Weekend Preview: Gone to Carolina in My Mind
End of the domestic regular season at the NCGP, World Cup Koksijde, and ... the return of Taylor Swift blogging
Look, folks, you all knew this was coming.
When Taylor Swift released her stripped-down folk-ish album Evermore last winter, we established that Taylor Swift blogging can and must be a part of the Weekend Preview. After last week’s release of Red (Taylor’s Version), it is only proper we reboot the Swift blogging sessions.
Red (Taylor’s Version) is not a new album, but it is one that started with the original and took it to knew heights. The original Red was released in 2012, and it was kind of Swift’s transition from her first three country albums to the pure pop 1989. When Swift recorded the original red, her contract with Big Machine stipulated the label retained the rights to the masters of all of Swift’s songs.
Beginning earlier this year with Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Swift began re-releasing her old albums under a new label that is allowing her to retain rights to the masters. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) blew up when it was released in April, hitting number one on like all the charts, but Red (Taylor’s Version) really brought Swift back into the zeitgeist in a way that was reminiscent of her July 2020 release of the completely unexpected Folklore.
If I am being honest, I always kind of overlooked Red as an album. It has probably my favorite Swift song, the titular Red, but for whatever reason, it didn’t necessarily resonate with me. As such, listening to the re-release has been a first time with a number of the songs on the album.
One cool aspect of the album is the inclusion of songs on the re-release that did not make the original album. Nothing New is a killer duet with Phoebe Bridgers I probably needed but didn’t know I needed; I Bet You Think About Me is another duet, this time with throwback country star Chris Stapleton; and Babe is a catchy song that has a strong 1989 feel. (I refuse to acknowledge the Ed Sheeran songs, sorry not sorry).
However, a bunch of songs “from the vault” do not cause grown adults to lose their shit while listening to an album.
No, folks, that is because of THE SONG.
The original Red was largely influenced by Taylor Swift’s relationship with and then breakup from actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The song that was specifically about that relationship was All Too Well, which Swift apparently wrote by ad-libbing during a sound check in 2010.
Red (Taylor’s Version) includes a re-recording of the 5+ minute All Too Well as Song 5 on the album, but then if you stick around all the way until the 30th track, she keeps the pain and heartbreak rolling with All Too Well (10-Minute Version) and hole e shit, folks, it is a tour de force.
At her songwriting best, Swift is able to capture the human emotions of love, desire, loss, and heartache in a universal way that is grounded in details that bring her songs to life. If you have always wondered why the Taylor Swift phenomenon is what it is, it is largely because of her ability to write songs—usually about love—that people connect with.
All Too Well is about what was probably Swift’s first relationship at a young age that burned bright but was then marred by a partner who took her for granted. So many of the emotions are universal, but she grounds the narrative by talking about specific parts of their relationship. Foremost among these is a scarf she left at her partner’s sister’s house that he never gave back. Who knew a simple scarf could come to embody an entire devastating relationship!
I’ve listened to All Too Well (10-minute version) at least 20 times now (perfect for my 13ish-minute commute to work!), and every time, I notice a different lyric or detail that’s like, wow, just, wow.
As someone who wrote some pretty inane stuff in college, I have always wondered what it’s like for artists to have to keep performing stuff they wrote when they were much younger. Like, I really hope that no one ever tries looking up the opinion columns I wrote at the Daily Illini and Badger Herald, but artists like Swift have to keep singing those songs to literal millions of fans.
Taylor Swift suffers no such issues. While the lyrics are cutting, what really makes All Too Well THE SONG is she sings it as if the breakup happened last week. Everyone remembers their first love, and I would not be surprised if there’s a lot of that going on here, but Swift just absolutely delivers in so many ways. Throw in the 14-minute video that accompanies the song, and I am not surprised that I saw so many adults just losing it over this song when it was released last week.
I cannot recommend this song enough. Srsly.
North Carolina Grand Prix - Saturday and Sunday
Elite Women: 2:15 pm EST
Elite Men: 3:20 pm EST
Broadcast: None.
Recent Results
Elite Women
2019 (Sat): 1. Caroline Nolan 2. Raylyn Nuss 3. Hannah Arensman
2019 (Sun): 1. Hannah Arensman 2. Raylyn Nuss 3. Sammi Runnels
2018 (Sat): 1. Lily Williams
2018 (Sun): Snow Day!
2017 (Sat): 1. Ruby West
2017 (Sun): 1. Ruby West
Elite Men
2019 (Sat): 1. Kerry Werner 2. Eric Thompson 3. Travis Livermon
2019 (Sun): 1. Kerry Werner 2. Tyler Clark 3. Eric Thompson
2018 (Sat): 1. Kerry Werner
2018 (Sun): Snowed Out
2017 (Sat): 1. Kerry Werner
2017 (Sun): 1. Kerry Werner
Race Preview
Well November did not fare very well in the Cycling Month Power Rankings, but the North Carolina Grand Prix is a-ok with that. Entering its 17th edition this year, the NCGP has been a November mainstay on the U.S. UCI cyclocross calendar. The race takes place at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, which is a short drive south of Asheville.
This season, the race marks the second half of the GOCX-NCGP Cup time-based omnium series that is offering a total prize purse of $2,000 to the Elite winners. The race also marks the end of the domestic cyclocross regular season before we turn our attention to three straight weekends of championship racing in Canada, the U.S., and the realm of the Pan-American Federation.
If the NCGP has been known for anything in recent years, it has been the snow. In 2017, a pre-race blizzard turned the venue into a winter wonderland, and in 2018, it snowed so much organizers had to cancel Sunday’s race. And while there wasn’t snow in 2019, it did rain a ton to make it a proper mudder. This year, flurries look unlikely, with temperatures of 50 and 55 degrees forecast for Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The NCGP has a history of bringing out the best in local North Carolina talent (I can only assume it’s because of that North Carolina BBQ home cooking … mmmmmm), with Hannah Arensman, then-Asheville resident Lily Williams, and Kerry Werner winning in recent years and others such as Eric Thompson and Travis Livermon getting on the podium.
Caroline Mani enters the weekend as the leader in the GOCX-NCGP Cup after her weekend sweep at GO Cross, but she is getting ready to hop on a plane to head to France for the Besancon World Cup in her hometown. The de facto leader of the series is Erica Zaveta, who holds a 30-second advantage on Hannah Arensman and a 59-second advantage on Crystal Anthony.
Emily Werner is also in the hunt for that overall series payout, 20 seconds behind Anthony. Anna Megale is another rider who started the season at GO Cross who will be looking to continue her recent success after finishing on the podium both days of the Really Rad weekend.
Elite Women GOCX-NCGP Cup Standings
This weekend’s ringer du jure is Sammi Runnels, who is racing her first cyclocross race of the season. After a long road campaign, Runnels has been focusing on finishing her degree in design at the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta campus. Runnels has a long history of success in ‘cross, and it will certainly be interesting to see how she fares at the NCGP weekend.
For the Elite Men, Kerry Werner is to the NCGP what Curtis White is to Noho. Werner has won five-straight races at the NCGP—and with the snow one has to figure he would have won the snow day in 2018 as well. Werner finished 2nd at the Iceman Cometh mountain/gravel bike race two weekends ago and took last weekend off, so he’ll be looking for one last UCI tune-up before he defends her Pan-Ams jersey in Garland, Texas two weeks hence.
Curtis White currently leads the GOCX-NCGP Cup after his weekend sweep at GO Cross, but as of publication, he is not on the start list, which would make Werner the de facto series leader. Andrew Strohmeyer is the closest registered racer to Werner in the standings, 2.5 minutes back.
Elite Men GOCX-NCGP Cup Standings
Like Noho and Really Rad, the NCGP will have a solid group of starters for the Elite Men. Another rider getting set for a jersey defense, Gage Hecht, will be there, as well as Brannan Fix, Scott McGill, Drew Dillman, and the abovementioned Strohmeyer.
The weekend’s races provide a good opportunity for riders to put the finishing touches on their form before the upcoming run of championship races. Should make for some good racing.