Cyclocross Nationals Report from Molly Hurford

As it turns out, racing after working four days straight outside in Wisconsin with minimal sleep and living out of a hotel is …. well, hard. Add in the fact that you’re starting in a race with Katie F*^$@ing Compton, and are relegated to the second to last row behind 80 other women, and that’s when you start praying for a miracle.

Anyway, Elite Women’s Nationals are no joke. On the start line, you had Katie Compton, Meredith Miller, Nicole Duke, Kaitlin Antonneau and plenty of other hard-hitting ladies. There’s something amazing and truly incredible about having this many women at this level lining up at once. I’m not sure exactly, but I believe the numbers have exploded in the past year where the women’s fields are concerned.

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Q&A with MAC Champion Lucia Matioli

The Verge Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Race Series is always very competitive. Racers from all over the East coast, and commonly farther than that, come to compete against one another from September through December. First-year Rockstar Games / Signature Cycles team member and first-year cyclocross racer, Lucia Matioli, finished up her season on the top step of the Women’s B division podium in this year’s Verge MAC Series. She’s a tough racer, which is obvious if you know how tough ‘cross can be. She’s also famous for the faces she pulls when she’s out there killing it. Here’s a bit of insight into what makes Lucia want to get up early in the cold and dark to go race her bike around in the mud . . .

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Race Report: Nittany Lion Cyclocross

by Molly Hurford

2011-nittanycx-d1-bwomen-u19_0009Nittany Lion Cyclocross has been inked onto my calendar for months now, so when September 10th rolled around, to say that I was giddy with excitement would have actually been a bit of an understatement. Nittany was my first race of the season, the chance to see where my legs were at, to see how attainable my planned goals for the season were, to see certain friends for the first time in months and to figure out the course of the next four months. The weekend did not disappoint on any level. Saturday started early, since even an 11 a.m. start time necessitates getting up at 6 for breakfast, car-packing, double-checking, forgetting things, getting to the course, getting registered, pinned, porta-pottied and finally kitted up to pre-ride the course. Thanks to the recent hurricane and heavy rainfall, even more time was required, since the course had gone from “freakishly fast” to “mudpit.” Continue reading