Coryn Rivera CX Round Up

During the winters I either focus on track or cyclocross. This winter I chose to race cyclocross. I had a short and intense cyclocross season because I took a big break from what I'd like to call a successful road season. While I usually start my cyclocross season with races like Cross Vegas, I didn't start riding until mid-October.

The beginning of my season included local Southern California races like Spooky Cross, Storm the Beach, Convert Cross, and UCI weekend at Griffith Park. I won the majority of the local races except the UCI weekend when international racers, like Sue Butler, and elite national contenders, like Kathy Sherwin and Barb Howe, showed up and I was still able to place top 5.

Then came the height of my cyclocross season which is Portland USGP and US Cyclocross National Championships. My weekend at the Portland USGP was marred with bad luck on both days with 20th place on the first day and 19th place on the second day. The first day was a bit of a rude awakening between local cross racing and the USGP series, I had a bad start and I didn't find my rhythm until halfway through the race. The second day I had a good start and planted myself in 4th wheel behind the Luna girls, I got too anxious then hit a stake and hit the deck hard. I got back up and fought my way back but it wasn't enough. I was still hopeful for Nationals in the U23 competition. I had a week to refocus and get ready for Nationals. Thanks to Joan Hanscom and Sue Butler for sorting out our host housing. We stayed with Jordan, Katie and their son Ryder they were great hosts!

I love Bend especially because we get to stay with amazing hosts Renee, John, Grant, Max and Sydney. It makes for a very relaxed visit. It was extremely snowy when we arrived.

I rode the course almost everyday and the conditions were different every single day. I liked the course in Bend and memorized it.When it came down to race day I was just 2 rows behind my U23 competition, Kaitie Antonneau and Ashley James. I had a solid start and found myself a couple wheels behind my competition. I stayed calm and focused but one slip in the mud let my competitors get ahead of me. I got it together and then concentrated on just picking off riders one at a time. with 2 laps to go I caught Ashley James and I was in 2nd in the U23 competition. I kept on trucking and couldn't catch Kaitie Antonneau, who won the U23 race. Even if I only raced a handful of races, I am proud of my cyclocross season. Congrats to Kaitie who raced the entire cyclocross season consistently. She has been non-stop since helping me win my bronze medal at Jr Road World Championships. Kaitie will actually be on Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 in the upcoming road season and I am excited to have her racing with us.

Thanks to Jerry and Christine for an amazing dinner at their home.

With the announcement of new sponsors for the team in the upcoming road season, I was given the amazing opportunity to 'test' the new equipment. Thanks to Felt, I was able to ride their top of the line cyclocross bike, Felt F15X. Felt also had amazing support at Nationals with Q in their demo rig and in the pits. Thanks to Zipp for quickly delivering 2 sets of 303 tubulars, which is by far the best wheel set to race on whether it be Paris-Roubaix or cyclocross. And Zipp also sent over their new Service Course bar, stem, and seatpost, which are light but still durable to withstand the roughness of cyclocross. And big thanks out my personal sponsor, Euro-Asia Imports who were able to send out a couple sets of cyclocross tubulars to go with my Zipps. Thank you to all the team sponsors and my personal sponsors that were so quick and easy to work with. I am truly grateful to work with you all and I look forward to even more success and fun in 2011. Thanks for reading ~ Coryn