Words: Barb Blakley Millott
Photographs: John Buenaventura, Clay Parker Jones, Lisa Vandivort

How to begin describing one of the best weekends ever? Well, it was one of the best weekends ever. Noho has:

• The best course tape

• A fun, technically challenging but surprisingly pedal-y course

• Big, competitive fields

• A cute town with New England vibes and great food & coffee

• Real cross weather that at times necessitates wearing sleeping bags as clothing

• Good dogs

I flew in from Colorado on Thursday evening as I had decided on Noho as my annual cross race visit for the year, and I’m so glad I did. I’m a 41 year old Cat 2 with a day job, so my expectations of race performance were low, but I did know I came into the weekend with a decent altitude advantage over most of the field. I decided to race UCI on Saturday, for a fun challenge, and Masters Sunday for pure fun. I am very lucky to be able to split my race weekends as the UCI races are just…. hard. Hard all the time. Hard starts, hard sprints out of the corners, very hard running, and hard sprints. In the Masters I can relax and have fun a bit, while still racing. I also wanted to have the time and energy to hang out with my New York teammates, both those racing for TBD, and those in the larger NYC community, which feels like one big team at these races.

Saturday’s Race:

Saturday was chilly but not terrible, and much nicer than forecast. I pre-rode a few laps during UCI course inspection and was a little nervous about finishing on the lead lap as the course was shortened by around a minute from previous years. I also got set up on a trainer and did a real warmup with my UCI race twin Shane, who upgraded at the same time as me, and whom I miss racing with all the time. This is something I don’t normally do but would very much recommend.

We lined up and I was feeling lucky with my high-ish number - I tend to over-start if I get a good starting position, which is not a great plan for me. I looked around and again had that feeling that I can’t believe I get to do this. Racing with pros, knowing I have an amazing cheering section, and knowing this is one of the most fun things to do on the weekend. The start was brutally hard as usual but going into the first (really wide) U-turn, I saw a pileup start to occur. Not sure what happened but about half the field seemed to be caught behind a crash. I was able to avoid it in what is nothing but good luck. All of a sudden I found myself in the top 15! It was so awesome. We were riding fast but so smooth. I felt like I was just railing around the corners. And everywhere I went, I heard ‘Barb! Barb! Barb! Barb! Barb!’ I felt like half the park was cheering for me.

Through the race I tried to sprint out of every corner. The altitude advantage was real - I could do this, and recover, and sprint again. I’m usually really bad at run-ups but I was going just as fast as everyone around me. The pro line descent was just FUN. I was dying, and loving every minute.

I finished all 6 laps and right at the end I heard someone around me yell for my friend Alix. I know she is usually well ahead of me, and she’s a tenacious competitor. I sprinted as hard as I could, and she nipped me at the line by maybe half a wheel. All I could do was laugh, because I still got my best UCI race performance ever at 34th place out of 45. I feel like maybe I could have held one more wheel and gone faster for closer to 30th, but who cares. I was racing with some very fast professional racers and held my own pretty well.

Following the race, all of a sudden I was freezing, as is to be expected. We watched the men’s race, did some cheering, and went back to the team house for homemade ramen and hours of catching up with teammates. I went to bed tired, happy, and full of the perfect dinner on a cold night in rural Massachusetts.

Sunday’s Race:

The forecast for Sunday was practically a heat wave, with a high of 50 degrees. The Masters race started at 11:45 so I did my best to eat breakfast and we got to the park just in time to watch the women’s 4 field. I cheered and got myself organized, and before I knew it, I was on the course pre-riding. I had a great time checking out features and trying to ride the run-up, which I knew would be a huge advantage in the race if I could do it. We had a heated debate about the right line for the off-camber descent and practiced both. My legs felt like garbage but I was ready. I warmed up with Lisa, did a few hard efforts, and headed to the start.

Unfortunately, due to my exclusively racing in super competitive fields, my cross results score is atrocious and I was on the second row. We started in a mixed field with 40+, 50+, and juniors, two minutes behind the Category 3 women. My goals were: race hard, catch as many cat 3 friends as possible, and if I had a great day, podium. Sadly, the woman I chose to line up behind had the worst start I have ever seen in cross racing. She may have had a mechanical because she passed me later, going really fast. But at the time, it was a bit of a scramble to get around her. I was probably in the second half of the field at this point but I didn’t panic, and I started to pick my way through the field.

Unfortunately, the elusive goal of riding up the run-up was not going to be achieved. I did do my best to run as fast as I could, pass as many people as I could, and ride the high line on the controversial off-camber descent. I was able to pass all my New York teammates which was fun. My legs kept feeling better through the race, and I felt like I was flying over the barriers. I had an unfortunate incident where I was blocked by a category 3 racer on the last lap - when two fields are on the course, and a faster racer in the field that starts later tries to pass, it is generally considered correct race etiquette to allow a pass - but I finished in fourth place for the 40+ women, and seventh overall in the combined field. I was super happy.

Deep Thoughts

The weekend was really wonderful. One thing I observed, and a big difference from racing in Colorado, is around how the New York teams all become one big super-team when we travel. One team had a tent spot; one team had a tent and a heater; one team had amazing women who lent me many items I forgot to bring with me or misplaced. When I was in the starting grid and looked around, I might not see more TBD skinsuits, but I saw King Kog and that was just as good. When I raced, everyone cheered for me, and when others raced, I did the same. It’s a special, close knit community - maybe because we’re all crazy enough to spend every weekend driving all over the East Coast to race our bikes. We’re all very lucky that we are. See you next year, Noho! I’ll be back, and that Sunday podium is ours!