Inspiration in the Swiss mud
It was jetlag that helped Ruby West get up at 4:30 a.m. to begin her eight-hour drive from Dundas, Ont., to Lennoxville, Que., where she’s studying at Bishop’s University. “I have a midterm tomorrow morning,” she said in the midst of her drive. “It’s in health psychology. I guess it’s time to open the textbook for that one.” Three days before, West had been racing in the wet, muddy under-23 women’s cyclocross world championship event in Dübendorf, Switzerland. Early in the race, she was sitting in second place behind the eventual winner, Marion Norbert Riberolle of France.
“Part of me was saying, ‘OK. You’re in second. You can do this. You’re literally fighting for a medal right now,’” she remembered. “But part of me said, ‘There are so many strong people behind you. They’ll catch you.’ It was an awkward combination of trying to believe in myself but not being too naive. It was a crazy feeling.” Eventually Anne Kay and Kata Vas caught West. She later had a crash, which cost her more places. She finished the race in ninth, her best finish at a worlds. After she crossed the line, she was just happy to be done with the long ride.
On the drive to Lennoxville, thinking back to race, she felt it might have been a bigger achievement than her win at the Pan Am championships this past November. Her ride in Switzerland showed her that she could be competitive with the best in the world. She really was making progress in the tough, muddy sport of cyclocross.