Up close with Elle Anderson
San Francisco resident Elle Anderson of Team LadiesFirst Racing is relatively new to cyclocross and certainly someone to watch. She is not racing in Louisville and isn't even there to watch, but her mind certainly is in Kentucky.
Slowtwitch: Thanks for the chat Elle.
Elle: Of course!
ST: The Nationals were quite tricky and you ended up finishing 12th. Leading up to the race, what did you think was possible?
Elle: Leading up to Nationals, I was coming off a pretty awesome season with a lot of new experiences and improvement. So I tried not to limit what I thought was possible as far as a result. I would have been happy with a top 15, which is what I ended up getting, but heading into the race I was shooting for a top 10, and even a top 5 if I had a perfect race. Even though I did not race by best race, I’m happy with my result in the end, but I’m also fired up for next year’s Nationals and to improve even more.
ST: The last couple days prior to the race the weather forecast did not look great. Were you at all bothered by tricky course conditions or were you somewhat relaxed?
Elle: I was not too worried about the crazy conditions, in part because I knew that everyone would face the same course and conditions, and also in part because of my background of an alpine ski racer. As a ski racer, in the middle of winter, I faced some of the coldest and most brutal conditions for races. I felt mentally prepared for anything that the Madison course was going to throw at me, no matter how cold or challenging. I also had the opportunity to race at Nationals last season, which were also at the same venue. Last year’s race was pretty tough as well, though not as cold, but in any case the experiences I gained last year really helped me prepare for this year’s National Champs.
ST: I believe you arrived in Madison pretty late. Was that planned?
Elle: The week before Nationals had me running around the country a bit. I had an unexpected trip back to the East Coast for a funeral, during which I contracted an unfortunate chest cold. I spent the week before the race huddled up like a hermit trying to get healthy before the race. I was beginning to feel better right before traveling to Madison, WI. However, just as I was thinking that my travel plans to Madison were going unusually smooth, the airline agent got on the speaker to announce that our flight from Cleveland to Madison was cancelled. This was Friday evening for a Sunday race, so not a lot of room for schedule adjustments. However, I managed to re-book my flight and I finally made it safe and sound to Madison on Saturday. Through all of these obstacles, I just tried to focus on staying calm and not getting stressed. There were plenty of opportunities to worry and stress over my final week of preparation for Nationals, but I found that staying positive was the best thing I could do for myself given the circumstances.
ST: Talk about your race.
Elle: Due to the unexpected schedule adjustments, my whole experience at Nationals seemed to be in fast motion, trying to fit everything into a shorter preparation time. I got on the start line a bit rushed after running late with my warm-up. I was also not feeling very healthy, as I the cold I had was ramping up again and my sinuses were pretty stuffed. It felt very surreal – even though I had prepared for that start line for months and months, it felt like a daydream much less the real thing! I think as soon as the gun went off I snapped out of the daydream and started racing my bike.
ST: How long do you think it took you to find a groove?
Elle: The course conditions were so different than any other conditions I had raced on that it did take a while to find a groove, especially because the start was so exiting and dramatic with a lot of adrenaline flowing. I was most surprised by the mud that was flying all around on certain parts of the course. The temperatures were well below freezing, so it simply didn’t make sense to have mud fly up in my face and onto my bike. I guess I found my groove when I realized I would need to pit and change bikes twice a lap due to mud freezing to my drive train, and also when I figured out the course and all the icy patches and technical areas. From then on, it was relatively smooth sailing…relatively because it was certainly a bumpy ride due to the strangely frozen mud from all the previous races.
ST: Did you hang around to watch the men’s race or did you go back to the hotel to get warm?
Elle: I did watch the men’s race. It didn’t matter at that point if I was cold OR tired as my race was over. I was freezing watching the men’s race, but it was an amazing race to watch.
ST: Where will you be during the Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville?
Elle: I wish I could see the racing in Louisville first hand as I would love to see the interaction between European Cyclocross and U.S. Cyclocross on U.S. soil. But, during the races you will likely catch me on the couch watching a live feed of the race.
ST: Had you thought about flying East to go check it out live?
Elle: Yes, many times I wished I could fly out to see the race live. A couple of things got in the way of that, like work and saving my vacation days, etc.
ST: Any predictions? Top 3 men and women?
Elle: I’m rooting big time for Katie Compton. It is amazing and inspiring to be part of a cyclocross generation with such a dominant female competitor from the U.S. I’m also a fan of Marianne Vos and Georgia Gould, so that would be my choice for top 3 women. For the men, I will be cheering for my favorite U.S. racers (my New England peeps) Tim Johnson, Jamey Driscoll, and Jeremy Powers but the Belgian ‘crossers are in town (not to mention the other Europeans) so that will make for a tough race.
ST: How is life in San Francisco?
Elle: San Francisco life is just great. I am still shocked when I ride in sunny, mild weather in the Bay Area even though it is the middle of winter. I spent almost all of my life up until the last year in the North East, so life without a snowy, cold winter is certainly shocking, but I am having no problem adjusting…
ST: It is quite a distance from Stowe, Vermont both in miles and also in terms of culture.
Elle: I would say it took me a few months to adjust to life after the big move across the country last year. First, I’ve never lived in a city before. Second, the pace of life and the overall environment is drastically different than life in the New England countryside. It definitely took me a few months to start sleeping soundly and feel at home. But now, a full year later, I’m very happy here. San Francisco is a great city with some great roads in the area for cycling and training.
ST: You are in San Fran because of Strava. Would you mind telling us what you do there when you are not racing and training?
Elle: At Strava I work in customer support, which ends up being a lot of tech support for our users. The job entails handling a really wide range of issues from fixing GPS errors to walking Strava users through uploading and using our site, etc. The best part is working with cyclists, runners and other athletes each day to help them use the same program that I love using.
ST: How big of a team works there?
Elle: There are about 50 employees now at Strava, and we are continuing to grow.
ST: All passionate cyclists and runners?
Elle: Exactly. I feel so lucky to have amazing coworkers that are passionate about Strava, sports and working out just like me.
ST: Anything else we should know?
Elle: Thank you so much for the opportunity to do an interview with Slowtwitch! 2012 was a great year, especially because I also completed my first multisport event, which I think is appropriate to mention here. I took the opportunity to race in the inaugural Ethos event in Temecula, CA and completed an aquathon with a swim-run-swim-run format. I had a blast, and even thought there was no bike leg, it was incredibly exhilarating. Who knows, there might be more multisport events in my future!
ST: Well, how good is your swim and run?
Elle: Um, both in the category of needs improvement. I may stick with just cycling for the time being but I am definitely a big triathlon fan and follow it closely for a cyclist!
