On Episode 2 of “The Cross Section” I got to sit down with someone very special and one of my good friends. She is person who I feel a special kinship with because my own photography career has, in some ways, paralleled her rise through the ranks of cyclocross. 4 years ago I heard of a local group of women riders based out of Sellwood Cycles who were making an all-in go at professional cyclocross. I had recently broken down as a racer and began to pick up my camera. I wandered the two blocks from my house in Sellwood to the bike shop and asked if I could make an intro video for the team. "Sure!" was the response from, and I maintained a relationship with the team for years. Sometimes you ask and the gift you receive is far greater than what you can possbily do for them. My guest today was a shop mechanic then at Sellwood Cycles and was one of the riders for the upstart band of cyclocross pirates known as Team S&M CX, which is an extension of one of the earliest teams formed in Oregon. I was lucky enough to tag along the past three years documenting the team’s steady rise through the U.S. Elite Women's Cyclocross scene which culminated in my guest winning the Elite National Championship last year at Fort Steilacoom - the first person not named Katie Compton to win since 2004. Now my guest is off to the legendary Cannondale Cyclocrossworld.com team, and is wrapping up her European season. She joined me from the Netherlands where we talked about a wide-range of topics which you would expect from some as bright and thoughtful and accomplished as she is. Today we hang with Clara Honsinger. I think you’ll like it.

Content Warning: A small handful of curse words by both host and guest (but mostly by the host).