 4000 people and home of the 2019 CX World Championships.
All week, the course conditions kept changing. Frozen and fast, wet and slippery, cold, windy, icy and slick, etc. Thirty minutes before the women’s race, it started raining, so the top layer of the course got muddy and a bit slick, but without creating any ruts, because the ground below was too frozen. It was going to be a FAST race, where one mistake could take you out of contention, and where positioning, power, skills, and composure would be required.
Personally, I was confident I could manage 3 of those requirements…for the power, I would have to hope for the best!
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Preparing for a race is one of the best feeling in the world. You work hard, you work well, you get into a rhythm where all you can think of is “Is what I am doing now helping me to be my best on that day?” Your confidence level builds up by the day, your body becomes stronger, leaner, more agile, and your mind is focused.
Personally, that’s what makes me excited to race. When I feel ready, I want to see how my best will fare against the others. Usually, the World Championships is the culmination of that. It’s the biggest race of the year where everybody brings their A game. The atmosphere at the event is always special; it’s as if it was the celebration of all your work throughout the year and everyone is so happy to be there. It’s my favorite event every year!
This year, I did not get to prepare like I love to do it. At this point, you all know that I’ve been battling some type of illness during the last two weeks, and that prevented me from preparing optimally for the biggest race. I basically rested for two weeks in the hope I could at least be healthy, although I knew it would affect my fitness.
I was stripped of the excitement of being prepared to the best of my abilities, but I had one thing left…I still had the opportunity to do one last solid race. One that I could be proud of. A race where, as cliché as it sounds, I would leave it all out, and be fully focused. A race where I could ride well, be in the moment, be smart, and use all the energy I had, no matter how little.
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The race started and it was as intense as promised. And although my legs were lacking the power to follow the speed of the best girls in the world, I had a blast. You had to go full speed to follow the wheels on the flat sections, but you had to be careful not to slip in the turns. You were constantly trying to pass people or catch the wheel in front, because even if it meant you were going to eat the mud and salty water coming off of the other persons wheel, the draft was worth it. If you could recover enough, maybe that gave you enough energy to run faster than that person on the steep, muddy, and icy hills! You had to be fully focused, and that made for such a fun race.
I was happy. I feel like I nailed the technical sections, I positioned myself the best way I could, I rode smart, I was composed, and I was breathing so hard that I had cramps in my stomach.
I finished 23rd, which is nothing to be excited about, but I’m proud to say that my only regret of the trip to Denmark was to not have eaten a real Danish danish (pastry)… I have absolutely no regrets about the race, only a profound sense of pride and gratefulness. Pride for never giving up during the last few challenging months, pride in creating that CX program this season, and pride in doing the best out of this opportunity to race in the World Championships and even enjoying it.
And grateful… For the mighty crew of people around me, for David's dedication and help (and for enduring me!), for the support I’ve received, for being lucky enough to do what I do.
Thank you all for following along!
***I will send 1 more Fever Alert to close this season on a high and remember the good moments with all of you. I also have many people to thank and I want to do it properly. But for now, we have 12 luggages and about 800lbs of stuff to pack before going back home…
MECHANIC'S TIP
Packing your Bike
It may sound like a daunting task to pack your bikes, but when you have a nice bag and the proper technique, it literally takes 15mins (or less!). Here’s how David and I like to do it.
• Take the wheels off and take off the rotors (discs). Put the rotors in the little pocket inside the bike bag. Place a plastic spacer between the brake pads. Put the wheels in the wheel pockets.
• Unscrew the derailleur. Wrap it in bubble wrap.
• With a sharpie pen, draw the contour of your stem on the handlebar to make it easy to find the handlebar position.
• Unscrew the 4 bolts holding the handlebar to loosen it up. Turn and flip the handle bar inside the frame.
• Place foams on your bike frame.
• Place a piece of tape on your seat post to mark your height. Take off the seat post.
• Install the frame inside the bike bag and secure it with the straps. Remember to grab the seat post from your repair stand.
**Note: remember to bring the tools you need to build the bike back. The wrench to install your rotors, allen and/or torks keys, pedal wrench if you decide to take off the pedals.
**Note 2: I use either the EVOC normal size bag or the EVOC XL bag and that allows me to easily fit 2 cyclocross bikes and 2 sets of wheels inside the bag. To do so, we put the two rear wheels on the outside pockets, the two front wheels go inside the bikes (covered in bubble wrap), and we take off the pedals. Easy peezy, safe, and you save on luggage fees at the airport!
Extra tip: I have a “Travel Foam Roller” that I always travel with. I like to put it in the rear triangle of the bike to offer and extra protection to the bike. I always put my shoes and extra gear at the bottom of the bike bag, but make sure you respect the weight allowance from your airline company. Although the bags can take it, it’s not great for its longevity if your bag is too heavy.
Close the bag and get excited for your trip!
IDEA WORTH SHARING
Off season
We could have a long discussion about off season. How much time do you take off? Are you completely off? Why do you need time off? Are you really NOT training?
Personally, I enjoy the off season. It is time to replenish my body's batteries, time to fix any little injuries or discomfort, and time to replenish my mind's will power tank! It's also a time to assert what went wrong, what went well, what you want to improve and how you will do it. In other words, it is time to build the motivation fire again!
The racing season has been long (we started in March and finished yesterday), so my body needs a little break. It's essential that I give it this break, because otherwise I won't be able to ask as much as I want out of it later, when it will really count.
It's also a mental break. Although cycling is a job that gives you a lot of freedom, it is also a job that is 24/7. Your body is your main tool so you are constantly thinking about what you are eating, always considering if a certain activity will help you be better at the next day's training, always trying to be healthy, to stretch, etc... So giving your mind a little break is important, because, again, that break will allow you to ask more out of your mind when it's time to do so. Digging deep is as much mental as it is physical, so you want to have enough will power when it counts!
To me off season means time to see my friends and family, do different activities than biking, do some cooking and woodworking, etc... I will take a few real off days and then I'll start moving again doing different activities than biking, and soon after I'll start riding again but without any structure for a little while! Then, gradually, the training structure will increase, but not for a few weeks yet :)
Last year, David and I went on a really cool camping trip in Norther Arizona. But this year, I think we will stay in the snow a little bit longer. :) Then, I'm actually excited to go ride my Mountain Bike in some cool spots!
WHAT'S NEXT?
For now, a little break :)
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