2024 Cyclocross Season Recap

We’re the (Omnium) Champions!

What a season! MIT Biking capped off a relentless cyclocross marketing campaign this fall with a crew omnium victory. 

Racing to Victory

The crew poured their all into each race, and this yr’s unusually dry situations let racers take corners quicker than ever and boldly leap limitations with no worry.

Ladies’s street captain Tatem got here roaring onto the cross scene this yr, snagging seven (!!) podium finishes. Her participation in a whopping 16 races (together with 4 two-race weekends!) additionally earned her the person Ladies’s B omnium spot. Newcomer Pleasure snatched 2nd within the omnium along with her sturdy racing within the latter half of the season. Seamus rounded out MIT’s dominance with a win within the Males’s C omnium.

Brooke and Bianca dove headfirst into their first cyclocross race at our season finale at Shedd Park, fearlessly tackling the course on their heavier gravel bikes with little or no CX apply beforehand. Actually, the ladies and non-binary members of MIT biking lastly outnumbered the lads this season. What higher approach to exhibit crew spirit than with an (unintentional) off-camber crew time trial?

Additionally captured is the ending order in reverse: shortly after this photograph, Jody crashed and rode the rest of the race with handlebars bent at a 15-degree angle. In the meantime, Pleasure and Chen engaged in a spirited battle till Pleasure overtook Chen with 1 lap remaining. Chen proceeded to fail to remount after working up the steps and someway ended up on the opposite aspect of the tape. From Chen: “At all times bear in mind to apply CX fundamentals, children!”

One Final Hurrah

We had been joined mid-season by former member Andrea, who took a week-long break from research in Norway to race one final time with MIT Biking. She was met with one of many hardest programs of the season at Keene Pumpkin Cross, that includes beachfront sand dunes and a root-studded run up into single-track mountain bike trails.

Additionally making their remaining hurrahs had been former captains Nick and Hannah. After a formidable tenure as cyclocross captain over the previous 3 years, Nick capped off his MIT Biking profession with an exciting dash for fifth place at Keene along with three extra top-10 finishes within the extremely aggressive Males’s Elite area.

The crew will sorely miss Nick’s management, whether or not or not it’s internet hosting expertise practices, main crew pre-rides, or planning minute-by-minute logistics. We will even miss Cami’s presence as volunteer cross crew supervisor, dedication to cheering at each race as critically because the racers had been racing, and even becoming a member of for just a few races of their very own this yr! 

Nick and Cami will proceed racing with West Hill Store, and we hope to see them each subsequent yr of their new equipment!

For former crew mother Hannah, Tree Home CX was her remaining race as a member of MIT. “It was nice to race with so many MIT ladies after spending the previous couple of years working to construct up the ladies’s neighborhood within the crew,” she writes. “Congrats to Tatem, for beating me like everybody besides her knew she would, and to Pleasure and Yanyang for having a enjoyable race. And thanks to Jody for chasing me down so I didn’t cease pedaling. I can’t wait to proceed cheering everybody on from the sidelines subsequent season!” 

Seamus accomplished his third and remaining CX season for MIT (though he’s trying ahead to racing street within the spring!). Regardless of just a few ups and downs all through the seasons, his persistence gained him the season Males’s C Omnium this yr and inched him nearer to a coveted Cat 3 improve. His season spotlight was ending twelfth and tenth in crowded fields at his “residence” race weekend in Northampton.

Contemporary Faces, Massive Goals

With Nick, Seamus, and Hannah graduating, new abilities will likely be taking the reins on the cyclocross crew within the coming years.

Max joined the crew after main the mountain biking season, proving that his bike dealing with and velocity had been high notch, even with out suspension or massive downhills! From Max: “It was my first season racing cx and I had a blast! It’s very enjoyable to have the ability to race two fully completely different programs in a weekend and get to see such all kinds of situations.” Because of his digital camera, we had been additionally handled to professional-level photographs this season!

Recruited by Max, initially for mountain bike racing, was Pleasure. Whereas she first joined CX this yr as a approach to get outdoors on the weekends, with Nick, Cami, and Tatem’s mentorship, she went on to compete in a whopping whole of 8 races and joined Tatem on the Particular person Omnium podium! “I began off with simply making an attempt one thing new, however after discovering an incredible neighborhood and realizing I might truly do nicely, actually pushed myself and am so happy with my accomplishment and season this yr!”

Additionally becoming a member of Max and Pleasure for his first season was fellow mountain bike co-captain Tim, who took his mountain bike for a spin on the treehouse course after an harm left him out of summer season racing. The newcomers record was rounded out by Alex, whose quote summarizes the essence of the game: “Racing cyclocross for the primary time as a part of the MIT crew was a memorable expertise! The crew was very welcoming, and the skilled riders shared useful suggestions that made an enormous distinction. Although I had a small crash, I had loads of enjoyable and felt supported all through the race. The combo of problem and encouragement made it a day to recollect!” Alex regaled the crew with tales of attending CX races again residence in Belgium after the muddy travails of Secret Squirrel.

Group within the Chaos

Whereas the podiums and prizes are candy, the true spotlight of this season was the bond we constructed as a crew. Cyclocross is as a lot about pushing limits as it’s about cheering in your teammates from the tape line, serving to with bike repairs, and sharing tales on the finish of a protracted race day.

As we rejoice our crew omnium triumph, we’re already dreaming of recent challenges, larger objectives, and extra crew bonding within the coming street season forward. See you all on the subsequent race!