Cyclocross championships was simultaneously the last race of the long 2011 season for me and
also the first race of 2012.

It seemed that pushing CX nationals into January has misled the weather in Madison, WI. Almost a year ago when I found out that CX nationals will be held in January in Wisconsin, I was scared to imagine the weather that will torture all CX racers – way below freezing.

But it looked like fall weather has waited and waited until CX nationals weekend –

highs of 40′s and even 50′s, no snow on the ground or on the forecast, just blue bird dkies and chilly
mornings. That didn’t limit the course to be muddy at all times, since the soil is so wet and moist in
Madison.

Traveling with the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team is luxury – huge team trailer made it all the way
from Durango with all the bikes, equipment, coaches and mechanics. All team members took the
shorter trip via airplanes, and we all met at the Cambria Suites Hotel – which we stayed in a couple
of times prior for road collegiate nationals in past years.

One of my favorite things about cyclo-cross racing is that the course changes so much, day by day
and hour by hour. Every morning the course was totally frozen only to defrost slowly by noonish,
then it slowly became a mud festival – first the peanut butter kind and later the moist-runny mud.
And as the riders are finished making deep mud channels throughout the day, the night would fall
again and freeze the ground, so that the next day’s morning riders would ride solid-frozen mud
channels.

My goals for my race, the Collegiate Division 1 Men, were to finish on the “euro” podium (1-3
position) on a decent day and maybe hit the top step with a great ride. After a pretty lousy start with
great thanks to the official who called up the college start list from bottom to top, I settled in around
top 10 until someone decided to run into my gears and bend my derailleur. Two bike changes later,
I regained my race pace and started picking up racers, spot by spot. I improved my lap times with
every lap, with the last lap as the fastest just around 8 minutes. At the finish line, I came across at
the last spot of “American” podium in 5th place. My other Fort Lewis teammates, Skyler and Eric
finished 2nd and 3rd, plus we filled out the top 10 with 5 Fort Lewis College riders !

As a team, Fort Lewis College tied with Marian University for first place in the team omnium (men
and women), and we were just edged by them for second place by the tie breaker, since they had a
first place at the women’s race.

What now? Back to school, first day of winter semester, and getting a little closer to graduation.
Meantime, I will take a nice break to rejuvenate for 2012 season, which this year will also include
some mountain bike stage racing for me, in addition to the traditional US Pro XCT series.

I wish you all a great successful year and many awesome trails !