Brandee's Cyclocross 2010 Season

After a successful but demanding 2010 road cycling season, I started training for cyclocross. Early in the cyclocross season it became apparent that my head wasn't really in the game and it needed to be because I was racing at the elite level after upgrading last season. I competed for 1/2 the cyclocross season at the elite level then decided to not race the rest of the season. I was simply burnt out. I recently decided to not race at all in the upcoming 2011 road and cyclocross seasons. I'm enjoying my break from competitive cycling which has given me time for a lot of other things. Looking back I'm really happy with the success I had in the amateur racing circuit, especially in cyclocross, where I got to compete in a professional international (UCI) race.

I love this picture. It was taken after my best race of the 2010 cyclocross season: 6th place in the small but competitive elite class in the Seattle Cyclocross Series.

This picture was from that same very very muddy race...

...and more mud!

Michelle (Little Red Riding Hood) and me (Wonder Woman) before the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships. Notice how clean we look!

My Wonder Woman costume went straight to the garbage after the race! It was a blast, but probably the muddiest race I've ever been in.

This picture was taken after Starcrossed, my first professional level UCI race. The race was a surreal experience. I realized at the starting line that the woman next to me is pictured on a poster that I have hung up in my cube, professional racer Wendy Simms. This was it. After years of racing cylcocross I had made it. I raced well, finishing 6 minutes back on the same lap as the winner, Katerina Nash. I didn't get lapped! I was so nervous, but so glad that I did it.