Natasha Elliott's take on CX and racing in Europe
While between races in Belgium, CXO caught up with Stevens Racing's Natasha Elliott to discuss her flourishing cross career.
3rd at Gloucester GP
2nd and 3rd at Centennial Park
9th at Canadian Nationals
26th at the Hofstade World Cup
CXO: Hi Natasha, So to start out how did you get into racing 'cross?
NE: I started road racing 3 years ago, when I met my boyfriend Derrick St John who also started racing on the road at that time. He encouraged me to try cross my first year. I said it wasn’t for me and didn’t do it. Then last year he tried again and described it as a cross country running race, so I said I would try it and ever since I can’t get enough.
CXO: Coming from a running background, how do you find this helps you in 'cross?
NE: Quite a lot, I ran long distance in University in the US. This year was my first year actually focusing and training for cross after just winging it last year. I ran last year and then this year my coach wanted to get me fitter on the bike without running. So luckily 12 years of running experience came into play this year as I felt like I could get away without running in training and still be able to race well when I had to run. Next year the plan by my coach is to start running really early before the season starts, so I am kind of excited to see what I can do when I do train for the running aspects of the cross races.
CXO: You went out to Nationals this year, how did the race go?
NE: Not as well as I had hoped for. Nationals being really early in the season had some effect. My skills were not up to par by October as I had really only did 5 or 6 big cross races in my year and a half of racing and this was my first Nationals in cyclocross. In the first part of the race, the positioning went well, then the first technical turn came and I was 4th wheel and the racer in front of me crashed and slid out into me and took half of the course down, I was forced to wait for her to get up and I started back in last place. I was able to pass as many people as I could, but did get held up quite a bit at the technical sections. Ended up 9th, not what I was hoping for, but hopefully really easy to improve on next year! The course was really hard to open up on and go hard, it didn’t have any long straight always that needed consistent power, so I didn’t really have any advantages in the race. But I am learning that to be the best in this sport you really have to be adaptable for any kind of course. You have to become the best or great at everything so when you get to a race, you don’t have anything negative to say about any part of the race.
CXO: Some pretty strong results have come your way, with podiums at some big races like Gloucester. Has the season gone as planned?
NE: Everything had gone as planned and except for Nationals. I wasn’t really expecting to podium at Gloucester, I was going for the goal of top 5. Both days I was in the race for 2nd with about 5 or 6 other girls and I realized I was one of the strongest power-wise, but maybe not as technically strong at this point of the season though. I was able to attack on the long pavement hill at Gloucester both days and made the race for 2nd and 3rd for whoever could stick on my wheel. After Gloucester I was still very strong in the Eastern US verge series never placing worse than 5th place. I did have to train through a lot of racing in the season to make it to December, but all and all I am really happy about all my results. Next year’s plan is to try and do all of the USGP events and aim for a top 6 result by the end of the season.
CXO: And now you're in Europe for the Christmas series in Belgium, what does your schedule look like?
NE: My boyfriend and I are only here for 14 days and we have 5 or 6 races planned including the World Cup in Hofstade. This year the plan is to go for the experience and then come back next year for a little longer and also compete at Worlds in 2009, which is in Holland.
CXO: So what are your impressions of your first week of racing in Europe?
NE: It is definitely a whole different game out here. I just did 4 races in 6 days, the last being the World Cup in Hofstade, Belgium. There were definitely a lot of things to get use to. Rules are taken lightly over here, like start line call up. The first row of 8 always gets there spot, but the rows after this just merge together. Girls that get called up last somehow get their bikes up just behind the front line. Starts of the races are nasty and elbows are everywhere, always causing a crash and letting the top 3 or 4 riders to get away. I'm really glad I did a lot of races before the world cup. It didn't give me the freshest legs for the race but it gave me a little more confidence for the start. I was able to find some holes and get around some of the crashes and hold ups at the start of the race giving me my best result yet while I have been here which was 26th. The races before the world cup I managed to come 13th at two and 15th at the other.
The courses are a lot more demanding, I haven't seen any barriers in the four races I've done, but still had to do a lot of running. Lots of sand that is unrrideable and stairs, lots and lots of stairs. One race I did had over 50 steps to run up each lap. I came here for the experience this year and to soak it all up. Know I have the knowledge of what I need to work on for next year.
CXO: The Stevens Cross team has been very strong in the Verge series, and placed well at the Toronto UCI races and the Ottawa 'cross series. Could you tell us a little bit more about your team?
NE: Stevens Cross is a collaboration between Vince Caceres, owner of The Cyclery in Ottawa, and Stevens Bicycles from Germany. The team consists of 5 riders, two Elite females, two Master males and an Elite male racer. The goals of the team were twofold. First, to have the riders fully equipped and supported with Steven’s Super Prestige frames, Shimano shoes and Challenge Griffos to race across North America. The secondary goal was to go to these races in eastern US and show these great bikes to the rest of North America.
Without all the support from our sponsors none of the racing would even be possible. Vince has been very supportive with even giving us rides to the airport with 30 cm of snow on the ground! All the little things really make a big difference and our really appreciated. Derrick and I had a raffle to help offset some of the costs for our trip to Europe, which was also a huge success. So a big thanks to all the sponsors and local support. I am really looking forward to racing with Stevens Cross again next year.
CXO:Thanks Natasha - Good luck!
Check out Natasha and Derrick's Blog here
