After a series of outstanding performances at the USA Cyclocross National Championships in early January, Brevard's Hannah Arensman earned a spot on the 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships Women's U23 Team. Among those joining Arensman is Brevard graduate Tristan Cowie, who will compete as a member of the Elite Men's unit.
Arensman and former Tornado standout Tristan Cowie were two of 31 athletes represented the United States at the 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships on Feb. 3-4 in Valkenburg-Limburg, Netherlands. Twelve of the thirty-one spots were filled through automatic selection criteria.
The remaining selections were filled by the USA Cycling selection committee, who considered primarily international competition results, namely World Cups and Pan Am Championships, but also domestic events, head-to-head results and nationals performances in their decisions.
Arensman's first major step to earning a spot on the team came when she captured the individual crown in the Division I Collegiate Cyclocross National Championship race in Reno, Nevada. The Rutherford College, N.C., native won the event after crossing the line in a time of 44:28, edging out Samantha Runnels (Lindenwood U. / 44:59) and Emma Swartz (Marian U. / 45:28) for the title.
That victory placed Arensman in elite company as she became the first Brevard cyclist to capture the Division I collegiate race in the National Championship in program history at the USA Cycling sponsored event. The Tornados have multiple Division II collegiate racers to earn the title in its history.
The following day she played a key role in Brevard successfully defending its Team Relay title in the National Championship and placing third in the Team Omnium. In the team relay, which consisted for four riders (two men / two women) on each team, the Tornados received a major lift from Arensman, who raced two laps alongside teammates Carson Beckett and Scott McGill.
Arensman recently sat down to discuss her experience in the 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships and here were her responses:
Q: Describe the overall experience of participating in an event of this magnitude?
Arensman: The atmosphere there in Europe, with all of the different countries, was incredible. You look over and see a Canadian on your right and then you see a Dutch rider on your left and you think to yourself 'what the heck?' because you also hear the Spanish people also talking in their native language and you just think 'WHOA!'
It is incredible to walk into that equilibrium where all these different countries are represented together to celebrate the sport, it is really cool. The atmosphere is definitely one of the biggest parts when you go over there.
The other is there style of racing is a lot more aggressive than the United States, so whenever I go over there I am ready to throw elbows and get body slammed and all that. It is incredible because it makes racing so much more fun. It doesn't sound like it would be much more fun, but it actually is when that happens.
No one is scared, they just leave it all out there and you ride like you never thought that you could. You go down these steep drops to that 40 percent grade and you think 'this is a wall, how can I be riding this?' and you're riding it in four to eight inch deep mud and the thought is 'I don't know how my wheels are still turning' and it was incredible.
Q: Describe the race that you took part in?
Arensman: The race that I took part in was short (three laps), but still 40 minutes because the mud was so thick. We were pitting almost every half lap because we would come in and we couldn't see the cranks anymore and the brakes were completely jammed with mud.
I could hardly turn my pedals anymore at one point, so it totally became a foot race because you would end up passing more people on your feet than you would on your bike so that was an interesting aspect of it. It wasn't always like that, but this race was just because of all the rain that we had before and during the races.
My race in particular was very interesting. We had a great grade and went from moving up, starting in the back row, and moved up to 21st. Then I got a flat and then my gears stopped working and I somehow started missing the pits because I was so red lined and I wasn't clear on one of the rules about the pits so I ended up doing almost a full lap on a flat and with only one gear. So that was interesting.
I got passed by a bunch of riders, but fought back up to 30th after that, so that was definitely very interesting. But it was definitely one of my best races, not results wise, but in terms of leaving it all out there.
After that we got to go and watch the Elite Women's Race and I don't know how they were riding in that stuff because they were riding in worse stuff than we were. It was incredible because you wouldn't think that they were even riding on the same course, because it was more chewed up for their race than ours, so it was a real privilege to be there and stand there in four inch thick mud with my family and friends from the U.S. cheering our hearts out.
People all around us with U.S. flags strapped to their backs and people were wearing big American Mohawk hats that were absolutely hilarious. Then you look over and there were the Irish with these big costumes with orange beards and leprechaun hats. The best was people with two feet long, three feet wide cow bells walking around.
Q: How much more appreciation did you gain for the sport?
Arensman: I have gone over to Europe before and when I am over there I think 'this is how cyclocross should be.' So, when I come back to the U.S., I try to share that with my friends and teammates and its incredible how much you improve when you're over there. Then, coming back here you say 'we need to take this step to improve this much to that European style of racing.
It's such a different world and the only thing I can compare it to is our version of American football—it's a big sport. They'll put features in those courses that the U.S. would never do. But, I'm seeing more and more that the U.S. is shifting that way to actually accepting a little more aggressive courses, which is nice to see how it's supposed to be because that is where it originated.
Q: Describe the steps that you go through to pack a bicycle for a plane ride like that?
Arensman: We have to disassemble our bikes. We have to take the wheels off, take the handle bars off and turn them sideways, then take the derailleur and pedals off and then fit it into a box that is about 24 inches wide, four feet long and three feet tall. The box is just big enough to fit the bike inside. I actually have a double bike box so I can fit two bikes in there.
It's a whole puzzle getting it in there.
Q: How many times did you check to make sure you didn't forget any pieces?
Arensman: {Laughing} Probably at least three times. I'm getting better as I do it more, but it is definitely the worst part of traveling for sure.
Then you have to wait in the long line for baggage claim and everyone asks 'what is this, are you transporting dinosaur eggs?' and I say 'I promise you it's a bike. I know it looks like a huge crate of who knows what, but it is a bike.'
Q: After going through this experience, does it make you want to have an Olympic cyclocross event?
Arensman: World's is like a mini-Olympics that happens every year instead of every four years like the Olympics—that is the difference.
There is nothing that compares to it. All those countries out there and you get to the line and you think 'alright this is it, I am going to leave everything out there.' It is a total adrenaline rush that you don't get in any other race.
Hopefully one day they'll have cyclocross in the Olympics, because they don't right now, so World's is the biggest event that you have in the sport right now.
I really want to thank all my friends and family that make it happen. I couldn't have gotten over there and wouldn't have been prepared without this huge village of North Carolinians and my coach Sonny Dyer, my training buddy Allison Arensman. There are just so many people involved in getting somebody over there it's not like you just walk out there—it takes lots of years and people.