By Robert Annis For Planet Adventure
For some, Saturday’s cyclocross race at Major Taylor Velodrome
was a welcome return to form. But for one winner, it was emphatic proof that
she was ready to retake her place on the podium after nearly dying months
earlier.
Bob’s Red Mill rider Nicole Borem won the elite women’s race
just five months after a pulmonary embolism nearly took her life.
“Today was the first day I felt really good since I almost
died,” Borem said. “This was my fifth cross race I’ve done this year. When I
did Yorktown a few weeks ago, I felt fairly alive, but today I felt like a bike
racer again. … To go from not being able to brush my teeth in the hospital to
standing on the top step of the podium is incredibly special. I’m very
blessed.”
Borem said her game plan for the day was “not to finish last
or get mentally down on myself.” When race leader Janelle Renschler wrecked on
a greasy corner of the course, Borem attacked, keeping the pressure on until
crossing the finish line.
Second-place finisher Sierra Siebenlist of Indiebike.com
took second place, nearly 45 seconds later.
Next up for Borem? She’s focusing her efforts on elite
nationals and master’s worlds in January. Her expectations are in line with her
fitness – she has good days and bad days on the bike – but she believes lining
up at master’s worlds would be a victory in itself.
Borem admits her elite win was due in part to the split
field, as many of the top elite riders in both the men’s and women’s raced in
the collegiate elite category; Saturday’s race also served as collegiate
regionals. Marian University’s Katie Antonneau and Josh Johnson won their
respective collegiate races after dominating the elite fields less than a month
earlier at an earlier race at the velodrome.
Antonneau – coming off a huge podium against a stacked USGP field
in Louisville last weekend -- beat teammates Coryn Rivera and Jackie Kurth for
the top spot on the podium. Johnson decimated the men’s elite collegiate field,
beating teammate Weston Luzadder by 2:45. Johnson took command of the race
early, hoping to regain some momentum after what he considered to be two lackluster
USGP races.
“My fitness was good, but mentally I wasn’t all there (last
weekend),” Johnson said. “I was able to stay focused out there today.”
Indiebike.com’s Cory Swihart won the elite men’s race over
J’s Bikes’ Andrew Truemper, but not without some drama. Swihart went down in a
second lap crash, destroying one of his shifters. After grabbing his pit bike,
Swihart pedaled like a madman, finally catching Truemper’s wheel.
“I was patient,” Swihart said. “I knew he (Truemper) would
make a mistake and when he went down, I attacked.”
Competitors will return to the Major Taylor Velodrome for a
third time this season Dec. 3 for the seventh race in the 12-event Indiana Cup
series.
