Gould gets heckled hard as she makes her way up to sixth place. © Cyclocross Magazine
At Cross-Country Mountain Bike Nationals this week, we wanted to catch up with as many cyclocrossers as possible. It makes our lives easier when those ’crossers happen to be on the same team and both make it to the podium in the short track race. Georgia Gould, featured in our Issue 21, had a rough start to the weekend, flatting on the first lap of the cross country race and then working her way from last place all the way up to sixth in the five laps that the women raced. She was seeking redemption in the short track race, but ended up frustrated in third spot, bemoaning the slow pace of the race and her lack of tactics in the final lap. Her Luna Chicks teammate Teal Stetson-Lee had a solid finish in the top ten in the cross country race, but really showed her racing chops the next morning by taking the win in the Super D race in the morning and then going on to take the final podium spot—fifth—in the short track race.
“I didn’t really feel that good today. I didn’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be so aggressive!’ I wish I could have been more aggressive because literally, no one was doing anything… At the end, there was such a big group at the front,” Georgia said of her short track race. “Today was the win of the smartest one, and that was not me.”
As for cross country? “I was really frustrated. I haven’t felt that good in any race I’ve done so far this year. I wanted to feel good in a race and feel like I was racing…”
Even with a flat, though, Gould didn’t give up on Saturday. “You never know. Maybe 12 people will have catastrophic mechanicals and I can win coming from behind.”
For cyclocross, Gould is unsure of the season, saying that the USGP series being canceled changes the team’s plans a lot, since those races have traditionally been the goal races. That said, “Right now, it sounds exhausting to plan out. I’m going to wait until it gets closer to plan it out,” she laughed.
Teal Stetson-Lee was all smiles when we spoke after the short track race. “This was my first year trying all three events. I was a little nervous… Surprisingly, I think the Super D opened me up for short track. I’m exhausted now but I think it worked out OK.”
“My one unfortunate mistake in cross country was that I didn’t have a very good start. Because there’s so much single track on this course, being in a good position early on is super important, so I got super far back and it was really hard to make up ground.”
As for her win in her second ever Super D event? “It was a blast. I absolutely loved it. I wish more women had come out for it. I’d encourage all pro women to race Super D next year!”
Watch the full interviews below.
Georgia Gould:
[youtube ucbXGELmXIQ 580 380]
