It's Sunday morning, Dec. 17, and the weather is awful. The Los Angeles area is in the midst of one of its worst rain storms in years, naturally, it's a perfect day to hope on a bike and sludge your way through a muddy cyclocross course.

Three Altedena teens certainly would agree. Altadena boasts three of the top cyclocross riders in the state for their respective age groups in 17-year-old Ben Bertiger, 16-year-old Cody Phillips and 15-year-old Hannah Rae Finchamp. All three competed in the Southern California Prestige Series of Cyclocross' Santa Cross at Pierce College on Dec. 17.

Finchamp took first in the junior girls race (ages 15-18). Bertiger and Phillips placed second and fifth, respectively, in the Men 3 series class race.

Bertiger, Phillips and Finchamp earned Patch's Atladena Athlete of the Year honors for their work in cyclocross. Patch caught up with all three before their races to talk about cycling, and below is a preview of some of the things they had to say about their sport. Be sure to check back next week for full video interviews with Bertiger, Phillips and Finchamp.

Ben Bertiger:

How did you get into cyclocross?

My dad rode, and I was the one who wanted to start racing criteriums and I think we got a flyer … on our car at one of the road races. So after that I came to a cross race for that season. I was hooked after that, I've been doing it for seven years now.

What are the different skills needed for road riding vs. riding in the mud?

Road riding you've got to know how to ride in a group with other riders. … Cyclocross is more of biking handling. You've got to be able to not crash. Part of the race here is staying up.

What are some of your achievements in cyclocross?

I recently won the state championships for cyclocross here. I went to nationals, I qualified third but I crashed out of the main race. I won the state championship for 'cross this year and I won the state time trial championship this year. I've been fifth in the national criterion championships years ago. I've recently started racing with the pros. I did a pro race in August. I beat (a top pro tour rider), so I've been staying with the pros in some of the races.

Hannah Rae Finchamp:

How did you get involved in cyclocross?

Cyclocross was a great way for me to improve my biking during the offseason for triathlon. It was just such a great challenge and it was such a great atmosphere with my coach and everyone trying to have fun and challenge themselves that I really got hooked on it.

How is this different than competing in triathlons?

In triathlon you're constantly changing between sports, and you're hopping on your bike and going running. You're going swimming and then biking. It's kind of taking yourself to the max, and then starting all over and going to the max again. Where as in cylcocross, it's pretty much a steady redline when you're just pushing yourself.

Cody Phillips:

How did you get involved in cyclocross?

 It started with mountain biking. I did a lot of mountain biking and my friend said, 'Hey, you should go try out cyclocross. It's pretty fun, you'd like it.' So I came out to a practice race in Glendale Park and ended up liking it.

How is cyclocross different than mountain biking?

It's a lot less technical than (mountain biking), there's no drops and rocks and turns and trees and it's a lot shorter courses, like a mile or a half mile and it's all roped off. No mountains, you're always right there with the fans.