Ellie Mitchell
Ellie Mitchell made history Sunday as the first Alaskan to compete at the UCI World Cyclocross Championships — and she’ll never forget the experience.
“The crowds were insane,” Mitchell said from Grand Junction, Colo., where she attends Colorado Mesa University and competes for its varsity cycling team. “The course was lined with people the whole way through. There was never anywhere you couldn’t hear people cheering for you.”
Those cheers were amplified in Fayetteville, Ark., because for only the second time in the event’s 72-year history the U.S. hosted the event, which represents the pinnacle of the sport. An estimated 15,000 spectators over three days watched championships at Centennial Park for men and women in elite, Under 23 and junior divisions.
Mitchell, a 2019 graduate of West Anchorage High School, was among 23 racers from 12 countries in the Under 23 women’s race, which included six laps of nearly two miles each. She placed 18th in 52 minutes, 14 seconds. Three riders from the Netherlands swept the podium, the fastest in 46:27.
“The last lap the legs started getting heavy and I could feel the cramps coming,” said Mitchell, 21, adding that she was pleased with her pacing.
An estimated 15,000 spectators over three days watched the UCI World Cyclocross Championships.
Cyclocross uses bikes that have upright mountain bike geometry but otherwise look like road bikes. The looped courses are in an open space and feature obstacles such as sand, stairs and barriers. In Alaska, a cyclocross series takes place in the fall when courses are muddy and conditions are never optimal, Mitchell said.
Adding to the thrill for Mitchell was that her parents Al and Joann and brother Simon attended. Also cheering for her was Will Ross of Anchorage, who helped teach Ellie cyclocross techniques at age 11 or 12.
“I’m just really happy and proud to finally see an Alaskan selected for the Team USA World Championship and Ellie put in all the hard work to earn it,” said Ross, whose own bid years ago to make the U23 men’s World Championships came up short.
Mitchell progressed from winning an Arctic Cross race at Jodhpur Park — “I think she was 15 and that was against all our local hot shots,” Ross said — to attending larger races around the country to build experience and a national ranking.
Over the years, Anchorage’s Janice Tower also provided coaching while Danelle Winn helped teach her mountain biking skills, Ross said.
At age 15, she placed 5th and 4th at her first US Cyclocross Nationals in muddy Asheville, N.C., despite lacking equipment that many other riders had.
“From there it was kind of like ‘What can I do to improve?’” she said.
At age 16, Mitchell joined the Northwest Women’s Cyclocross Project team (NWCX) based in Seattle.
“The team has been pivotal in my development as a rider and racer and helped me start racing at the international-level competitions,” Mitchell said.
The key to Mitchell’s selection for the World Championships was placing fifth at the 2021 Pan American Continental Championships in Garland, Texas, on Dec. 4.
Mitchell said at World Championships she felt “a little over my head.”
“(At first) I was really intimidated being among the best in the world,” she said, adding that she settled in once the race got going. “It was obvious from the start that everyone knew what they were doing.”
Ellie Mitchell feeling the love from fans. Photo by Simon Mitchell.