“Because of the conditions, it took what would have been a ‘fitness course’ and turned it into a pure technical course. “Louisville: That nationals followed one of the hardest seasons I’ve had, with being sick, and then allergies, and not being able to train properly,” she said. With characteristic self-deprecation, Compton lists three races in which she says luck played a major part in her victory. How much has luck played a role in Compton’s streak? By Monday, Compton felt well enough to race, and she promptly trounced the competition. She woke up on what was scheduled to be race day feeling “really sick.” In a stroke of luck, the elite races were postponed by a day because of the heritage tree controversy. It turns out that in Austin, Compton was suffering from undiagnosed food allergies. “I was struggling with some health issues off and on, and the weather was always different, but I can’t think of a nationals that wasn’t fun. “They were all really different, but they were all really fun,” Compton said. Overarching it all was one overwhelming emotion: joy. More often, however, she grasped vague snippets of time from a cold, muddy, icy track in some park in the U.S., where focus, grit, and skill inevitably came together to bring her another gold medal. Brutal course conditions seemed to come back first, then the key battles became clearer. Photo: Brad KaminskiĪs we talked with Compton about the past 15 national championship races, many of her memories were fuzzy. And reminds me how much I love racing my bike.” Compton en route to winning the 2014 cyclocross nationals in Boulder, Colorado. “As many times as I’ve wanted to quit-and there have been a few times where I’m just like, ‘I’m not doing this, I’m done’-and then Mark talks me off the edge. No matter how hard it gets, it does get better-just keep putting one foot in front of the other. But it’s also dug my hole pretty deep sometimes. Is there something different about Compton that makes her that much better than her competition, year after year? Still, we asked her to walk down memory lane to help us understand how she has been able to keep her streak alive, against generations of riders, in all weather conditions, when her form was good, and when her form was not so good. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!Īfter winning 15 consecutive national cyclocross championships, Katie Compton can be forgiven for forgetting the details from some of her victories.
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