Emily Werner Made the Most of Being the Host of the GO Cross Cyclocross Weekend
With cheers of "Go Emily" coming from every corner of Fallon Park, Emily Werner achieved her best-ever C1 result
With the odds of any given cyclocross racer being from a city hosting a race being relatively low, there are not many true opportunities for a proper hometown race. Wout van Aert racing at Harentals a few years ago is one that comes to mind, but there generally are not many opportunities to race in front of the home fans.
Although she is not from Roanoke, Virginia, this weekend’s GO Cross races might well have been a hometown race for Emily Werner. Werner and her partner Kerry moved to Roanoke two years ago in the summer of 2020, and in two short years, they have already become a cornerstone of the Roanoke cycling community.
That support was in full effect at Saturday’s race as spectators from every corner of Fallon Park did their part to will Werner to a 5th-place finish in Saturday’s C1. Werner was in a group with Anna Megale and Lizzy Gunsalus racing for 6th, before an ill Maghalie Rochette dropped back to make it a group of 4 racing for 5th.
Werner ended up finishing 2nd out of the group, giving her 6th overall. It was the best C1 finish of her career, and a day she probably won’t forget any time soon. “I remember people cheering for me last year, but it felt like I had more support this year. Maybe I've met even more people in Roanoke and at the race last year. I felt like the entire venue was cheering, ‘Go Emily.’”
Virginia is for Lovers … Of Bikes
Emily Werner grew up in North Carolina and decided to stay close to home by attending Lees-McRae in Elk, North Carolina for college to race for the Collegiate Varsity program there. It was there that she met Kerry Werner, and the two ended up sticking around North Carolina, living in Winston-Salem while Emily completed her Masters at UNC-Greensboro.
The Covid pandemic canceled plans for so many people and kept folks at home, but for the Werners, the pandemic ultimately was the reason they ended up moving to Roanoke. After two months of the pandemic, when it became clear bike racing was not going to happen in 2020, Carla and Jeff Williams decided to put on a Strava stage race on the roads and trails surrounding Roanoke.
Stuck at home and itchy to get back to racing, Emily and Kerry did what any bike racing couple with an RV would do. “There was no racing going on, so we drove up, parked our RV in a friend's driveway, and we did the remote Strava stage race,” Werner explained. “They actually did two different ones. One was six days of mountain biking, and the other was two gravel, two road, and two mountain biking. So we rode on literally all the best roads and trails in the area. We just thought it was super cool and really fun.”
Something about the city in western Virginia caught the Werners’ fancy because they were soon back home checking out house prices in Roanoke. They found an affordable house, Emily found a part-time dietician job that fit their racing schedule, and before the end of the summer, Emily and Kerry were new Roanoke residents.
One does not get the support Emily got at GO Cross by just moving to a city. The number of folks wishing to see you do well certainly takes some work when you’ve only lived in a city for two years.
As new residents of Roanoke, Emily and Kerry have used their star power and interest in helping others get stoked about bike racing to give back to the Roanoke cycling community. Emily explained some of the things they have done since moving there.
“We've done a cyclocross camp at Fallon Park the last two years now. Kerry and I also did a mountain bike skills clinic earlier in the summer. That was fun and one more for beginners. Kerry wants to do more of those next year, which would be really cool. We did the cyclocross practices. And with the help of some other people, we did some practice races too.”
The ‘Cross Hostess with the Mostest
Prior to the GO Cross weekend, we joked that Emily and Kerry were the unofficial hosts for the opening weekend of this year’s domestic cyclocross season. But maybe they were, like, the official hosts? “At our actual house we didn't host as many people as years past, but it was just so cool knowing so many people at the race,” Emily said.
Hosting the domestic ‘cross family at GO Cross brought competing emotions for Werner. “It was definitely a little stressful starting the season with a home race because the first race of the season is always stressful. You don't know how fit you are compared to everyone, you don't know how you're going to do, but it's still super fun because we're not traveling and not on the road yet.”
As for that fitness, Werner came into the opening weekend after one of the best ‘cross off-seasons of her career. After struggling through 2021 following a knee injury suffered while cross-country skiing, Werner felt great at the Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race, where she finished 2nd, and she also scored a 2nd-place finish at the Ore-to-Shore race in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. “I felt good training overall,” Werner said. “And I've tried to work on my skills a lot more coming into this year, and I think that has helped a lot as well.”
Prior to Saturday’s race, Werner’s best finish at a C1 was her 9th-place finish at Charm City last year. But with the Elite Women’s field in a bit of flux and featuring a lot of riders just making names for themselves, there are plenty of opportunities available for riders to step up and grab good results.
On Saturday at GO Cross, Werner put herself in a position to do just that from the start of the race. “I had a decent start, I was really happy with that. That's one thing I've really worked on. I tend to struggle in the first lap, and I end up further back in the field than I feel like I should be,” she said.
After her good start, Werner joined a group with Lizzy Gunsalus and Anna Megale—themselves two ascending riders in the sport—in a race for 6th. Although the group stayed together, Werner said she was feeling the good vibes she has been feeling all summer. “I decided it was a good group to be in. I thought about attacking the group or something, but I was like, I don't really know if I can do that, and plus it was really hot and I didn't want to blow up. I just tried to stay in that group, but I felt really strong.”
Things in Werner’s group changed quite a bit when Maghalie Rochette, suffering from food poisoning and a wasp sting, dropped back to make it a group of 4 racing for 5th. Even though Rochette was ill, Werner said she knew where she needed to be.
“I knew going up the log step things the last lap, I needed to be in the front or second wheel because after that, there were not a ton of places to move up. So that's what I tried to do, move into second wheel there. Honestly I was really happy to be with Maghalie. It was cool following her around. I was happy with it. Hindsight is 20/20 and maybe I should have done more to try to beat her, but I was just happy to be with her. ”
Rochette ended up finishing 5th, with Werner taking 6th. It was still her best-ever C1 finish. And after feeling strong and riding well, it definitely left her wanting more.
“I feel like 3rd to 8th can be anyone's spot really, so anything can happen. It definitely provides motivation. I would like to podium this year, especially at the C2s. I mean, C1s would obviously be cool, but I think the C2s are a more reasonable goal. Top 5s at the C1s would be cool because I feel like I am so close to that. I definitely feel like I have the fitness, and I've been working on my skills, so I am just going to keep trying my best, and I really hope I can do it.”
Werner’s career-best isn’t the whole story from Saturday, however. While getting her best-ever C1 finish, she also had the support of pretty much the entire Roanoke cycling community. Even my cold, hardened pseudo-journalist heart grew a few sizes experiencing the level of support Emily had from folks at the venue on Saturday.
“I heard so many ‘Go Emilys.’ That was really cool. It was definitely encouraging to have so many people doing that because I never want to let people down. You know if you're feeling tired and want to go slower, I definitely feel like that's extra motivation to race hard. It definitely makes you feel special.”
Werner definitely did not let folks down with her finish on Saturday. I chatted with her on Thursday while she was en route to Rochester. She won’t have the home-crowd support, but Saturday’s race showed her the possibility of what could be. “Now I know I can do it, and I have the fitness,” she said. “I'm excited for Saturday because it's the C1, but I don't know if you looked at the weather, but it might rain on Sunday. I keep checking that every few hours. I love the muddier weather. I wish all the races could be muddy. I don't think Spencer [Johnson] wishes that, but I wish that.”
“I definitely feel like I have the fitness, and I've been working on my skills, so I am just going to keep trying my best, and I really hope I can do it.”
Yay, GO EM'!
Go Emily!