Noho has cemented itself as one of my favorite cyclocross races – a sentiment that many racers in the Northeast US scene already share. You see, Noho was a completely different story for me last year: I did so poorly on Day 1 that I decided not to race Day 2. I had stopped training a few weeks beforehand and came in with low expectations and low confidence, which led to a poor showing and little fun for me. This year, I went into it differently: significantly more skills practice and mostly maintenance on the fitness front. I did better this year but more importantly, I unlocked the incredible fun and excellent vibes that Northampton Cyclocross has to offer.

A lot of people say Noho is a bit of a “grass crit” – this is true but that is certainly not the whole story. As Hannah outlined in our Weekend Forecast, there is a lot of pedaling on grass and some wide corners. That part certainly plays to the “grass criterium” idea, which I would say is half of the course. The other half being “the woods” which is where each racer either makes or breaks their race, especially at the transitions between grass and woods sections.

Day 1

The best part about Day 1 is that most people aren’t going home after their races, so people tend to stick around most of the day. I raced the M3 at 12:30, but got there early to watch the M4/5 go off at 8:30am. It was great seeing all of our friends navigate the course and negotiate the different features as the day went on. Some notable parts of Noho this year:

• THE SAND. Yes, the new-style sand. Since Northampton wasn’t a UCI race this year –and UCI races don’t permit U-turns in the sand–, they obviously placed a U-turn in the sand. Moreover, that sand was being tilled with great care both between and even during our races! This led to some excellent racing, and many many OTBs. The entry into the sand on Day 1 was a bit tricky, as you had to turn a bit before entry and immediately after and not get caught in the hole/loose sand at the beginning of it. I stupidly tried to ride it every time and failed at the turn like almost everyone else.

• The dirt climbing wall. This is a Noho staple but I can’t figure this out for the life of me. It’s steep, chaotic, and very hard for shorter riders. It also jacks up your heart race if you try to panic-climb it, so I tried to take it easy. I always lost spots here though, which was infuriating.

• The rideable run up. I was able to ride this... in practice. I didn’t get to ride up it in the race, either due to traffic, terrain changes as the race went on, or most likely just lack of speed and commitment. I wanted to ride it and tried every time but failed every time only pedal stroke or two from the top. This continues to be a great feature, and I realized this year that it changes a lot between races since many racers practice it and pick a side to walk down it, changing the terrain 👀.

As usual, there was a crash at the start of the Men’s 3 race. This always happens, and luckily I was able to get around it. I followed Robert Mullen from RoR NYC and we made it past the frantic start. After that, I focused on being smooth and finding places to recover. It was windy, so I tried to draft off of other riders in certain stretches, but it ultimately cost me time to groups in front of me. I finished the day in 32nd, happy with beating the predictor by about 20 places (and having improved significantly over last year). Spent the rest of the day watching races, hanging out and enjoying the excellent food that Northampton has to offer.

Day 2

Having never done Day 2, I was a bit concerned at the start of the day. I was also lining up about 8 rows back again, which of course is not ideal. I had made a note to practice the chute descent and all of the ride-up sections. Notable bits:

• Again, THE SAND. You would assume that most people would know what to expect having done basically the same thing the day before but no. Chaos ensued due to too many riders trying to ride the sand. Fortunately for me that worked out, as I rode up to the corner and dismounted to run the rest of it, which proved to be faster and a great place to pass. The sand was being tilled again (at least in between races I think), and the heckling was even better.

• The Chute. This was new to me, and I was a bit scared. I had decided during practice that I preferred the low-line, as the risk of crashing on the high line was higher. However, on my last practice I rode it with Jacob from Setanta/Verge and he went high and dropped in on me in the low line, forcing me to slam the brakes. He clarified it was a great way to pass people and having just experienced it, I was sold. So I went for the high line every time during the race, even though I was a bit scared of it to start. I’m glad I got that tiny sliver of knowledge just before our race because I think it made a big difference!

• The ruts and berms in the woods. These had started showing up the day before and honestly they were just super fun. I looked forward to them every time. I’m glad the promoters let the course be carved here because it made for good racing to get into these and made that section very flowy.

Of course there was another crash at the start of Day 2, and fortunately I was able to get around it again. Some good communication with my teammates around me helped a lot, and we all made it out of there and looked for ways to move up. I decided to go all out on Day 2, and not draft behind riders that were trying to rest themselves. I felt awesome, sprinting out of corners and nailing the ride ups and technical bits. I was in line to get a sub-30 finish when my eagerness got the best of me and I crashed into the apex-stake on the last off-road corner coming out of the woods. It sent me flying and I rolled it out on the ground (whoever complimented my fall/roll, thank you). It also took several precious seconds away, and the group behind me caught up to me. Colin Reuter (shout-out resultsboy!) made a magnificent move in the final corners and beat all 4 of us in that group to the finish – which was frustrating to experience but honestly just very cool, so respect. I finished 31, having slammed the predictor again and with a little bit of mechanical luck, being the Top NY-er in my field for the day.

Noho CX Photo Gallery by Matt

After shooting up close and high-speed at Bubblecross and Croton Cross (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), I decided to go the exact opposite direction for Noho by shooting a much slower medium format camera. It took a while to recalibrate, and my hit rate on photos was drastically lower than normally. But thankfully the light cooperated for stretches on both Saturday and Sunday, leading to the following results: