Women's CX Project Partnership

In May 2015, I was planning a long drive out to Arizona for the Chino Grinder gravel event and needed something to listen to. I knew the Cyclocross Network existed, but I never had the time to listen to episodes from the previous season. In attempt to fill the cyclocross void of Spring, I binged-listened to Cyclocross Today for hours driving across the desert and laughed at the ramblings of Scott Dedenbach, Mr. David Palan, and Bill Schieken.

Needless to say, I befriended these nerds at the beginning of the season and finally met Scott in person at Providence. A week later Scott introduced us to Corey Green in Waterloo and once David Sheek got in a room with those two, the rest was history. Cyclocross lives in its own weird corner of the Internet and as a west coast-based racer, I’m so very grateful for the connections I’ve made over the past couple years through social media. The racing won’t last forever, but these relationships will, and I can’t wait to get started on this next adventure!

FORESHADOWING...

 See the official news release here: Women's CX Project takes huge step with mentoring program.

It's been such a treat to get to know the Women's CX Project this past year and witness the time and energy that Corey and Scott invest for the ladies on the team. Their passion for development and their love of the sport is infectious and I can’t think of a better group of people to stand by. The beauty of this partnership is I will still have the flexibility of planning my own program with David and the SDG Factory Team. Last season I wrote a lot about the struggles he and I faced traveling to races and working on everything out of a rental car and paying too much money in baggage fees. Yes, the Women's CX Project is going to solve a lot of those problems for us. But the biggest benefit is being part of a sister team where I can also give back to the riders. There are so many things I wish I had known in my first year as an elite and I learned a lot of lessons through many struggles. I'm looking forward to being there for this team, being a resource, sharing my experiences, and mentoring as best I can. The icing on the cake to all of this is that Courtenay McFadden has way more experience under her belt and I can't wait to chase her around and learn a lot from her as well. We're on the same west-coast-extension-sister-team of WCXP now : )

TXCX Photo by Bo Bickerstaff

Everything else about the upcoming year is still in the air, but the Women's CX Project is the home away from home. And also I'm certainly racing at the CrossVegas and Jinglecross World Cups. I'm still in the process of nailing down sponsors, and the final dollar amount will drive most of our remaining schedule and travel decisions. If you want a copy of our sponsorship proposal for the SDG Factory Team, please shoot me an email at amanda.nauman@gmail.com and we will get that to you! 

Thanks for reading and I hope this is some nice news to get everyone in the spirit of #crossiscoming summer season : )

California Block of UCI XC Racing

On the short plane ride home from Sea Otter and I have some free time to reflect on a week away revolving around bikes. It’s been awhile since I’ve written a Panda’s POV, so here’s a recap on how things have been rolling in the past few weeks.

XC done! Enjoying the Sea Beaver. Come say hi! Booth 851 #rideSDG #MuscleMonster #PandaPower

A photo posted by Amanda Nauman (@amanda_panda_) on Apr 16, 2016 at 1:46pm PDT

I just finished three weekends in a row of racing XC and it’s been a blast. SDG, Niner, Easton, and Kogel have been so supportive of me from an equipment standpoint and without them I wouldn’t have had a couple of badass bikes to chose from for these races.

When I crashed in 2014, I came off a couple of the best training blocks I’ve ever done. I was feeling great and I knew that would’ve been a great race for me. Getting over that hiccup has been a long process that even included a root canal at the beginning of last cyclocross season when my tooth finally died. I avoided Sea Otter in 2015, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work for a couple of my sponsors here in 2016.

I raced the Kenda Cup West UCI XC race at Fontana on April 2nd and then the US Cup UCI HC race at Bonelli Park on April 9th. Those races were so different in regards to course layout and weather conditions, but equally challenging nonetheless. Needless to say, without training any of those high intensity systems since the end of December, the efforts that those courses demanded were HARD. It felt good to race again. I was descending the best I ever have at Fontana on the RKT 9 RDO and the AIR 9 RDO aided my destroyed legs around the punchy Bonelli course.

Finally a mini rest week was in the cards for Sea Otter. The Short Track XC race on Friday morning was a fun jolt to the system as we raced the cyclocross course on our hard tails. I was held up behind a couple bobbles, but worked my way to a 12th place finish and good motivation for the following day. The XCO course was shortened down to a circuit around the hillside overlooking the Laguna Seca raceway instead of a nice long route into Fort Ord and the amazing single track beyond the gates like in years past. No complaints from me as this eliminated the gravel descent where I bounced OTB and suited my cyclocross strengths going up and down a grassy hillside. I had a decent start up the road climb but would’ve liked to have been a couple wheels closer to the front at the end of lap one. I got stuck behind a steep climb dismount on lap two and while chasing Lea Davison’s wheel down the descent to work our way back up, my chain bounced off. This put me at the back of chase group and I was only able to move up a couple spots after that, finishing 17th. With an international field that strong and the Luna Team driving the pace at the front, I’m thrilled with that finish at this time of the year and some UCI points to help out at Nationals in July.

Watch my first ever Dirtwire TV interview here:
https://youtu.be/ytTOVf-mZAE


Three women drove home the meaning of perseverance for me during that race. Major kudos to Larissa Connors for never backing off chasing the Luna team and finishing fourth! I was also amazed with Notubes rider Rose Grant working her way up to 5th place after she was stuck back with me after the first lap. And finally Erin Huck’s mechanical didn’t keep her from backing off as she chased down as many riders as she could after running a good portion during the middle of the race. These women are relentless and it’s inspiring!

Special thank-you to Muscle Monster for believing in me and our team’s goals. They are a growing brand within the Monster Energy Corporation and I would be so grateful if you tried out their product as a form of recovery. I’ve mixed it into my recovery routines as of late and it’s a product I’m happy to endorse. I enjoyed handing out cans at Sea Otter and seeing people so excited about a product from Monster with 25g of protein you don’t even have to shake! Let me know how you like it.

Muscle Monster Facebook

Muscle Monster Instagram

Muscle Monster Twitter

During cyclocross season I stretch myself thin with all the headaches of travel across the United States, but I’m so fortunate that the Kenda Cup West Series and a majority of the US Cup races take place within driving distance of home. I’m lucky to have Scott Tedro and his team pushing MTB racing back into the spotlight with a home base in SoCal because I have the opportunity to race the fastest women in the world without worrying about travel or taking too much time off of work. Made me realize that being on the east coast or living in Belgium really does eliminate a lot of the uncontrollable travel stresses that can crop up. I love complementing my cyclocross training with these XC races and putting time on the mountain bikes will pay off down the road.


I have been juggling this racing with long miles in preparation for upcoming gravel events as well as building up a solid foundation for cyclocross season come fall. David and I recently put together a piece for Dirty Kanza and Carmichael Training Systems with some tips on how best to prepare for DK in these final weeks. Check it out here.

I spent time at the CTS office in Santa Ynez during their Epic Endurance Camp putting in some miles and it was great to spend time with CTS athletes who are preparing for big endeavors like the Tour of California camp, DK200, and Leadville. If you’re in to these types of bucket-list events, CTS specializes in preparing you for success.  http://trainright.com/bucket-list/

@cts_santaynez #epiccamp delivered the epicness today. 🌊🌼 #Jalama #DK200 @cts_trainright

A photo posted by Amanda Nauman (@amanda_panda_) on Mar 25, 2016 at 4:01pm PDT

I will be heading south to San Diego for the famous Belgian Waffle Ride this Sunday and then I’ll throw in a couple more events leading up to my return to Emporia, KS. I can’t wait to head back to Kansas and I’m looking forward to a long day in the Flint Hills.

Thanks for following along!

#PandaPower + Sockguy

PANDA + SOCKGUY COLLABORATION!

#PandaPower

A collaboration between Amanda Nauman and Sockguy

****UPDATE AS OF 2/1/16****

I'm home from USAC CX Nationals and my trip to Europe to race in the final two World Cups in January!
The last-minute nature of the trip to Europe has left me with some unexpected costs that I need to make up for. I have a little over 50 pairs of socks remaining and would love to sell out! 

4 new products have been listed. I received 4 Hoppy Trails hats from co-owner of Hoppy Trails when we did our Fundraising Raffle at G2 bike just before leaving for CXnats. We decided to throw these in to my PandaPower store so you can purchase the hat along with some socks if your heart desires! 
Buy a Combo package! Hoppy Trails Hat & pair of #PandaPower Socks for 
$45 & Free Shipping!
Only 4 hats are available in the store: Black/Camo, Green, Orange, and Red! Get it NOW if you want it!! Purchase the hat package and I will send you an email to sort out what size socks you would like in the package. Thanks!

****end UPDATE***

There are a limited number so hurry to get yours! This collection will help fund the remainder of Amanda's Cyclocross season through January 2016. A re-order will be put in place if there is high demand!

Similar listing with material and sizing description: Sockguy 6" Cuff

Online =

• 1 for $18 [$3 shipping]
• 2 for $35 [$3 shipping]
• 3 for $50 [$2 shipping]
• 5 for $75 [free shipping over $75]

If you're wondering, "Why so expensive?!" It's because you're not just paying for socks. You're also paying for Panda support to travel for the remainder of the 2015-16 cyclocross season. It's whole-heartedly appreciated. I wanted to find a way for people to show their support by sending me money but also getting something (like awesome socks that everyone can wear) in return as a thank-you and a way to flaunt your Panda support.


In person =

• 1 for $15 
• Special: Buy 2 for $25 if you're looking for extra panda watts

Here's a link to the remainder of my schedule for the season: Schedule & Rankings

#PandaPower socks
#PandaPower socks from the Panda+SockGuy collab are HERE!Available for purchase at this weekend's SoCalCross PRESTIGE SERIES Spookycross!More info coming soon...& Thx to Cross Propz for our new barriers!
Posted by SDG Factory Team on Thursday, October 22, 2015

#PandaPower @sockguyluv collaboration! Available for purchase at this weekend’s #socalcross #spookycross races and online soon. Everyone needs socks. Everyone needs 🐼 watts. Please buy my socks and help fund my racing endeavors 😊

A photo posted by Amanda Nauman (@amanda_panda_) on Oct 22, 2015 at 8:49pm PDT

Camo/Black Hoppy Trails Hat + #PandaPower Socks!

Green Hoppy Trails Hat + #PandaPower Socks!

Orange Hoppy Trails Hat + #PandaPower Socks!

Red Hoppy Trails Hat + #PandaPower Socks!

S/M x1

S/M x2

S/M x3

S/M x5

L/XL x1

L/XL x2

L/XL x3

L/XL x5

C

Schedule & Updates

If you're wondering where I've been and what I've been up to, you probably haven't read my post from the beginning of September nor are you following me on social media.

My race reports have found a new home at CXhairs.com
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF ALL MY CURRENT WRITE-UPS ON CXHAIRS.COM

I'll try to keep this post updated with my current rankings when I remember to check:

UCI: 139
UCI American: 32
USAC Pro CX: 21

I've had a few inquiries about my schedule so here's the breakdown currently: