December 15, 2004 - Huseby 2nd at Nationals

Johs Huseby put in some great rides at US Cyclocross Nationals with a 2nd place in the Masters 30-34 and a 17th in the Elite race. You can read his race reports below and see some great photos on cyclingnews.com here and here, and also an image by Matthew Moses on his website.

Cyclocross Nationals - Masters 30-34

I found out half way through this cross season that they were allowing those that turn 30 in 2005 to race in the 30-34 Masters race at Nationals. I was shocked, but intrigued at the same time. I decided I'd do it. I knew it would be very competitive as there are many people in this age group that are quite competitive in the Elite races already. I arrived in Portland on Thursday afternoon and waited for new teammate Matt White to show up and then we were picked up by Pedro's Outside Technical Support Rep - Rob Scott. Rob and his fiancé were putting us up for the weekend as well which was great. As I was grabbing a couple of burritos for Matt and I, Matt had checked my bikes out in the bike bag...broken! The airlines must have dropped the case very hard and cracked the seat stay. It was a good thing Matt and I ride the identical bike. Phew.

We pre-rode the course on Friday and it was sloppy, very muddy, and not much that was rideable. It was sure to be a challenge the next day. It rained Friday night and cleared up on Saturday morning, but was still wet everywhere with lots of mud. I didn't get a call up as they were calling up based on last years results and this was my first year in this category. I still got second row and knew I'd have to fight to get up there. I was able to maneuver my way into the top three immediately and my good friend Justin Robinson and I got a bit of a gap on the rest of the field. We kept it up and he was powering on in front of me to the point where I couldn't hold his wheel any longer. There was a lot of running on the course - maybe even 1/3rd! I was feeling good on the runs even though my bike seemed to weigh twice as much with all the mud I was carrying around as well. With one lap to go, Justin snapped his rear derailleur and I was catching him fast. He got a new bike in the pit as I was getting close and was able to open up the gap once again and finish a bit in front. I held onto second for the day for which I was pretty pleased.

Cyclocross Nationals - Elite Race

Over night we had no rain and it was very windy which dried the course out. It had changed completely. One could ride almost the whole course. I felt good, and well rested. I got a call up to the 3rd row and had a solid start. I was in the top fifteen for almost the whole race and got caught with a lap to go by two guys and ended up 17th. Jonathan Page once again scored the win - third year in a row! I was happy with my result as I had been feeling tired and not well recovered several weeks before but with some well planned preparation felt more and more like my old self. Curt and Matt were in the pit for me working hard making sure I had a fresh bike every time I came through. It was so nice knowing I had nothing to worry about as I came into the pits. These guys had it dialed!!! Often time's people forget the importance of a good pit crew. As they say in Nascar - we couldn't have done it without the team!