photo by Weldon Weaver, USA Cycling
The temperature was in the teens at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning as Spencer Whittier rolled to the starting line at the USA Cycling Cyclo-Cross National Championship event.
The race heated up quickly as the gun went off and the riders made their way around the roughly 2-mile course.
A very specific discipline, cyclocross is typically off-road and results are based on lap times - not distance. Racers can expect to encounter mud, grass, sand, barriers and other obstacles that might require dismounting their bikes. Learn more about cyclocross in a video by Cyclocross Magazine.
Whittier lined up for his first cyclocross race in 2011, but this was his first attempt at a national championship. Whittier and his wife helped start the Privateer Chattanooga Cyclocross team last year, and the team has a history of putting on several successful events in the area.
After a crash in the first lap, Whittier found his way back to the lead group as racers continued to battle and switch positions each lap. As the lead group dwindled to just a few riders, Whittier made his move with nearly one lap to go and rode away with the title by 21 seconds.