DIRTY KANZA 200

Dirty Kanza 200 

AKA Muddy Kanza 197.6: 

An Epic Recap on an Epic Race

Special thank you to all the photographers who spent the day out on course with us. I've posted some of my favorite images in this recap from Eric Benjamin of Adventure Monkey, Jason Ebberts of TBL Photography, Linda Guerrette Photography, and Coverage Photography. Thank you to everyone who has sent or tagged photos of me from the day, I'm grateful to be able to look back and reminisce on the event. 

Sorry for the radio silence, everyone. I caught a stomach bug in the Flint Hills and it took a serious toll on me the week following the event. I’m finally back up to speed on work, riding my bike, and chronicling the noteworthy moments that transpired on May 30th, 2015. 

My DK200 experience was a 14-hour blur. I’m going to break it down into chapters by mud bogs and checkpoints since everyone can relate to or visualize these segments on the course. I’m warning you now that this write-up ended being close to a novel. Grab a beverage and enjoy the read.

Check out the short-hand CliffsNotes version of my Race Report at Cyclocross Magazine posted this morning here. 

Start to Mud Bog 1 (11):

First of all, thank you to LeLan Dains of Dirty Kanza Promotions for graciously giving me a spot on the starting line. The first 11 miles were fast and dangerous as everyone weaved in and out of each other on the gravel to try and hang on to the front group. Being near the front from the beginning put me in a position to avoid the mishaps from some risk-takers. 

As a woman trying to do well in a sea of gaggling men, the beginning of gravel races can be very hectic. From the handful of gravel races I’ve attended with a mass start, my strategy has always been to hang on with the front group for as long as possible. This typically means I’m going well above my limit from the very beginning of the race and DK was no exception. Most people would not recommend this strategy as it burns matches at the very beginning of a long day, but I enjoy being at the front as early on as I can and working through the pain that comes from that is just part of the challenge. 

I stayed right at the tail end of the front group and narrowly avoided getting caught in a crash that I later found out was Dan Hughes’ biggest setback of the day. As we rolled up to mile 11, I was able to see the carnage of the peanut butter mud take its toll on everyone ahead of me. A lot of people tried really hard to ride through the muck and it cost them more time in the grass trying to clear the mud they collected instead. 

At dinner the night before the race, Chris Carmichael shared some of his infinite wisdom with the CTS group and one of his suggestions that stuck with me the most was to place a pointed object in the leg band of my bibs in the event that mud would have to be cleared. This seemingly trivial suggestion ended up saving me a significant amount of time. I had a Parktool tire lever in my leg band that helped me clear mud much quicker than I could have with just my bare hands. You can see the lever in my leg band throughout the photos from the day. 

I had to stop and clear mud quite a few times over the 2.5 miles of mud and it took me around 35 minutes to get through! When we started running on the grass embankments, I heard someone yell at me from behind to put my bike down and push it instead of carry it. I soon realized it was Neil Shirley having some serious setbacks as well and I’d later find out that he snapped his rear derailleur in the mud and was forced to DNF.

This fate was not unique to Shirley as the mud forced a lot of people to pull out of the event. Read Janeen McCrae's beautifully written report on the POV of a rider robbed of their opportunity to complete the event. It's a good one. I'm grateful my equipment allowed me to finish the race and my hat's off to everyone who was forced to quit for reasons outside of their control. They will no doubt come back with a vengeance. 

25-year-old Amanda Nauman of Mission Viejo, CA didn't need to look far for motivation she just needed to look at the inside of her cap brim to know what she was aiming for during the 2015 #dk200
Posted by Linda Guerrette Photography on Monday, June 1, 2015

Mud Bog 1 (11) Checkpoint 1 (77): 

The next 66 miles were the grittiest and where I made it hurt the most. Immediately after the mud bog, I wanted to put a gap on the competition early on if I could. There’s something about not being able to see your rivals ahead of you over the course of so many rolling hills that eats away at you. April Morgan had come out of the mud with me and I was hoping my fellow CTS athlete would stay nearby but alas she ended up making a wrong turn with a larger group not long after. 

It was a long part of the day but flew by the fastest as there were still quite a few people riding around me and there was always some feature on the course to pay attention to. I also saw so many unfortunate souls on the side of the road that it was impossible to zone out. Any lapse in concentration could lead to a pinched tire or other small mistake. During this segment I decided that gravel racing is one of the hardest disciplines for this reason alone. It’s easy to shut your brain off and zone out on smooth roads and skinny tires, but when there are millions of sharp opportunities just waiting to take you out the second you stop focusing on the next obstacle, you simply can’t stop thinking and focusing on your surroundings. You end up as mentally exhausted as you are physically by the end of the day.

a classic seen in the #dk200 - rolling hills, acres of open praise lines by various fencing, gravel some fine some not so fine and on race day peppered by riders
Posted by Linda Guerrette Photography on Monday, June 1, 2015

Checkpoint 1 (77) to Mud Bog 2 (87):

Big Poppi Bikes is a shop in Manhattan, Kansas that CTS hires to be the pit crew for their DK200 Bucketlist Event. Aaron Apel is owner/operator and was there waiting for me in Madison. I was so grateful for the quick bike check by Aaron.

Somewhere after I crested the red brick steep climb from hell out of Madison and glided through the next few rollers, I started tearing up a little bit. My emotions got the best of me and I couldn’t believe I was still in the lead after checkpoint one. By no means was I thinking I had this thing in the bag already, but I was overwhelmed that I was leading this far into the race. There was so much self-doubt following me to race day and in that moment it was very reassuring that I was proving myself wrong. All the hours on the bike and the dedication I had invested was paying off. I was winning the mental game thus far.

But it wouldn’t be Dirty Kanza without an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows; and miles 80-90 proved to be another stickier challenge. The only glimmer of positivity during this segment came from Dan Hughes as he rode by me in the gravel rainbow jersey. I was shocked to see him at this point in the race but he explained he had been stuck in the early crash. I don’t remember his exact words but Dan said something along the lines of “you got this” and when a 4-time DK Champion tells you that you have a chance to win, you harden the eff up and get going.

There was so much cursing going on during the one mile stretch of 87.4 to 88.4 because we didn’t know it was possible for a worse mud bog to exist than the first one, but there it was and there we were slugging through it. It was one mile of hell that lasted 30 full minutes and it was bad.

It was so bad that I couldn’t even clear all the mud with my trusty Parktool tire lever. I was schlepping through the mud with what looked like giant birds nests for feet. I was so annoyed I started questioning giving up out of pure frustration. I would try forcing the pedals to ride and crossed my fingers the mud would start to fling off. Instead, the thick mud started picking up gravel rocks like chocolate frosting collects sprinkles and the friction got worse. I picked my head up from staring at my mucky drivetrain and spotted a giant, deep puddle of water where another rider had already begun to de-gunk his bike. I’m not proud of this next move, and mechanics everywhere will cringe when they read this, but I dipped my entire bike in this body of filthy water, got my tool out and cleared the mud as fast as possible. That puddle was a saving grace and got me rolling again. But just know that move cost me a lot of money in water-damaged components after the race. Sacrifices.

Mud Bog 2 (87) to Checkpoint 2 (155): 

Finally able to ride my bike without peanut butter friction, I got rolling again. After his 4 flats, Jason Siegle finally caught back up with me after the mud bog and after a few miles we rode in a group with a handful of guys. It didn’t last very long but a shield from the wind was nice while it did last. I was forced to break off from the group and stop after a few pedal strokes started to stick in that familiar “my chain is going to snap my rear derailleur off” feeling. I found another puddle of water and tried to clean up the drivetrain as best I could. Luckily the scary almost snapping sensation stopped and I was able to push without fear of sheering off my ability to shift.

There’s not much to say about the miles after our little group imploded. At this point in the mental game I was starting to lose. Miles 100-155 were the toughest of the day for me. I got stopped by a giant herd of cattle taking over the road on private land; that was a first for me. Neutral water at 124 was a little relief. River crossings were a welcomed challenge. But this segment of the day lived up to what I thought the Dirty Kanza had in store for me: rolling hills, green grass, never-ending roads, complete isolation, and plenty of time to reflect. Finally, the crunch of gravel came up behind me and there was Clemens Kyllmann of Gurnee, IL, and another rider around mile 148. Kyllmann and I had been going back and forth all day before the second mud bog and I was grateful for the company to Cottonwood Falls.

Checkpoint 2 (155) to Finish (197.6): 

Head mechanic of Big Poppi Bikes was waiting for me at the second checkpoint to work his magic. My chain was creaking, my rear derailleur almost snapped a handful of times, but I rolled out of there with a fully functioning bike again and no drivetrain woes. Kyllmann headed out of Cottonwood Falls with me and we stayed together pulling for about 8 miles or so until I couldn’t match his pace on the mini climbs any longer. 

At mile 168 I stopped to pee. At 169 Matt Freeman finally caught me and I was able to stay with him for about a mile before wishing him luck and continuing on my own. I had to push myself in between miles 170-193. I had eaten two mini sandwiches back in town, but was too mental to remember to grab enough food to get me to the finish. Luckily there was a family barbequing near Lake Kahola and their cheers lifted me up for the last 90 minutes to the finish line. One particular fellow manning the barbeque asked his family, “Did you know this is the lead female of the 200 race and she is a stud?!” Mental game was coming back strong.

Photo by: Patrick P. Evenson

Posted by Coverage Photography on Sunday, May 31, 2015

At this point in the event I was catching a handful of riders who were finishing up their DK 100-mile race. All of them provided words of encouragement as I came by and reciprocating their cheers was a delightful motivation for me. These guys and gals had signed up for a 100-mile day not knowing the conditions would eventually push them to ride a very long event almost as long as some of the quickest 200-ers. Kudos to all!

At 193 I knew exactly where I was. On the previous day we had ridden with the Carmichael Training Systems group for the pre-ride to check out the last few miles of the gravel. This is where the pure joy started to come around and I was so excited to roll into town. 

In the last 30 seconds of the race I got passed by bib numbers 693, 880, and 787. I yelled, “Seriously?!” as they blew by me, desperately needing to pass the girl ahead of them who was about to finish first for the day and in the top 20 of the overall. Instead I finished 21st, celebrating and high-fiving through the main street. I never saw those three guys the entire day and had been ahead of them the whole time, but they were too focused on the finish line to care. It was the only fleeting moment all day where I was a little angry but at that point it was impossible to trump the elation erupting from the crowds.

The night before the big day, riders gathered at the Emporia Granada Theatre for a quick meeting to go over any last-minute important information regarding the event. The Queen of Pain, Rebecca Rusch, stood up in front of the crowd and gave everyone her suggestions for the race with eventual winner Yuri Hauswald. What stood out to me the most was her advice on pacing and to be smarter, not faster, than everyone else. I was motivated all day by her words, her wisdom, and her presence in the race. It was an honor to be in the same event and I still can't believe I now share this title with one of the greatest female athletes in the world.

#amandanauman charging through the #finishline of the #dirtykanza200 Great job Amanda! #dk200 #decadeofdirty #cycling #gravelgrinding #gravelgrinder #emporiaks #flinthills #granadatheater @dirtykanza

A photo posted by PatEvenson (@patevenson) on May 30, 2015 at 6:22pm PDT

Downtown Emporia was electric as I came into the finishing straightaway and I held back my emotions when it finally hit me that I had won the premier endurance gravel race in the country. I beat the mental game, rode as hard as I could, raced the sun, and I won.

This was the moment I saw David waiting at the finish with LeLan. He had been riding with Freeman all day and after getting to Cottonwood he decided to ask for a car ride to the finish line so he could see me finish first instead of finish his race. He came home from the 2014 DK200 after finishing 10th overall and said, "You could win this event." He's been the biggest believer in me and I don't thank him enough for everything he does to support me.  His sacrifices helped get me to the line and I'd like to think we achieved that together. 

Everything I’ve raced the past couple years is typically self-supported with the goal of increasing my exposure to potential sponsors and at the very least I hope this event will continue to prove that women are capable of incredible feats. Thank you to everyone who helped me achieve my greatest result to date and especially to Carmichael and the CTS crew for their support. 

If you’ve gotten this far in my novel of a race recap, thank you for reading. I hope it gives some insight for you if you’re considering participating in the event, motivates you to enter a gravel ride/race, or inspires you to take on an epic challenge. I promise the human body and mind are capable of amazing things when you believe.

2015 Women's Champion of the #DK200

Posted by Adventure Monkey on Wednesday, June 3, 2015

2015 Chino Grinder

My current employment allowed me the ability to head to Arizona for the week following the SPY Belgian Waffle Ride. I stayed at my brother’s place in Tucson (explained here) and enjoyed the riding around the area for a few days while getting some work done in a new environment. Friday I headed north of Phoneix and stayed in Anthem, AZ the night before the Chino Grinder.

Desert Riding

Tucson Mountain Trails

Saving this snake from getting run over in Anthem, AZ

The course was a 106 mile-long out and back from Chino Valley, Arizona to Williams, Arizona. We made our way through the upper Verde Watershed of the Prescott and Kaibab National Forests. It was beautiful!

More Dirt than Asphalt:

There is a claim to be approximately a 60/40 split between gravel and paved roads. Yippee!

First Half:

The first 20 miles were all gravel, hectic and awesome. It was about a 10-mile gradual ascent followed by a 10-mile gradual descent. The pace was much faster than I anticipated but it was probably due to the fact that the safest place to be was up front, therefore everyone at the front kept pushing forward ahead. 

After the first aid station, it was a steady, continuous climb for what felt like forever! Everyone strung out after the aid station and I found myself behind the wheels of Scott and Josh. These two became best buds as we made our grueling way up the never-ending climb. Mile 29.2 was the transition from dirt to pavement. We came up behind Caroline Mani shortly after the pavement and my two new friends urged me along to get ahead of her. We managed to push the pace for just enough time to pass and there I was on the front of the women’s race. 

Don Kellogg was hanging out passing water bottles to riders somewhere around mile 35-ish. I had lost a full bottle with calories during a bumpy gravel section around mile 12 earlier in the race, so I was so thankful for this bottle hand-up from the Raleigh Clement team. They ended up offering neutral support to everyone at the race! At mile 44-ish there began a series of hellish rollers up and down til mile 51-ish where we turned onto the dirt climb to the Elk Ridge Ski Area. Scott and Josh were with me the whole way and we made a good team. That dirt section felt too long, especially with the smell of bacon getting stronger with each pedal stroke and while guys began to come down the other direction. 

Once I was finally at the top everyone kept reminding me I was indeed the first female they had seen. One particular guy, who I later learned was named Jared from Flagstaff, pointed at me and yelled, “BACON?!” I replied, “no… Coke!” A very nice volunteer got me a Coke (which I proceeded to drink too quickly) and I refilled my bottles. Jared continued to remind me that I needed a piece of Bacon, so I caved and grabbed the most beautiful slice of bacon as I jumped back on my bike and shoved a banana in my back pocket. Nervous about maintaining my lead, I left Scott and Josh at the aid station and moved on ahead of them, but still very thankful for their company.

Because I can't say no to bacon mid-race.

Second Half:

Aside from helping me with the reminder of needing a piece of the Elixer of Life (aka bacon), this guy Jared helped me down the mountain. I happened to roll down the gravel to start the second half near Jared and another guy named Josh (not Josh from the first half). As we hit the pavement they started asking me if I was the lead woman, to which I responded yes! Jared said, “well let’s get you home then!” Like I mentioned in my BWR post, thank goodness for these guys. True gentlemen and great athletes.

The 14 miles of pavement that we had climbed on the way up was now the most ridiculously fast and fun descent. It was one of those long descents where you have enough time to think and be amazed you even climbed up it. And I also had the wheels and wind-shielding drafts of Josh and Jared in front of me on the way down.

As we hit the dirt when the pavement ended I knew something was wrong. My rear tire was LOW. Like squishy-feels-like-a-tubular low. I proceeded to gingerly get my bike through the next NINE miles of gravel without flatting somehow. Luckily I made it to the aid station carefully enough and yelled “Pump!” A volunteer grabbed his pump and laughed when he started to inflate, telling me it had barely any psi. I probably burped it or there was a crazy slow leak at some point. Regardless, I was happy I didn’t lose too much time going slow on the gravel descent. 

Somewhere towards the last home stretch of gravel, it started to rain. Yes, rain. Every so slightly and the drizzle was welcome. There was a gentle breeze that sometimes shifted to a tailwind carrying me straight to the finish line with a giant smile on my face.

Equipment:

Daily CX Bike w/ 35c USH Clement Tires

Perfect for this race.

After reading Nicole’s post on her 2014 Chino Grinder woes I was hoping my tubeless set-up with Clements and a giant saddlebag filled with every just-in-case safety measure would be good enough.

Finally, big huge thank-you to SPY Optics AGAIN! SPY took care of my registration for this event as the Chino Grinder is presented by SPY. Can you name another company like SPY who’s promoting the adventurous lifestyle through dirt and gravel? I’m thankful that they’re at the forefront of this and as always am proud to see happy with them.

Panda Out

Thanks Osmo, for your Preload magic! 

SPY Belgian Waffle Ride 2015

Posted by SPY Belgian Waffle Ride on Friday, March 20, 2015

An update from the dirt&gravel-loving Panda:

Here's a nice throwback to my first attempt at the BWR in 2013:

Don't be fooled by my otherwise joyous #BWR pix.. I certainly spent time in the #paincave.

A photo posted by Amanda Nauman (@amanda_panda_) on Apr 12, 2013 at 3:35pm PDT

Fast Forward to this year:

The tweets.

The Strava:

I’m sitting in the common area of a University of Arizona owned student housing building in Downtown Tucson. My brother graduated in May 2014 and finished up a handful of credits during the Fall semester. Now he’s home working for my parents and his apartment lease is still in effect. He goes back frequently to visit his girlfriend and stays there.

I signed up for the Chino Grinder held in Chino Valley, Arizona, and figured I’d make the trip out to Tucson for a free room at my brother’s place with the permission of his bff/roommate still there. So here I am! AZ is pretty great so far.

While I’m here, I figured I’d recap the epicness that was the SPY Belgian Waffle Ride.

Women’s Wave:

This was the first year that SPY had a whole wave designated specifically for the women. From the outside looking in, this was such a great gesture for the women signed up! From the inside looking out, this forced us to suffer a bit more than we should have in the beginning. You’re only going to be as fast as the fastest group in your wave taking pulls, so the pace of the first 30 miles of our wave was pushed by Jill Cederholm, Rhonda Quick, and myself. Had there been some strong males in our wave as well, we wouldn’t have had to do so much work in the beginning. Perhaps next year Wave 3 starts 5 minutes behind us instead of 10 so they catch us sooner and let me draft earlier on : )

More Asphalt than Dirt:

I came out in the lead after dirt section #1 and I came out in the lead after dirt section #2! Shortly after Ysabel Creek, the Wave 3 men started to catch us. “Finally,” I thought to myself. However, at this point we came upon Old San Pasqual Grade where I fell off the back of the group that Rhonda Quick was able to climb to the top with and there went the lead with a full Century still left to ride.

Luckily I found a few guys to ride with after Cougar Pass Climb (KOM #2 segment) and came into the halfway point back at Lost Abbey with a decent number of guys to regroup with. Lap #2 was underway and suddenly I found myself in a group of about 20 guys hauling ass through Del Diablo Hwy. I went for it on Sprint #2 segment not knowing that the women weren’t getting a separate Sprint category and that was a full 3 minute effort at 274 watts. Ouch. That burnt a match, so when we turned around and went through Lemon Twistenberg I faded slightly and then took it easy on the road til Lake Hodges were I went as fast as I could and had a blast through the sandy, rocky, dirt. From there it was only Saint Lusardi to look forward to, the dirty Questhaven climb, and the Double Peak dirt descent.

Equipment:

Daily CX Bike w/ 35c USH Clement Tires

Next year: 28c skinnier tires for sure

Just for comparison’s sake: On BWR KOM#1 which was the only one I really went for I pushed 297W average for 5:28min. The other women that beat me up it went significantly lower and obviously there are a lot more variables there (body weight, equipment weight, etc) but I’d like to think a big part of that was the 35c tires with ~40psi on my ‘cross bike. Even during the beginning of the ride one of the women said, “You are definitely working harder than all of us with those tires.” Hah! But you know what? If SPY had done QOD (Queen of the Dirt) this year I would’ve totally won that because I crushed the dirt segments and loved every second of ‘em.

Mental Power & Emotion:

Shoutout to Devin Riley (Marketing Manager of BMC) and the other guy we were with for pulling me through some mental blocks in between Bernardo to DP and getting rad during the Saint Lusardi awesomeness. In all seriousness this is the part of Gravel Grinders I love the most: making friends while suffering along a crazy adventure. The guys I met along the way and who let me sit on their wheels are true gentlemen and great athletes.

Important to note: I almost cried at the top of Double Peak. What a feeling to know it was downhill back to Lost Abbey.  That sort of raw emotion and joy is what we all live for when we sign up for these crazy events.
There was also more emotion when I saw my mom at the finish of 140 miles. So happy she came to cheer me through the finish!

Podium:

I'm the only one without a child in this photo. Proof that ridiculous Mom-Strength does exist! 

Kudos to Rhonda Quick for dominating at the young age of 50. I was so impressed by her strength!

Did quite a bit of route analysis the week before the event.. thus I made my own personal top tube route cheat-sheet. Due to the morning-of course reroute around Lusardi Pt1, all checkpoints were off by 1-2 miles but easy to figure out.

Finally, big huge thank-you to SPY. What an amazing company filled with truly incredible folks behind Michael Marckx. I am proud to ride under the SPY banner and with the best-looking shades around. The "other" brands don't even come close to this sort of uniqueness. 

Panda out

North American World Cup Selections

Panda Thoughts on the North American World Cup Selections

Hi All,

I didn't make an end-of-season post regarding my mediocre performance at CXNats.
I don't want to dwell on the negative. Things didn't go as planned during that race and I can sum it up in a photo from Motofish Images:

Some blood and a lot of mud. [dailybikes]

Instead I'm very happy with finishing the season ranked 110th in the UCI rankings, 24th female American in the UCI overall, and 24th female in the USAC Pro CX Calendar rankings. With what little racing I had to work with last season I'm proud of those results.

I'm now looking forward to the future and what's next...
I've been doing a lot of thinking about next season and want to share a little analysis I've put together.



Recent news from this past week just before CXworlds kicked off is that Clif Bar CrossVegas has been given a World Cup status! Read more here.

This is great news! It's great for North American cyclocross, it's great for the globalization of cyclocross, it's great for Interbike attendees, it's fantastic for the American bike industry, and it's great for cyclocross fans and spectators everywhere.
But for those of us aspiring UCI Elite racers, it's great news w/ a little bit of a sting.

Here are the USAC rules/information regarding the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Registration.

Interesting rule at the top:

"The UCI mandates that each federation’s current top eight Elite men and women UCI points scorers, if ranked in the top 50 overall, must be allowed to start each World Cup if they choose to. If any of the top eight USA riders ranked inside the top 50 UCI overall choose not to start a World Cup, we are NOT allowed to fill those unused spots with additional riders. If the USA does not have eight riders ranked inside the top 50 UCI overall then we may add additional riders to the start list. Because of these UCI regulations, USA Cycling has adopted the following Selection Guidelines to determine an order of riders for entering World Cup events."

On the Women's side:

1	5	Katherine COMPTON	United States	37	1308
2	15	Kaitlin ANTONNEAU	United States	23	721
3	17	Rachel LLOYD	United States	40	628
4	23	Meredith MILLER	United States	42	505
5	24	Crystal ANTHONY	United States	35	498
6	27	Arley KEMMERER	United States	31	365
7	30	Courtenay MCFADDEN	United States	30	356
8	36	Elle ANDERSON	United States	27	301

If these rules are truly the case for next year and the selection criteria does not change, then here are your likely female starters for CrossVegas (and more than likely Montreal too) as these women sit inside the top 50 on the overall UCI rankings as well as top 8 Americans.


On the Men's side:

1	9	Jeremy POWERS	United States	32	1063
2	34	James DRISCOLL	United States	29	409
3	38	Jonathan PAGE	United States	39	373
4	45	Logan OWEN	United States	20	340
5	47	Curtis WHITE	United States	20	336
6	49	Daniel SUMMERHILL	United States	26	334
7	50	Zach MCDONALD	United States	24	329
8	51	Stephen HYDE	United States	28	317
9	55	Cameron DODGE	United States	24	267
10	66	Kerry WERNER	United States	24	217

The men's field is going to come to a selection. Of the top 8 Americans right now, two are U23's (Owen and White).  I'm assuming there will be a U23 World Cup Race. This means the next two on the list are Dodge and Werner, however they fall outside of the top 50 according to the UCI/USAC rules. Thus Hyde, Dodge, and Werner's spots are technically up for selection based on the nomination rules. Another possible scenario is eliminating the U23's from the overall rankings to see where they line up but who knows which U23 riders will want to race Elites next year given the path paved by the likes of LvdH, Wout, and MvdP.


Other World Champs:
Keep in mind that UCI Road World Championships in 2015 is going to be held in Richmond, Virginia, USA Sept 19-27. Also, UCI MTB World Championships is going to be held in Andorra (fun fact: Europe's 6th smallest nation) Sept 1-6, 2015.
That means that if any male or female top 8 American riders also in the top 50 overall UCI rankings choose not to start the North American World Cups, USAC isn't allowed to fill those spots.
This throws a whole different wrench into the mix and now we begin the discussions of will roadies stay roadies and crossers be crossers, and will the mtb-ers be on point to race like last year. Or will they all somehow juggle these events.
Regardless, this will also mean that any other road-focused riders from other countries (coughworldchampionPFPcough) will most likely miss the North American World Cups as well.

Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens.


CrossVegas is...

• the first cyclocross race I ever spectated in 2012
• where I fell in love with cyclocross
• the first UCI Elite Womens race I ever raced in (2013)
• my first top 10 C1 finish (2014)
• my absolute favorite UCI race

Photo from Cyclocrossrider

Here's to hoping I'll get another chance in 2015 by some stretch of the imagination...
I've got my fingers crossed that they'll somehow select me after I submit my request.
Those riders who submit the request to race will be notified 3 weeks prior to the event. August 26th, 2015 we should have a roster of the Americans selected to race Cross Vegas and shortly after that for the Montreal race.


In the meantime, here's a layout of all the UCI races currently on the calendar for next season:



Taken via The Chain Stay on their recent post titled, "2015 / 2016 UCI Cyclocross Calendar – Analysis" Check out their analysis for a great breakdown on the race locations and statuses.

Time to look for money, more sponsors and plan the upcoming season!!!

Love,
 Panda