I remember the first time I saw Caroline Mani. I think it was 2017 in Baltimore for Charm City CX. That was one of the first big UCI events I attended and I remember hearing about a famous Euro at the race.
Years would go by and I would see her at GoCross, Rochester, even in North Carolina. Always at the front of the race, pretty much on the podium every weekend. As I got more familiar with the sport I began to recognize the huge importance of her presence at these races. I would learn of her palmares, her national titles, her wins over riders like Sanne Cant and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. Whoa, she’s a HUGE deal. What is she doing in Hendersonville, North Carolina?
It reminds me of a funny interaction I had with a friend. He’s fairly new to the sport and dabbles in the local races from time to time. I shared a video or photo of Caroline and this guy responded with something like “Oh that’s the lady from Kerry’s videos.” I chuckled as Caroline’s extensive crossresults page scrolled through my head.
The years went by. I would look forward to attending these bigger UCI races with my little local clubs and Mani’s presence was felt everywhere. You would usually hear her voice before you saw her. She always had a little crowd around her during the pre-ride, chatting loudly with the boys and girls about line choice or something unrelated to sport altogether. She always commanded a crowd around her team tent. There was always something going on. There was that energy there. It was never quiet.
And now, she’s leaving us. I say that like she owes us anything at all when in reality, we owe her so, so much gratitude. She elevated our sport like nothing else and it feels like one of those classic things where you don’t know what you’ve got until it's gone. Right? I still don’t think it has registered with most of us because Caroline’s presence in our sport has felt so normal after all these years. I can already hear how quiet it will be next year without her and I’m pretty down about it.
I only hope, before this domestic season is over that she gets her flowers. Her cake. Her speeches and hugs and cards. She brought a sense of legitimacy to domestic cyclocross with her dominance, her humor and her passion. I hope she realizes how important she has been to us and I hope we collectively realize just how lucky we are to have her in our sport.
I will miss that Michael Jordan-esque wagging of the tongue as the front of the race screams by.
Merci, Caroline.