The Call Up

This week, we call up Becky Mikrut - founder of Skunkworks Racing, co-leader of Women's Dirt Days, on year three of being on the Chicago Cyclocross Cup Board of Directors. Cat 2 cross racer, Elite mountain biker, organizer and advocate here in Chicago, a liaison between the women's community and the CCC board. Whew. Not to mention her day job as a creative design lead/BOSS. Becky has been racing for a long time, and she’s seen some SHIT when it comes to the evolution and growth of cross in Chicago. Not only has she seen some shit - as a Board member of the CCC, she’s deeply involved in improving and growing the sport in these parts. She was kind enough to join us on this episode to talk about the state of Chicago cyclocross, upping the ante on course design, recent history of gender parity in the series, and the correct way to eat Nerds (hint - take it like a shot).

Travel schedules kept The Call Up from recording for a few weeks, which meant we had a ton to cover when we got together this week. So, we lit a pumpkin spice candle, poured some wine, cracked a La Croix chaser, and got to it: Trek, Jingle Cross, Bioracer Intl in Ireland, Dan Ryan Woods, throwing up during races, peeing in cups, course design in the CCC, and much, much more.

On October 1st, we had the opportunity to host a conversation with pro Dutch cross racer Sophie de Boer. Sophie was fresh off a stint racing in the US at both the Trek UCI Cup and Jingle Cross World Cup, and she was kind enough to chat with us about mental and physical race preparation, what it’s like to gather intel when you're pre-riding with the best, and (for all the Chicagoans) her ride that day to Highland Park, which included a stop at Dunkin’ Donuts. As longtime Sophie stans, we were nervous and excited to meet her - and we are so happy with how the discussion went. Thank you to everyone who took part. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.