Katerina Nash often finds herself as a crowd favorite, showing her skills at cyclocross and mountain bike races. © Todd Prekaski
Katerina Nash is no stranger to success. She started cyclocross last season riding her Orbea to a win at CLIF Bar CrossVegas. She continued with a dominating performance, winning almost every race except one, where she took a second place to Katie Compton on day two of the Cincinnati Kings CX three day weekend. Despite this incredible performance, she announced she was skipping out on any European world cups and the 2014 Cyclocross World Championships, invoking the possibility of retirement in cycling.
This came as a shock after a heartbreaking dropped chain caused her to miss out on the podium at the 2013 World Championship in Louisville. This coming season, however, she might have some extra incentive to travel to Europe as her home country will be hosting worlds. The Czech Republic held the 2010 World Championships at Tabor, with Nash looking strong and taking fourth place.
When we last caught up with Nash, she was already starting her mountain season off with a bang, putting to rest the possibility of retirement. Over the last four months, she has been racking up the wins, including a recent victory at the Tahoe 100.
During the 2013 Cyclocross World Championship, Katerina Nash dropped her chain in the final turn and lost her chance at a second consecutive bronze medal. © Nathan Hofferber
Cyclocross Magazine: Congratulations on winning the Tahoe 100. Can you tell us a little about the course and how the race played out?
Katerina Nash: Thank you. The race is like in the Leadville style: fire-roads, a little single-track, two-loop , 100 kilometers. Yea, such a longer day than I usually find at a cross country race and obviously at cyclocross. I’ve been trying to work on my endurance and not be intimidated by these long races. It’s not my focus by any means, but it’s really nice to know after all these years of training I can do these kinds of races. I was really excited when I beat big names like Rebecca Rusch and plenty of others.
CXM: We saw you were using the winner’s champagne appropriately on the podium. Is that your recovery drink of choice?
KN: I believe if you win champagne on the podium you definitely deserve a sip. I know some will just hold it and walk away, but we’re all different racers! I like racing people to open the bottle, it’s kind of like my extra race after the race (starts laughing).
CXM: Also huge congratulations on winning the Pro USA XCT Cup. How have you been training for the cyclocross off-season?
KN: It was a little different. I skipped the last part of the cyclocross season last year. I stopped after my race in Bend and didn’t go to Europe for the first time in four years. I had a little more time to rest up and train in the off-season. I actually had an off-season for once! That combined with an extremely mild winter in California, I was able to keep riding my bike. I definitely showed up in Texas [for the Mellow Johnny’s Classic] very fit and winning that leader’s jersey was a huge motivation to keep winning for the Luna Team. It worked out for me over the four races because all these years I’ve raced domestically I’ve never won the overall in cross country series. It was a neat accomplishment.
