by Andrew Kiser
Colorado Mesa University cyclocross bicyclist Brannan Fix was hoping for mud. He was not disappointed when he woke up to a messy, muddy racetrack the next morning.
Fix braved the weather and won the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Hartford, Conn., on Jan. 4.
“I love the mud, it’s my favorite,” Fix said. “It’s like being a little kid again and going out into the yard and stomping around puddles and digging through the sandbox and messing around. It’s fun.”
For cycling head coach, Patric Rostel, the mud played an important factor for Fix’s victory.
“I think it was the mud,” Rostel said. “The conditions play a huge role in cyclocross. If it [had] been dry, I think the race could have been totally different.”
Cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing where bikers have to navigate courses by dismounting off their bicycles and carrying them.
For Fix, he got his lead early in the first lap when riders approached a big hill. Because of the filthy riding conditions and steep climb riders got off their bikes and ran up the hill. Soon after, Fix took the lead for good and never looked back.
Fix won in a time of 45 minutes and 32 seconds. Fix’s closest competitor finished almost a minute later. The title was both Fix’s and CMU’s first in the discipline of cyclocross.
“It’s an interesting feeling because I have been doing this sport for seven years now,” Fix said. “This is my sixth time going to nationals and I always thought it would be cool to get in the top five, but this year I was the favorite and it was a different feeling.”
Fix, a Fort Collins native, was not recruited by CMU, he was looking at schools around Colorado his junior year, like Fort Lewis and Gunnison. But after visiting CMU and riding with Rostel he decided CMU was his best choice.
The Mavs’ Liam Earl finished 5th in the national championship with a time of 47 minutes and one second. After a slow start, Earl was able to inch his way to a top five finish.
“I feel good, I was happy with the result especially since it was more of a running event than a cycling event,” Earl said. “I’m not the best runner, so I was happy with that.”
In the women’s race, Mavs’ Ariane Horbach finished 17th. CMU took three riders to the cyclocross nationals.
After not winning last year in CMU’s first year at Division-I, Fix’s title marks the third title for the CMU cycling team this season. Back in October, Eivind Roed won a mountain biking national title in the cross-country race, and Collin Hudson won in the dual slalom downhill event at Snowshoe Mountain, W.V.
“Compared to last season having three national champions, it’s pretty awesome and significant,” Rostel said. “So that shows the program is going in the right direction, and, besides coaching correctly, we also recruit the right people for the program.”
The cycling team is now in the BMX season. The BMX national championships are scheduled for early March in Monroe, La.
Afterward, Grand Junction will host the best collegiate road cyclists in the nation for the 2017 USA Cycling Road Nationals on April 27-30.
