Race report: Emma at Monster Track NYC

Now that the dust has settled after another eventful edition of MonsterTrack NYC, we caught up with champion Emma to dig into the details of this wild race.

A race that was equal parts sketchy and smooth. Fortunately for Emma, it ended in the best way possible—with a great win.

Read on for Emma’s words about this fast and fearless race.

"MonsterTrack has always been on my dream list… getting out to NYC this time wasn’t plain sailing. The race would be the first chapter of a bigger adventure in the US and sorting my shit out before departure was as stressful and exciting as you would think. Or maybe more.

While packing my things to leave my room in CPH for three months, I started to put together the build for the Cinelli Vigorelli frame I was waiting for. The frame arrived on Monday afternoon, I had laced the wheels on the weekend, and I was lucky enough to be able to use Omnium workshop and tools, so by the evening the bike was ready.

Tuesday was my last day at work on the cargo, Wednesday I had a chance to try the Vigorelli and fell in love with how reactive, aggressive and steady it rolled. On Thursday morning I had two bikes packed and was ready to go."

"As mentioned, racing in NYC felt like the start of something bigger, and with the cruise through town I managed to do on Friday the nerves for next day's race were tense. I figured it was a mix of will to do good and realisation of how focused I needed to be to not get smoked. Stoked to be there… the city just put me in a different dimension. Might have been the people's energy, the grid, the traffic… but all of a sudden I could feel the urge to give it all on Saturday.

I was staying at my friend KT’s place really close to the alleycat start, so registration was easy. I linked up with the legend and homie Terry B. The plan was for him to follow me… which would have marked another big dot on the dream bucket list :)

We set the mic and got cold while waiting for the organisers to be ready. I always find the placing-the-bike moment the most stressful. With 150 racers you really don’t want to get stuck. 

MT started with just 1 hour delay this year and in a blink of an eye we were all zooming to the first manifest pick up location. I stayed on 1st Avenue until turning left on 39th street. Little did I know it would be the sketchiest stretch of my race. After pushing through a busy intersection I reached Tunnel Exit St cross."
 

"If you are from NYC you probably know that cars fly out of the tunnel hella fast, but tbh I did not see that one coming. I thought I would crash, a bad one probably, but somehow I managed to skid and turn my bars as far right as possible, ending up rolling in the same direction as the black van. Side to side. We call these close calls… and sometimes they come out of being distracted.. sometimes it’s just something completely unexpected. We could probably argue this was a mix of both.. I hated myself for not being more vigilant.

Heart and adrenaline were pumping. I took it as a wake up call and focused on staying safe. Still in one piece, I finally reached the manifest pickup at Bryant Park in Midtown.

Every time I race in a city I’m not super familiar with I tend to take my time planning and visualising the best route. For me it’s crucial to know where I’m going rather than just following locals. I generally type all the addresses on the map, save them and go from there. Another thing I do is to plan ahead. Before getting to a checkpoint I’m already looking where to go next. If I can be in and out of the stamp process quickly, that saves time." 

"The difference between NYC and Copenhagen is of course…..HUGE. Using a bit more structured thinking and having a clear plan, I really started to enjoy flowing through the NYC traffic. The magical feeling I got felt unmatched. Cruising faster than cars, crossing a busy intersection or pushing onto avenues to get the green lights.

The momentum you get from riding a quick sturdy track bike is unique. It kinda brought me back to 5 years ago, racing in Milan, this time with more experience and confidence in my riding skills. Being in a different city made things exciting for sure, and with Terry B following it gave me an extra spark.

The race was tight but smooth. Routing felt fluid in my head, with only a few points where, looking back now, I can say I made the right decisions. When I picked up the second manifest I was only a couple of minutes ahead of Amelia, the second WTF (woman/trans/femme) racer.

With my heart rate still up high, I crouched down to route the six checkpoint’s addresses. I knew I needed to maintain the small gap, and with a slightly more complicated series of locations, I could not slow down or make any mistakes. Feeling refreshed and stoked to get back to it, I was OFF!"

"The following hour flew by. I was back at the start/finish location before I knew it, genuinely expecting a third manifest, which this time around they had not planned. In my head I wanted to race more, but hearing that I had won, made me smile hard. I immediately hugged my friends Benny and Ando who was one of the organisers, and Terry that was still streaming. I knew people were still watching live from home and everyone there came up to cheer me on. It truly was a special moment I won’t soon forget, and another big W for SLOW SQUAD INTL."

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