by Maghalie Rochette

The Cincinnati cyclocross weekend was not originally on my schedule. But after the rocky start to the season, I decided to add this weekend of CX racing to keep building momentum, to test myself, and to grab a few valuable UCI points. We had had a weekend off of racing last week, which allowed me to string in a good 12 days of solid training since Trek Cup. I was excited to see how I would feel in the race as I felt like I had regained some form in training.

I'm glad we decided to come, because we always have a blast when we come here for racing. Kingswood park, where the race happens, is absolutely beautiful. It often makes for some fast racing, but when the skies open, we've also had some proper mudders there over the years.

We had 12.5h of driving to get there, so on Thursday afternoon, after the training ride, we packed the van and hit the road. We drove about half of the distance and slept in a rest area in the van before finishing the drive on Friday. We got there on Friday evening and I got on course for the pre-ride.

Over the two previous weekends of racing, I had felt pretty sluggish on day 1, so I wanted to make sure to do a proper session to open up my legs before the race.

Less than an inch
Just as planned, the race was extremely fast on day 1 as the conditions were bone dry. Plus, the way the course was designed this year, there wasn't any major difficulty or major technical feature to divide the pack and make a difference. Pretty early on, I found myself at the front in a small group of 3 with Katie Clouse and Lauren Zoerner. During the whole race I tried time and time again to attack and create a separation between myself and the other girls. But I couldn't get a gap. Katie was riding really strongly. With no separation, going hard at the front only meant you were dragging the other ones while exhausting yourself. I decided to play the tactical game and be patient, but that is not my favorite way to race.

After 50minutes of racing, of tried attacks, and of being patient, the final part of the race finally came. I knew I wanted to hit the pavement first for the sprint finish, so I attacked before and I got to the pavement first. I knew Katie was there, but I didn't know how close. We had a 200m slightly uphill sprint to the finish line. As soon as I hit the pavement, I got in my drop bars, and hit the pedal as hard as I could. I never looked back.

Just as I hit the finish line, Katie's wheel came into view as she did the perfect bike throw. I didn't know who had won.

I turns out the photo finish said I had won, and just like that, I had won my first race of the season!

Second chance
I was super happy to have won the first day, but I also slightly annoyed that I never managed to make an attack stick. Plus, after such a tight finish, I didn't want to try my luck again in a sprint. My goal was to make the race harder.

From the start, I made the race faster at the front. On the second lap, I did my first big attack which reduced the group to Katie and myself. It was going to be Day 1 all over again. I attacked many times, more than the previous day, to test how Katie was feeling. But she was not budging. With a bit more than 2 laps to go, I decided I was finally going. I entered one technical feature a bit faster than the previous laps and got out of the section with 1 bike length. I taught "make it 2 bike lengths" so I kept the pressure on. As we hit the start/finish pavement, Katie wasn't glued to my wheel, so I took advantage of it. I attacked hard. And then, I kept the pressure on for longer. When we got to the first U-turn, I saw I had a decent gap, so I just kept on pushing harder and harder. I felt good and I loved pushing myself while remaining present to not make mistakes. I rode the last 2 laps alone and tried to grow the gap as much as possible.

I was really happy to win again! For the first time this season, I felt like my old self

Momentum
In the end, it was a super fun weekend of racing. I loved the challenge of trying to figure out how to get an edge when we were so evenly matched on that course. I can only thank Katie for pushing me like that. I'm so motivated to keep working hard and improving.

David, myself, and Mia are now spending the week on the road until the next race in Falmouth, Massachussets next weekend.

CX FEVER
- Maghalie

Velo Mafia - Helping you in your CX endeavours
Caroline Mani is one of the most successful French CX rider of her generation. She was on the podium at World Championships, and won many UCI races. She has been one of the most prominent figures of the US CX scene over the past ten years.

This year, Caroline started a new business called Velo Mafia. Although she is still racing. she wanted to help the CX community. Velo Mafia may be exactly what you are looking for!!

With Velo Mafia, Caroline has a big tent at all the races, with mechanics, pressure washers, home trainers to warm up and everything else you might need at a cx event. For a small fee, Caro and her team will offer you pro-level support.

I think it's such a great idea so I wanted to share. If you are looking for support at a CX race, just reach out to Caro, you'll have so much fun!

What's Next
Really Rad Festival of CX, Massachussets, Oct. 26-27

Page mise en ligne par

Consultez notre ENCYCLOPÉDIE sportive

veloptimum.net

.

.

.