Maureen Bruno Roy and Justin Lindine win the 2015 singlespeed US cyclocross championships

January 8, 2015

[updated 1/13/2015]

The first championship races at the 2015 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships in Austin’s Zilker Park delivered two winners who dominated from the opening lap on a dry course.

Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill p/b Seven Cycles) and Justin Lindine (Team Redline) captured the singlespeed titles on a course that played out as more complex and challenging than it appeared on paper and in a preliminary preview video completed before the course tape went up.

Women’s 2015 singlespeed US cyclocross championships top five (l – r): Blatt 4th, Cutler 2nd, Bruno Roy 1st, Sherrill 3rd, Seib 5th

Women’s top three the same as 2014 but reshuffled

Last year Bruno Roy won the title by conquering muddy, icy conditions in Boulder. Now one year later she lined up feeling the weight of expectations for a repeat performance.

Speaking after the finish, she said, “I’m happy. It’s hard when you come back to defend a race that you’re supposed to win. It’s definitely a little bit of pressure, so it’s nice when things work out well.”

Early on Jessica Cutler (Market Street Cycling Club) threatened Bruno Roy’s chances with a strong performance of her own. Cutler finished third last year.

Mo Bruno Roy tackles the uneven long limestone steps in Zilker Park

“Jessica Cutler was like ten, eight seconds behind me for the first couple laps. So I did not go easy,” Bruno Roy said. “She kept me honest for sure.” Headwinds also challenged Bruno Roy and the field whenever they pointed their bikes northeast.

Colorado’s Rebecca Blatt (Van Dessel Factory Team) finished fourth after moving up from about tenth on course in the opening laps.

When asked how the course fit the singlespeed effort, Blatt commented, “I felt like it was very punchy. And it’s the first time I really raced singlespeed with women so I really didn’t know what gearing to use. I actually talked to Mo [Bruno Roy] and Craig Etheridge (Raleigh Clement’s singlespeed racer – ed.) ahead of time to get some ideas. It’s one that you need to gear down for a little bit because there is so much punchiness to it. You’re going to be a little under-geared at the start and maybe get dropped a little bit, but I think in the end with all the steep turns and 180’s you need a smaller gear. But it was fun. It always kept you on your toes.”

Bruno Roy thought the course design made for a “great” singlespeed course. “It’s pretty technical and there’s not a lot of places to rest…you are just pushing, pushing, pushing. Maybe on a flat section coming through the start I was spinning out pretty hard – and that’s your rest.”

Rebecca Blatt third on course in Zilker Park

Blatt didn’t find much rest either. She had charged into third position mid-race, but a surging Ellen Sherrill (Voler/HRS/Rock Lobster) set her back one place.

Even Sherrill, who came in second in 2014, couldn’t make contact with Cutler who finished forty seconds after Roy and just under a minute before Sherrill. Junior Melissa Seib (Bikeman.com), age 16 according to the race announcer, outfoxed dozens of more senior riders and came in fifth.

Men’s 2015 singlespeed US cyclocross championships top five (l-r): Uhl 4th, Neff 2nd, Lindine 1st, Allen 3rd, Heithecker 5th

Tim Allen comes third in the final sprint from chase group of four

Lindine found his result a bit of a surprise, but energizing. It was just his second singlespeed ‘cross race, though he shreds for play on a one-geared mountain bike.

Justin Lindine blasted off the front and stayed there to become the new singlespeed champion

“I did singlespeed cyclocross worlds (in October – ed.) and then this. So I didn’t entirely know what to expect. I spend a lot of time on my mountain bike singlespeed – just riding, not so much racing. So I was optimistic,” Lindine said.

“But against a stacked group of guys who have won national championships before, and a bunch of unknown quantities too, like Tristan [Uhl], and then Adam [Myerson], and guys who haven’t raced singlespeed before but wanted to try it – I’m psyched [to win].”

As the massive field strung out over the course, a chase group of four solidified behind Lindine. It contained last year’s winner Tim Allen (Feedback Sports), Isaac Neff (5Nines/Motorless Motion), Austin’s Tristan Uhl (787 Racing), and Troy Heithecker (Roosters/Biker’s Edge-UT). Neff placed third in 2013.

“It was a bike race. We were battling the whole time, throwing elbows, making moves,” Allen later recounted. “It was quite the battle. It was awesome. We were having a blast and spectators, fans, were yelling at us. There was a local guy in the group, Tristan [Uhl], so that made it really exciting because that’s all I could hear, was ‘Tristan!’ He was the crowd favorite. So being with him we just had so much energy from the crowd. It was cool.

Tim Allen on the limestone stairs

“I was just glad that I had the legs and was even able to race.” In mid-December Allen was injured at the Colorado state cyclocross championships and pulled out of the elite race. His badly bruised leg is still black and blue, but he’s comfortable on the bike.

The strong winds that buffeted the women an hour earlier continued into the men’s race. “The wind killed me,” the slight Allen said. “So it was not my cup of tea, but it was fun, a great course design and really good atmosphere.” While new to singlespeed cyclocross last year, Allen has an 11 year history of singlespeed mountain bike competition that encompasses world championship events in Europe.

Unlike Bruno Roy, Allen said he didn’t feel the pressure of a defending champion. “I wanted to win, but I want to win every race I enter. For me just because it’s a national championship, I don’t do anything different. It’s just another bike race.

“It’s comforting to be number one with 153 guys in the field; that was nice to be on the front. But when I’m out there racing I don’t really think, ‘Oh I have to win or my sponsors are going to drop me,’ or something [like that]. I just do my thing and have fun.” (only 135 riders started out of the 150-plus registrants – ed.)

Video scenes from the women’s race