Owensboro’s Mark Myles competed in his seventh Cyclocross Nationals race over the weekend. Myles said this has been a breakout year for him, and he is grateful for the support he’s had over the years from the local cycling community.
Myles said he’s grown up in the world of cycling. From about age 4, he has traveled to events and been active in the sport with his dad Larry, who owns Be Real Sports Cycling & Fitness. The business opened in April 2018, though Myles and company started out in 2012 offering endurance coaching.
“Just traveling around with my dad mainly is how I got into it,” Mark Myles said. “This discipline of cycling called cyclocross that we’re doing now has kind of evolved over the past 5 years or so.”
Myles began racing when he was about 8 years old and has found a good deal of success. On Sunday, he raced in the elite division — the event’s top division — of the 2021 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships.
“It ranked up there pretty close to the top,” he said in comparing it to past events. “The result was very good considering my season. The atmosphere was pretty incredible. Going up some sections, it was like everybody was cheering and there were loud cowbells. It was just like a wall of noise every time you came through. It was like that all around the course.”
Myles said that meant there was motivation along every section of the course — which he said is pretty common for the elite race.
Elite racers ride “all out” for an hour, Myles said, meaning their heart rate averages between 180 and 190 beats per minute the whole time.
So you’re completely tapped out,” he said. “You need that motivation from everybody.”
This was Myles’ first year truly competing in the elite category, though he’s been competing against elite races for the last couple of years while he was technically racing in the U23 category.
“I would say I did very well given the conditions that we had. It was pretty slick and there was very little traction because the course had a thick layer of mud on top of a hard ground so you really couldn’t get any traction.
Myles finished 23rd out of about 50 racers. He said he started on the last row, so he passed half the field before the finish line.
“I’ve taken that as a very good result for me,” he said. “This has probably been my breakout season, or at least one of the best seasons that I’ve had.”
Cyclocross is a discipline of cycling that is a cross between road cycling, mountain biking and steeplechase, according to USA Cycling.
Cyclocross races generally take place on a closed circuit in a park or other open land with competitors racing multiple laps. Since the cyclo-cross season generally takes place from September to February, races are oftentimes plagued with adverse weather conditions such as snow, rain, wind and mud.
Riders begin in mass-start fashion and must navigate through both paved and off-road terrain, oftentimes dismounting their bikes to hurdle barriers, climb steep hills or stairs, or traverse other obstacles.
Myles said the Nationals race in 2018 in Louisville was so muddy they had to carry their bike for nearly 80% of the race, which was very unusual. Even when staying on the bike, conditions can be tough — Myles said wind gusts of up to 30 mph can hit riders during a race.
Myles said he’s appreciative of the support he’s had in Owensboro. He said he’s seen the “whole evolution” of Owensboro cycling.
“I’ve seen it grow over the past 5 to 6 years,” he said. “It’s been very cool to see everybody kind of get behind me and motivate me a little bit. It’s really nice to get the camaraderie when you come back home. They push you for sure and get you to train a little bit harder. Unfortunately cyclocross in Owensboro is not very popular so I’m kind of the only guy in town to do it, but I always look forward to riding on the road with those guys because they give me a nice push and the social aspect of it for sure.”
