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We are the (Omnium) Champions!
What a season! MIT Cycling capped off a relentless cyclocross campaign this fall with a team omnium victory.
Racing to Victory
The team poured their all into every race, and this year’s unusually dry conditions let racers take corners faster than ever and boldly leap barriers with no fear.
Women’s road captain Tatem came roaring onto the cross scene this year, snagging seven (!!) podium finishes. Her participation in a whopping 16 races (including 4 two-race weekends!) also earned her the individual Women’s B omnium spot. Newcomer Joy snatched 2nd in the omnium with her strong racing in the latter half of the season. Seamus rounded out MIT’s dominance with a win in the Men’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 very little CX practice beforehand. In fact, the women and non-binary members of MIT cycling finally outnumbered the men this season. What better way to show off team spirit than with an (accidental) off-camber team time trial?
Also captured is the finishing order in reverse: shortly after this photo, Jody crashed and rode the remainder of the race with handlebars bent at a 15-degree angle. Meanwhile, Joy and Chen engaged in a spirited battle until Joy overtook Chen with 1 lap remaining. Chen proceeded to fail to remount after running up the steps and somehow ended up on the other side of the tape. From Chen: “Always remember to practice CX basics, kids!”
One Last Hurrah
We were joined mid-season by former member Andrea, who took a week-long break from studies in Norway to race one last time with MIT Cycling. She was met with one of the toughest courses of the season at Keene Pumpkin Cross, featuring beachfront sand dunes and a root-studded run up into single-track mountain bike trails.
Also making their final hurrahs were former captains Nick and Hannah. After an impressive tenure as cyclocross captain over the past 3 years, Nick capped off his MIT Cycling career with a thrilling sprint for 5th place at Keene in addition to three more top-10 finishes in the highly competitive Men’s Elite field.
The team will sorely miss Nick’s leadership, whether it be hosting skills practices, leading team pre-rides, or planning minute-by-minute logistics. We will also miss Cami’s presence as volunteer cross team manager, dedication to cheering at every race as seriously as the racers were racing, and even joining for a few races of their own this year!
Nick and Cami will continue racing with West Hill Shop, and we hope to see them both next year in their new kit!
For former team mom Hannah, Tree House CX was her final race as a member of MIT. “It was great to race with so many MIT women after spending the last few years working to build up the women’s community in the team,” she writes. “Congrats to Tatem, for beating me like everyone except her knew she would, and to Joy and Yanyang for having a fun race. And thank you to Jody for chasing me down so I didn’t stop pedaling. I can’t wait to continue cheering everyone on from the sidelines next season!”
Seamus completed his third and final CX season for MIT (although he is looking forward to racing road in the spring!). Despite a few ups and downs throughout the seasons, his persistence won him the season Men’s C Omnium this year and inched him closer to a coveted Cat 3 upgrade. His season highlight was finishing 12th and 10th in crowded fields at his “home” race weekend in Northampton.
Fresh Faces, Big Dreams
With Nick, Seamus, and Hannah graduating, new talents will be taking the reins on the cyclocross team in the coming years.
Max joined the team after leading the mountain biking season, proving that his bike handling and speed were top notch, even without suspension or big downhills! From Max: “It was my first season racing cx and I had a blast! It’s very fun to be able to race two completely different courses in a weekend and get to see such a wide variety of conditions.” Thanks to his camera, we were also treated to professional-level photos this season!
Recruited by Max, initially for mountain bike racing, was Joy. While she first joined CX this year as a way to get outside on the weekends, with Nick, Cami, and Tatem’s mentorship, she went on to compete in a whopping total of 8 races and joined Tatem on the Individual Omnium podium! “I started off with just trying something new, but after finding an amazing community and realizing I could actually do well, really pushed myself and am so proud of my accomplishment and season this year!”
Also joining Max and Joy 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 injury left him out of summer racing. The newcomers list was rounded out by Alex, whose quote summarizes the essence of the sport: “Racing cyclocross for the first time as part of the MIT team was a memorable experience! The team was very welcoming, and the experienced riders shared helpful tips that made a big difference. Even though I had a small crash, I had a lot of fun and felt supported throughout the race. The mix of challenge and encouragement made it a day to remember!” Alex regaled the team with tales of attending CX races back home in Belgium after the muddy travails of Secret Squirrel.
Community in the Chaos
While the podiums and prizes are sweet, the true highlight of this season was the bond we built as a team. Cyclocross is as much about pushing limits as it is about cheering on your teammates from the tape line, helping with bike repairs, and sharing stories at the end of a long race day.
As we celebrate our team omnium triumph, we’re already dreaming of new challenges, bigger goals, and more team bonding in the coming road season ahead. See you all at the next race!
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