Cyclocross Nationals Race Report

I came into 'Cross Nats knowing that bad weather was my friend. Muck and snow are my allies, slowing my competitors down and boosting my handling skills. But it was not to be; By the time my race rolled around on Sunday, what had been a muddy mess on Thursday had dried to solid, superbly tacky dirt. Bummer.
To make matters worse (for me at least), the course featured a very strange element (for a cyclocross track): The first mile of the course was a long, gradual, sustained climb. Double bummer! Long climbs were my undoing this mountain bike season, and to have one featured at Cross Nats, in a discipline famously free of anything but brief, powerful ups, was a huge disappointment to me.
Well, I had a few doubts after pre-riding on Saturday and discovering the course complemented none of my strengths but all of my weaknesses. I buried these doubts and prepped for Sunday.
Race day dawned warm. We left the hotel at 10am in 60F weather, freakishly warm for Kansas City in December. It didn't last. Temperatures dropped so fast that I was forced into the trainer tent to do my warm up; Even with multiple layers, I couldn't keep my hands warm out on the road. Soon it was call-ups, and I heard my name waaayyy earlier than I would've expected. I listened, and when they called again, I rolled up to a start position that I had no business being in. I expressed my discomfort to one of the senior level racers I knew, who reassured me that I must have somehow gotten some points at Portland.
Off we went, and I was already wheezing up the long climb. Not good. I couldn't seem to get any air in, and soon I faded off the back. Thank goodness for supportive spectators, they make a crappy race worthwhile. With one to go, I was lapped and pulled, and left to face the fact that of 73 riders who finished, I was 73rd. How ignominious. And frustrating, to have Nationals be my worst race of the year. I can't pretty that up, can't make that look good. And I have always stepped up a huge notch at my biggest races, not down. Ah well.
Unsurprisingly my teammate Katie Compton won the race, followed by Georgia Gould and Rachel Lloyd. Ryan Trebon took the Men's Elite race, with Jamie Driscoll having the ride of his life and Jonathen Page filling out the podium.