Midnights x Cyclocross
It's me, hi, I'm the return of Taylor Swift Blogging
For maybe eight readers out there in cyclocrossland, one of the unfortunate side effects of the end of the Weekend Previews was the end of Taylor Swift Blogging. Those eight readers likely noticed that Swift released her new album Midnights back in October and not a word about it was written here at the Bulletin. An unfortunate travesty.
Fortunately, as I always like to say, it’s never too late, and when Friend of the Bulletin Leslie Ethridge casually dropped the idea of a Midnights x Cyclocross year in review for the domestic season, always up for a challenge—and recognizing that really what is the Bulletin without Taylor Swift blogging—I decided to take her up on the idea.
For readers who aren’t necessarily Taylor Swift fans, Midnights is her latest album that is a compilation of songs in the key of staying up late at night. I was admittedly a bit skeptical about the concept at first because, IDK, sounded a bit too emo for my tastes, but the album and concept have grown on me. Someone I know described it as Folklore’s lyrical depth with a Reputation sound, which I think is an apt way of capturing the vibe of the album.
Well, except that Midnights is a killer album, Folklore is a great album, and Reputation sucked. But I digress.
If we are throwing it back to the Weekend Preview days, it goes without saying what the Optional Soundtrack for this post is. Feel free to listen along as we work our way through a truly excellent offering from Taylor Swift.
Just as a warning, this album has some legit emo moments, so it’s not going to all be flowers and sunshine. To commit to the concept, I had to fully commit to the concept.
1. Lavender Haze x Tobin Ortenblad
With any given album, the opening track really sets the tone for the whole album. Just quickly thinking about it, some of my favorite albums have those killer intro tracks that let you know this is going to rule—the harmonica of “Thunder Road” on Born to Run, the driving guitar and piano on the Hold Steady’s “Stuck Between Stations, the ethereal piano on the Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels).
Just like with my personal favorites, Swift’s opening tracks have been crucial to her albums as she has hopped around and bent genres. The opening of “Welcome to New York” on 1989 let you know that her country days were far behind her. The opening notes of “…Ready for It” let you know the album was going to be awful. “I Forgot that You Existed” was whatever for the ultimate whatever album Lover.
Keeping with this theme, after my own personal disappointment with Reputation and Lover (I guess it’s fine if you liked them), the opening piano notes of “The 1” hit like a revelation. The album Folklore kind of came out of nowhere, and the completely new, stripped-down sound perfectly captured the vibe of the pandemic summer of 2020. That opening track was just perfect for that moment and that album.
Similar to “The 1,” Lavender Haze perfectly sets the stage for Midnights. Fans had plenty of time to prepare for Midnights, which perhaps made it more challenging to live up to the hype that had been building since she first announced the concept. The ethereal feel of the opening track provides a hazy, up-too-late feel that is the core theme of the entire album. The vibes are perfect.
I've been under scrutiny (yeah, oh yeah)
You handle it beautifully (yeah, oh yeah)
All this shit is new to me (yeah, oh yeah)I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me
So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say
I’m not going to lie, I had to wrack my brain for a bit to come up with something purple relevant to the domestic season. Like seriously, when is the last time we had a quality purple domestic kit?
Fortunately, Tobin Ortenblad has still been rocking that lavender Santa Cruz, although he did trade it in for a retro colorway for the Singlespeed race at Nationals. Ortenblad was getting a little bit of flack (along with Kerry Werner) for jumping into the Singlespeed race, but like Swift in the song, he didn’t really care what people had to say and the result was a pretty darn good show.
I guess there’s also that handlebar mustache he was rocking… Like I said, he’s damned if he do give a damn what people say.
2. Maroon x Michael van den Ham
One of the biggest challenges with undertaking this effort is that like with any Taylor Swift album, there are breakup songs. And breakup songs are sad. And we don’t like sad things in domestic ‘cross.
When it comes to breakup songs, Swift has managed to strike a good balance of more fun breakup songs with the heavy hitters. For every “All Too Well,” there’s a “We Are Never Getting Back Together.” For every “Dear John,” there’s a “Speak Now.”
On Folklore and Evermore and now Midnights, Swift seems to be leaning into her songwriting skills and crafting some really weighty songs. I mean, my god, “Exile” … just absolutely devastating. And while not per se a breakup song, the emotion and imagery of “Ivy” is another song that stands out from those two albums.
“Maroon,” the second track of Midnights leans into the use of imagery in a similar fashion to “Ivy.” In this case, the deep color of red provides memories of a former lover. The wine stains, the sky, flowers, we’ve all no doubt had those situations where something common reminds us of something lost. Like the opening track and its use of lavender, “Maroon” also works so so well.
And I wake with your memory over me
That's a real fucking legacy, legacy (it was maroon)
And I wake with your memory over me
That's a real fucking legacy to leave
I feel like I am probably nearing the precipice of just piling on Michael van den Ham this year, but with the color red and the theme of loss, it’s hard not to think about him coming up short in his bid to fourpeat as Canadian National Champion.
The lyric that really stuck out for me in “Maroon,” was the one above. Van den Ham’s story is by no means over, unlike the narrator of “Maroon,” but even today, it’s safe to say that he’s left a legacy for Canadian cyclocross and a model for young athletes to follow. That legacy also happens to be red, as he got to wear the Canadian National Champ’s jersey for a total of five years after first winning it in 2017.
We are all stoked for Tyler Clark as the new Canadian Champ, but I know Van den Ham isn’t ready to be done, so maybe next year’s Taylor Swift, wrapped track will be one of the more upbeat ones.
3. Anti-Hero x Eric Brunner
A big part of why I found Reputation so repulsive was the entire premise of the album was just asinine. The idea of an artist who has more popularity and money than God himself having a bad reputation basically because of a dumb beef with Kanye West (that aged so so so well), was just so pointless and really a waste of a feature album from one of the great songwriters of our time.
The insincerity of the character she created really shone through with tracks like “Look What You Made Me Do,” and it just did not land.
If there was one redeemable song off that album, it was “Delicate.” After nearly breaking the internet when she released “Look What You Made Me Do,” with people losing their ish because of how bad it was, “Delicate” calmly rolled out as this unexpected antidote to the rest of the singles off the album.
The reason the song worked so well is it was Swift at her self-aware best. In it, she writes, “This ain't for the best, My reputation's never been worse, so you must like me for me. We can't make any promises now, can we, babe? But you can make me a drink.” It was reminiscent of one of the best songs on 1989, “Blank Space,” where she fully embraces the public’s perceptions of her romantic life at that time.
We all knew the character she created in “Reputation,” was bullshit, and songs like “Delicate” and “Blank Space” demonstrate the gap between what was and what can be when Swift embraces the complexities of her actual self.
“Anti-Hero” is a song in the vein of self-aware, self-reflecting songs. In an Instagram video about the song, she said this about it, “This song really is a real guided tour throughout all of the things I tend to hate about myself. We all hate things about ourselves. It’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person.”
And while the song is about Swift sharing her insecurities, the chorus of “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” has a universal appeal to emotions people across the world feel on a regular basis.
The result is truly one of her best songs. I’d have to say it’s already a top-five all-time for me. Just such a great song.
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
It's me, hi, everybody agrees, everybody agrees
There were a handful of tracks on the album where it took one listen to know who the cyclocross collab would be. This was one of those tracks.
As we saw on full display at World Cup Fayetteville, Pan-Ams, and Noho, Eric Brunner is a crazy talented cyclocross racer who has an incredibly bright future in the sport. But while Brunner is the defending Pan-American Champion, he did not retain the Stars-and-Stripes jersey thanks in large part to a crash in the penultimate lap of last Sunday’s race.
Brunner also came up just short in the USCX Series largely thanks to a crash-marred Rochester Day 1 and an off-day on Charm City Day 2. Throw in the crash at Nationals, and it is clear that right now, the biggest thing standing in the way of big things from Eric Brunner is Eric Brunner.
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.”
4. Snow at the Beach x Hartford Nationals
Despite her mega star power, Swift has only recently started to venture into the realm of having guest artists on her studio albums. One of the first major forays into this area was the song “ME!” on Lover featuring TGFPATD (The Guy from Panic! at the Disco), and hoo-boy was it a train wreck. That song, which featured the all-time great refrain “Spelling is fun,” had to be the nadir of Swift’s songwriting career.
Disagree? “Spelling is fun.” That’s it, that’s my reply.
Beginning with Folklore, Swift has leveled up in her guest spots. As I already mentioned, “Exile” featuring Justin Vernon of Bon Iver (thankfully not doing his annoying falsetto thing) is one of Swift’s best songs, and she upped the ante with the killer (pun intended!) “No Body, No Crime” featuring HAIM and “Coney Island” with the National on Evermore. Throw in the incredible “Nothing New” with Phoebe Bridgers from Red (Taylor’s Version), and she has been on a roll on the collab front.
“Snow at the Beach” was co-written by Lana Del Ray, and she appears in a minor role with backup vocals. But probably the most important collab of “Midnights” is enlisting Jack Antonoff to produce the entire album.
If you don’t know Jack Antonoff, you have likely heard stuff he has produced. In his spare time, he fronts the band Bleachers, which is a great rock band in the New Jersey tradition of Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and other artists who play pure rock-and-roll music. He has also produced albums for an impressive list of artists that includes Lorde, St. Vincent, the Chicks, Florence and the Machine, The 1975, Lana Del Rey, and Carly Rae Jepson.
Antonoff has worked with Swift on every album dating back to 1989, but Midnights was the first one where he produced the full list of tracks. Everything the dude touches is gold, so it’s little surprise that the Midnights end product was so good. If you haven’t had enough of “Anti-Hero” yet, there’s a collab of the song featuring Antonoff and the backing saxophones of Bleachers.
Now it's like snow at the beach
Weird but fucking beautiful
Flying in a dream, stars by the pocketful
You wanting me tonight feels impossible
But it's coming down, no sound, it's all around
This collab was the easiest no-brainer of all the songs on the album. With this being the weekend of Val di Sole, there was resumed talk of cyclocross as an Olympic sport, but the race is largely a one-off, with snow rarely gracing the fields of Belgium during the winter months.
The song “Snow at the Beach” is about the rarity of two people falling for each other at the same time, so it is an apt comparison to Hartford Nationals, where we got that rare combination of ‘cross and snow. And more importantly, the snow arrived at the perfect moment, the crescendo of the entire week, to provide a backdrop that was a bit weird but truly beautiful.
“This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen.”
5. You’re On Your Own, Kid x Cyclocross Privateers
As a long-time Taylor Swift appreciator, I have found it interesting watching folks who aren’t necessarily fans speculate about her popularity. She’s not the best singer, not the best performer, not the best songwriter in the pop music world, but what she does have is an uncanny knack for writing songs with a universality that people connect with.
In her younger days, it was simpler songs such as “You Belong with Me?”—I mean, who hasn’t experienced unrequited love?—”Teardrops on My Guitar”—unrequited love again—and my all-time favorite “Mean”—haters, basically—that provided listeners with anthems that vibe with what can be tough emotions to process. Heck, I was in my 30s when I listened to “Red” on repeat after an unceremonious end to a relationship I thought was going somewhere.
As she’s gotten older, Swift has progressed to more complex lyrics, but the same sentiments are still there. Such is the case with “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” The narrator tells a story of waiting for someone to love them back, only to eventually realize that they don’t need that particular someone to make them happy. Swift demonstrates her maturity as an artist by crafting an uplifting, empowering end to the song that lets listeners know that yeah, you got this.
Everything you lose is a step you take
So make the friendship bracelets
Take the moment and taste it
You've got no reason to be afraid
Thinking about this song and cyclocross, it slowly dawned on me that we are kind of seeing a movement away from privateer programs back toward actual teams at the U23/Elite level. With Nice Bikes, Blue-Build, Alpha Bicycle - Groove Subaru, CXHairs Devo, Comp Edge, and Steve Tilford focused on ‘cross, and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, Trek Factory Racing, L39ion, the Kona Adventure team, and Bear CX supporting riders, one could argue that Hannah Arensman with the small Ignition p/b Rigd-Leitner program is the closest to a privateer who finished in the top five of the U23 and Elite races at Nationals.
This is a bit of a change from maybe five years ago when it appeared things were trending toward a privateer model. The “teams” that did exist (outside Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld) were largely a few riders at most, and mainstays such as Jeremy Powers, Tobin Ortenblad, and Katie Compton were all running their own programs.
Looking through the Elite results from Nationals, this one goes out to the riders in the 6-10 zone at Hartford. Caleb Swartz (6th), Tobin Ortenblad (7th), Ben Frederick (8th), J Money (9th), Casey Hildebrandt (10th), and Emily Werner (10th) are all raced full seasons with their own programs sponsored by a mix of local and national companies.
The privateer model has opened a lot of doors in recent years, but the stability teams provide really help athletes focus on being athletes first, so hopefully the trend toward teams in the sport will continue and this song will be rendered a great song and not a message to athletes looking to make it in cyclocross.
“You're on your own, kid, yeah, you can face this.”
6. Midnight Rain x Human Powered Health
I’m not going to lie, I think I am out of mini sidebars about Swift’s music. “Midnight Rain” seems like a good fit for ‘cross because, hey, we had some rainy races this season, but I think I am going to go a different direction. The song is a little less universal and more personal for Swift. In it she sings about a relationship ending because her partner wanted to stay in their hometown while she wanted to pursue her singing career.
He was sunshine, I was midnight rain
He wanted it comfortable
I wanted that pain
The story of this song is one of two people who want different things. When Gage Hecht and Katie Clouse signed with Human Powered Health to race on the road, it was understood that they would not be racing cyclocross. Between the two of them, they have 16 age group and category National Championships, and the team made a decision to not support them racing ‘cross.
I don’t want to speak for Hecht or Clouse, but other teams such as Clara Honsinger’s Ef Education - TIBCO - SVB program have shown a commitment to supporting riders in cyclocross and finding value in having its riders race the discipline, and there is reason to believe they may have been interested in adding some cyclocross to their programs.
It’s TBD what the future holds for those two riders, but for now, selfishly as a ‘cross fan, not getting to see Hecht and Clouse race this season felt like a bit of midnight rain.
“I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted, some kind of haunted, and I never think of him except on midnights like this.”
7. Question…? x Cannondale and Kona
Breakup songs come in all kinds of different varieties. You have your sad, depressing breakup songs—”Back to December,” “Exile”—your angry, you cheated breakup songs—“Should Have Said No”—and your fun, liberating breakup songs— “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together”—among others.
Then there are ones such as “Question…?” that are a little more complicated. This song is about a relationship that didn’t work out but had its high points that you look back on fondly. Beneath the question in question, the narrator secretly hopes that things are not going well for their ex-partner, which is like totally human nature.
Does it feel like everything's just like second-best after that
Meteor strike?
And what's that, that I heard, that you're still with her
That's nice, I'm sure that's what's suitable
And right
But tonight...Can I ask you a question?
One of the toughest pieces of news at the end of last season was the announcement that the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team would be folding after Cannondale withdrew as the team’s primary sponsor. The team had been a mainstay in North American cyclocross, starting in 2006 and providing a home for a who’s-who of North American cyclocross talent.
Fans of North American ‘cross had similar feels when Kerry Werner announced he was only doing three race weekends while focusing on gravel this fall. Werner used his vlogs and dedication to step into the role once filled by Jeremy Powers and Behind the Barriers to build a following and get people stoked about ‘cross.
The story of Cannondale and Kona’s involvement in ‘cross is one that we are learning all too well. Cannondale missed out on Curtis White’s historic Nationals win after providing him with a home for years, and one has to wonder if Werner is as popular on the gravel scene is as he is in cyclocross. One can hope the move to gravel is working out, but probably not really.
“We had one thing going on, I swear that it was something ‘cause I don't remember who I was before you. Painted all my nights, a color I've searched for since. But one thing after another, lost in situations, circumstances, miscommunications, and I have to say, by the way, I just may like some explanations.”
8. Vigilante Shit x Clambitchen Memes
“Vigilante Shit” is a less fun follow-up to the true-crime inspired “No Body, No Crime” that was all about, you know, hiding the body of someone’s cheating husband. No real allegories there.
In “Vigilante Shit” Swift is back on her grind helping out her friends. However, despite the name, it takes a more traditional tack of catching her friend’s cheating lover in the act with photos of him cheating. Way less worse than the hide-the-body song!
She don't start it, but she can tell you how it ends
Don't get sad, get even
So on the weekends
She don't dress for friends
Lately she's been dressing for revenge
For years, we have been hoping for characters to emerge in domestic cyclocross to make things more interesting. Sometimes you have to take your victories where they come, and in the case of the current season that someone has been the shit-stirring Clambitchen Memes Instagram page.
The anonymous site was on the scene after the famed Funston Salute mocking The Mayor’s salute to the fans following Day 2 of the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross. It was there ragging on poor MvdH after his string of 4th places early in the season, and it was all about dragging Eric Brunner and Scott McGill for their issues with crashing.
But most importantly, it was there to give Denise Betsema the dragging she deserved following the famed Betsema Push. After dealing with some Dutch reply guys about how American racers are soft, Clambitchen got revenge by posting receipts of European riders doing shady stuff in recent years.
We don’t exactly know how Clambitchen dresses, because anonymous meme page, but we do know that however they’re dressing, it’s definitely for revenge.
“And I don't dress for villains or for innocents, I'm on my vigilante shh again.”
9. Bejeweled x Clara Honsinger
Bejeweled is one of the poppier songs on Midnights, and accordingly, it is sandwiched between the more emo offerings “Vigilante Shit” and “Labyrinth.” The song is about recognizing one’s star power even when it’s not recognized by your partner.
Thinking about Nationals, the lines that resonated for me were:
Best believe I'm still bejeweled
When I walk in the room
I can still make the whole place shimmer
This was the first ‘cross season since her breakout campaigns several years ago that we did not see Clara Honsinger much on the domestic scene. The three-time U.S. National Champion raced the World Cup weekends and then headed over to Europe to race in October and November. As fans, we want to see the best race here, but her presence near the front of the international field resplendent in her Stars-and-Stripes kit is also a point of pride for American ‘cross fans.
I don’t think anyone forgot Honsinger or took her for granted, but her star power was still evident at Hartford Nationals. With the massive EF Education - TIBCO - SVB bus marking her spot in the team tent area and an instantly recognizable pink kit, Honsinger, an athlete fans are used to watching on livestreams, brought some weight to the Hartford venue over the weekend.
It was also a good reminder that even though she was absent from the USCX Series this season, fans still get excited about seeing her race, even if it was just for that one snowy afternoon.
10. Labyrinth x Jingle Cross
Every album has it’s meh songs, and I think “Labyrinth” is that song for me on Midnights. There’s not much to say about it, except that it’s broadly about falling in love too fast and being expected to quickly move on when it doesn’t work out.
It only feels this raw right now
Lost in the labyrinth of my mind
Break up, break free, break through, break down
You would break your back to make me break a smile
You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back
When Jingle Cross went from being the quirky Midwest race held when it’s freezing cold to an international-stage World Cup folks quickly fell in love with the race thanks to its chill Midwest vibes and challenging course set at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. Since then, the race has been held out as a venue for Nationals and even Worlds among those with aspirations for bigger things for the sport.
Earlier this year, we learned that after its relatively brief run as a marquee event, Jingle Cross would be canceled for this season and the indefinite future. In its place was the Fayetteville World Cup, and although folks have fond memories from 2022 Worlds, moving on from Jingle Cross has been a challenge for the multitudes who have developed an affection for the race.
Swift’s Labyrinth doesn’t really provide much help, but hopefully the race will return or we will eventually find an apt replacement. “Oh no, I'm falling in love again, oh, I'm falling in love. I thought the plane was going down. How'd you turn it right around?”
11. Karma x Curtis White
The prepenultimate track on the regular version of “Midnights” is definitely an interesting one. From a sonic standpoint, it’s another vintage Swift pop song, with a great poppy synth beat and upbeat cadence. However, the backstory is probably the more interesting part.
Apparently, there are fan rumors that there was another album she wrote around the time of Reputation that was all about karma, stemming from the abovementioned feud with Kanye and Kim Kardashian and another with record executive Scooter Braun. Two previous songs mentioned as being about karma are “Bad Blood” and “Look What You Made Me Do,” and as such, all I have to say is thank goodness she leveled up with the eponymous “Karma” because hoo-boy, I did not like those songs.
Ask me what I learned from all those years
Ask me what I earned from all those tears
Ask me why so many fade, but I'm still here
Karma, as practiced by Taylor Swift, tends toward the negative impacts of one’s actions, but the corollary of her way of thinking is the positive things that happen when you put good vibes out into the world.
As I said in my story about his Nationals win, no one deserves to win anything, but White has worked so hard and done so much for the cyclocross community, it was hard to argue that he didn’t deserve to win cyclocross Nationals at least once. White has been a consummate professional representing the sport and helping build the community both in the Northeast and across the country.
White did all of this while enduring an incredibly frustrating series of near-misses at both the Pan-American and National Championships. His ability to stay positive and learn from all the years and all the tears helped him meet the moment in Hartford and finally get the win he had coveted for his entire bike-racing life.
“Sweet like honey, karma is a cat, purring in my lap 'cause it loves me. Flexing like a goddamn acrobat. Me and karma vibe like that.”
12. Sweet Nothings x Domestic Cyclocross
The penultimate track of the Not-3 AM edition of “Midnights” is a chill comedown from “Karma.” The song is about the comfort of being at home when negative things are swirling about in the world.
They said the end is comin'
Everyone's up to somethin'
I found myself a-runnin' home to your sweet nothings
This was, perhaps surprisingly, the most extensively I’ve traveled during a cyclocross season—it helps to be a hobby-blogger with a real job—and with all the headwinds the sport is facing here in the U.S., seeing the community of athletes, support staff, amateur racers, and fans at each of the race weekends felt like a comfortable place to be. At each of the stops, the excitement for the sport was palpable, even if, you know, it wasn’t gravel.
I don’t know who exactly was whispering the sweet nothings, but doing all that traveling was not without its sacrifices, which proved to be totally worth it after the marathon sprint through the domestic season. My biggest takeaway was that this silly little sport is about racing, yes, but more importantly, it’s about a community that shares a passion for the endeavor and supports other folks racing and chasing their silly little dreams. I hope other folks feel that as well.
“Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other. And the voices that implore "You should be doing more," to you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it.”
13. Mastermind x Raylyn Nuss
The closing track of the standard “Midnights” (the 3 AM Edition adds another 7 songs) is relatively straightforward. The song is about how Swift conspired to reel in her current partner Joe Alwyn. While the album definitely has its pop moments, the general vibe was those sleepless midnights, so the song appropriately closes with a mid-tempo beat because who’s ever really hyped about being up in the middle of the night from a sleepless night?
What if I told you none of it was accidental
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?
I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line
One of the undeniable successes of the domestic cyclocross season is the success of the Steve Tilford Foundation Team. Curtis White won Elite Nationals, Raylyn Nuss won Elite Pan-Ams, and Lizzy Gunsalus won U23 Pan-Ams. The team has been Nuss’ brainchild from the start, and after Stephen Hyde’s retirement following 2021 Nationals, Nuss pulled all the right strings as the team manager.
The signing of White was a major coup following the folding of the Cannondale p/b CyclocrossWorld team, and Gunsalus was another post-Cannondale get at the U23 level. Throughout the season, Nuss had faith that her teammates would deliver, and accordingly, she was right there following White’s historic win to congratulate him on his win.
Two years into racing following the pandemic, the Steve Tilford Foundation program is still on the ascendency, and so much of the credit goes to Nuss and her vision for what it could be. One could even call her a mastermind, if they were feeling so bold.
“And the touch of a hand lit the fuse of a chain reaction of countermoves, to assess the equation of you, Checkmate, I couldn't lose.”
This is incredible. Bejeweled for Clara is definitely 🔥🔥🔥
An absolute work of art.