By: MATTHEW LINDSEY

COLTON – A 13-year-old Colton-Pierrepont student recently won her fifth New York State Cycling Championship in Saratoga Springs and her fourth championship of 2014.

The cyclocross event, which combines mountain biking, road cycling and obstacles, was the 28th race of the year for Madeline Smith of Colton.

“Cyclocross is like an obstacle course on a bike. I ride a bike that looks like a road bike, but has mountain bike tires and brakes. I never know what to expect from a course, some have huge ramps to ride up, others have sandpits, some have a lot of climbing, and all have sets of boards (called barriers) across the course when I have to get off my bike, pick it up, and run/jump over them, and then get on my bike as fast as possible.

Smith says course lengths vary, but races are timed and usually between 30 minutes and 45 minutes for women. Course obstacles include hills, sand, roots, mud, logs, flyovers, off camber turns and drop offs.

Madeline said she gained interest in cycling from her father and competed in her first triathlon when she was only four-years-old.

“I got my first real road race bike when I was 9, and rode it from Colton to Potsdam on one of my first rides. I enjoy it (competing) because I meet a lot of new people, it is a fun sport that makes me different than other people in my school and I am good at it. Oh, and my dad and I get to spend a lot of time on the road together” Smith said.

Her other state titles include road racing, time trial and criterium. She also participated in the U.S. Cycling National Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, and races for Team Wear on Earth, which is sponsored by the store in Potsdam.

“Road racing was the hardest. It was in the Catskills and I had to race boys that were very fast for 16 miles. When a bike racer gets dropped in a long hilly race, it makes it harder because there is no one to ride with or draft off of,” Smith said.

Smith said criteriums are short course, and have a lot of laps. At the state championship in downtown White Smith said she ended up lapping her nearest competitor twice.

“The time trial race was the morning after an evening race on the Watkins Glen racetrack I love that race and I was a little tired and racing a girl older than me that I had never beat. It was a 6-mile flat course, and the time trials are timed and everyone leaves at a different time. I started a minute behind her, and ended up passing her before the finish,” Smith said.

Smith said she usually trains for an hour or two a day in the summer and rides with her dad, in groups or often just around the neighborhood and surrounding streets.

“From January through April I have to ride a stationary trainer in front of the TV, I do not like that very much. From August through October (cyclocross season) I just use soccer practice and games for training and my coach makes me run a lot of hills, which helps.

There are times when Smith competes against no other females and other times over 100 women.

“In the smaller road races there are very few girls, which is disappointing because I train hard and it is a great sport for other girls to do. When this happens I usually compete with boys the same age,” Smith said.

In cyclocross, except for the state championship, she said she raced only in the women’s category, sometimes against women who are almost pros.

“The past year I was in 13-14 (year old) road and cyclocross, which is great because I still have one more season in 13-14, although except in the big races I plan to race only in the adult categories because of the competition,” Smith said.

The U.S. Cycling Championship in Madison, Wisconsin took place July 4 weekend featuring three races in three days: time trial, road race and criterium.

“It was awesome because I got to be with all of my bike racing friends on my birthday, which is July 3, and there were fireworks. Next year the race is in Lake Tahoe and I can't wait,” she said.

“I hope to someday race over in Europe…I would love to be able to maybe compete in the women's Tour De France and also World Championships.

Smith said she considers what she is doing as a cyclist as a profession, but it is also a combination of all a hobby and workout.

“I do it mostly for fun, but it does keep me fit and it is one of my hobbies,” she said.

Other than cycling Smith said she likes to draw for fun and that she has a drawing account on Instagram and has 1900 followers.

“I hang out with my local friends, and play Minecraft with my cycling friend, who now I can definitely call one of my best friends. I play other sports including basketball, soccer and skiing, but bike racing is my main focus.”

Asked what her favorite part of a race was, Smith said “the finish!”