World cyclocross ambitions for Kiwi roadie

Mar 12th, 10.  We don't hear a lot about cyclocross here in New Zealand, but one Kiwi roadie living in the UK has her sights set on representing New Zealand at the Cyclocross World Championships.

Whitson enjoying New Zealand's summer at the recent women's road tour ©RoadCycling.co.nz

29 year old Whitson represented New Zealand in the World Mountain Bike Championships before turned her attention to road cycling in 2007.   She based herself in the UK to be closer to all the action.

Whitson has raced in the US, for a Japanese team in France, and more recently in the UK Women's National Road Series where she twice finished just off the podium.

She loves the road, but you can't take this Palmerston North born Kiwi too far away from what she terms "the dirt".  

Whitson has been enjoying the growing cyclocross scene in the UK and she has some big aspirations to represent New Zealand at the next World Championships - if only she can work out how to qualify.

Whitson explained what cyclocross is all about.

"You take a bike which looks very similar to a road bike and you take it off road on mountain bike trails.  They are a little bit less severe than you'd find in your typical mountain bike race," she said.

"You'd basically have a paddock area which has been cleared and has obstacles. You might be jumping over a few hurdles, then hurtling down a few muddy descents. It's a really short setup, 6-7 laps in 45mins and it's all done.  It's just so much fun.  There's a huge atmosphere at the races, a lot of people turn up, they get good crowds and it's a great way to see the country."

It might be fun, but it's also highly competitive.  The UK has four of the Top 20 ranked cyclocross women riders in the world. When Whitson competes in national events she knows she's up against world class competition. 

"If you do a good race, you know potentially you'd do OK in a World Cup event," she said.

Whitson has done well, which is what has fuelled her ambition.  She placed 4th in the last round of the UK cyclocross nationals.  Whitson also had a couple of other placings just off the podium.

A cyclocross rider is neither a roadie or a mountain bike rider, she explained.

"They are kind of a breed of their own, but what's starting to happen now is a lot of mountain bikers are saying, if I can go OK in the dirt I should be OK at this.  There are also a lot of roadies doing it, but they struggle a little bit as their technical skills aren't up to it, so it seems to suit mountain bikers who've crossed over."

Whitson fits perfectly into this group.

"Originally I'm from the dirt.  For me it's nice as I get to go back to the dirt from time to time - I miss it so much.  But I love the road, road is great."

Her aim is to race in the World Championships, next January.

"You'd have to do the World Cup races first. At the moment I don't even know how New Zealand would qualify as no one's ever done it before, but it would be great to have a crack."

Whitson was hoping to discuss this with BikeNZ before she heads back over to the UK.