The long run-up on the Rhyolite Park course pitches up at the top
Obstacles add spice to a cyclocross race. Run-ups and barriers force cyclists – with certain exceptions – to dismount and carry or push the bike. When sand is rideable the minute grains can seize control of some racers’ bikes while others sail through.
But sometimes topography generates the most difficulty in a race. The Colorado state cyclocross championships venue falls into that bucket. The course at Rhyolite Park straddles a narrow hollow and winds up and down hillsides on three sides. Repeated climbing and descending wears riders out, making the contest ultimately a test of fitness, says Pete Webber. Webber, a masters national cyclocross champion, coaches the Boulder Junior Cycling team whose members competed today.
Colorado state championship racing continues tomorrow. Here’s a look at the major challenges elite and other riders will face.
The start
A long uphill drag on wide pavement followed by a turn onto a dirt lane quickly separates the field.
Men’s 55 plus field starts at the 2014 Colorado state cyclocross championships
West hill climb
Coming after the longer run-up, the S-turned uphill trail can sap a rider’s resolve in the final laps.
South section of the west hill at Rhyolite Park
Off-camber high line
A short steep rise after descending the west hill leads ‘crossers into two tricky off-camber U-turns as the course drops back downhill. Lined with parched grass, this slippery when dry section could turn into a skating rink tomorrow if enough rain and snow falls. Weather predictions mention rain until early afternoon followed by a few inches of snow.
Forced into an outside line, Eric Brunner slid out on this off-camber turn
Short steps
Riders pass the pit then ascend the west hill again. The journey takes them up three to four railroad tie steps.
Kristin Weber on the short steps in the 35 plus race
Sand bend
A long undulating descent and straightaway leads into a sweep of sand. Racers can get caught behind riders who falter here. Today most spun through with their egos intact as they approached Saturday’s one wet spot on the course.
Dawson School rider aces the sand
Mud dip
Whether full-speed-ahead or tentative, the majority remained upright through the mud dip on Saturday. An unfortunate few took a bath.
Utah junior takes the middle line through the Rhyolite mud dip
Triple barriers
A slightly uphill jaunt that veers north then south carries riders into a twisty section that slows them down before a set of three barriers. The course designer must be keen to find out if single speeder Nic Handy or elite riders Tim Allen, Brady Kappius, Allen Krughoff, and Spencer Powlison will remain on their bikes and hop over them.
The barriers are top left in this view into the heart of the Rhyolite course
Field day
A few tight curves mixed in with long bends through a field of tall grass drops riders at the end of the paved finish straight. Fast curves and another pass by the pit leads into the longer run-up and then the west hill climb.
Leftovers from the men’s 55 plus start clothing toss
Cyclo X Louisville fields start in the depths of the “Bowl of Death.” Here the women’s elite riders take off followed by the 35+ women.
[updated 11/30/2014]
The 16th edition of the Cyclo X series wrapped up on the weekend before Thanksgiving at the Louisville, CO venue. In the elite races Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports) took her tenth win of season and Chris Baddick (Boulder Cycle Sport) his third. Kristin Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport) and Spencer Powlison (Evol Racing) both earned the overall series lead thanks to their consistently strong performances during the seven race series and the double points on offer at Louisville where they both finished third.
Caitlyn Vestal slices through sand
Dubbed the “Bowl of Death,” the course’s main feature is a reservoir-sized depression adjacent to the Louisville Rec Center; it occupies the heart of the course. Ominous as it sounds – and the four dips into and out of it every lap did test riders’ fitness – the winning move in the men’s race happened on a longish paved uphill section that fed into a sandpit off to the east of the bowl.
Chris Baddick in charge
That’s where Baddick outdistanced Allen Krughoff (Noosa Pro Cyclocross Team) with two laps remaining. After Jingle Cross Krughoff halted his UCI racing schedule. He returned home to Boulder for a period of rebuilding after trying to race back into form following a lengthy mid-season illness.
In the women’s race Vestal broke away from a small group of leaders early in the second of five laps. In a repeat of her win at this year’s Feedback Cup, she steadily extended her lead, in full command of the race and, like Baddick, crossed the finish line solo.
Allen Krughoff in chase mode
With their recent sets of wins Vestal and Baddick are primed for the state cyclocross championships, which take place in two weeks. Baddick has previously said he’s targeted states since the start of the cyclocross season.
If Krughoff raced in Louisville while still on the upswing, he should be set to attempt to defend the state title which he earned at the same venue as this year’s championships. The Rhyolite Park course in Castle Rock seems to fit his strengths; he also finished second there to Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing) just before CrossVegas.
For full results from Cyclo X Louisville, the previous six races, and the overall points, see the Without Limits Productions website.
Watch Brady Kappius hop a set of barriers that leads into a run-up.
xxx
Gallery
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- Kristin Weber gets the holeshot
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- Melissa Barker placed 2nd
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- True hand-up
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- Runup
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- Allison Moorhead, junior in elite race
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- Kristal Boni’s race ended early
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- Kristin Weber focus Focus
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- Happy support
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- Caitlyn Vestal solos to win
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- Westside women
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- Megan Hottman wins 35+ race
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- Errin Vito recently cat’d up
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- Elite men’s start
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- Spencer Powlison leads lap 2
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- Lilliput sized spectators
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- Ken Benesh rides to series 2nd overall
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- Chris Baddick wins Louisville
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- Spencer Powlison goes deep
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- Elite men’s podium
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- Bags of loot cheer
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- Men’s 35 plus race podium
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- Bowl of Death humor
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- Matt Davies 2nd overall, Cyclo X 35+
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- Waiting his turn
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- Return of Chris Case
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- Chris Baddick and Brady Kappius
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- A fierce Pete Webber
Spencer Powlison, Chris Baddick, and Brady Kappius slipped away from the men’s elite field after a mishap in the Sienna Lake ditch
Several mistakes helped decide the outcome of the men’s elite race at Cyclo X Sienna Lake on Saturday. But the guys that made them are still on top.
Coming out of the first pass through an earthen drainage ditch, Ken Benesh (Evol Racing) clipped out and paused near the top of the steep pitch. That held up the field behind him long enough for teammate Spencer Powlison, Chris Baddick (Boulder Cycle Sport), and Brady Kappius (Clif Bar) to sneak off the front where the first two would stay.
However, thanks to consistently showing up to races and finishing well, Benesh still leads the Cyclo X series with two of seven races remaining. He’s also second in the annual Colorado Cross Cup competition.
Spencer Powlison drives the leading group
Similarly, with two laps left in the Sienna Lake race, a slight washout by Powlison in a grassy corner assisted Baddick’s escape into the lead. While that’s a frustrating way to lose, Powlison currently ranks first in the Cross Cup competition.
Mistakes happen. But Benesh and Powlison are still the best in two important series challenges on the Front Range. And rivals like Baddick who won Saturday’s race know it.
“Spencer’s been the guy to beat this year in Colorado and he’s so consistent,” Baddick said, before the podium on Saturday. “He hardly ever makes mistakes because he is so smooth on the bike. To beat him feels really good.”
Chris Baddick wins Sienna Lake on an unusually warm day for early November in Colorado
Race action
Another drama played out at Sienna Lake in the leaders’ wake: Kappius’ defense of third place in the face of an onslaught piloted by Benesh, Mitch Hoke (The Pro’s Closet CX Team), and junior Pan American champion Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle Co.).
Kappius dropped away from the leaders after two laps and rode alone.
“I kept getting gapped out of the corners. So I took a couple of laps and kind of recovered a bit while Gage [Hecht] and Mitch [Hoke] caught me,” the Clif Bar rider explained. “I rode with them until the end. We started playing cat and mouse a bit, so Ken [Benesh] was able to catch up to us with a little over one to go.”
Steven Stefko
Meanwhile Steven Stefko (First City Cycling), second in the Cyclo X series standings, had moved up and trailed Benesh.
With about two laps to go Baddick found separation from Powlison.
“On the grassy corners just after the start/finish Spencer just slightly washed out his front wheel and ended up putting a foot down,” Baddick said. “That gave me a couple of seconds and that was pretty useful to get a gap.”
While Baddick played with the red zone to maintain that gap, action heated up in the Kappius group.
According to Kappius, at the start of the bell lap Hecht and Benesh tried to split the group. From the pavement the track took multiple turns on grass before directing riders into the ditch. Benesh slid out there and lost a bit of time.
Gage Hecht moves up
Coming into the finish Benesh marked Stefko who motored just behind him and Kappius executed his plan to secure third place.
“I knew the finishing straight was pretty short and there is a little bit of an off-camber coming into it. I didn’t think anybody could get around somebody [there], so I wanted to come into it first,” Kappius said. “That last half lap was me just going about as hard as I could in the straights and recovering in the corners where I knew nobody could pass me. I was looking over my shoulder the whole time.
“I was able to come into the finish leading and put it in the drops, did 20 hard pedal strokes and held on for third.”
He held on by a whisker ahead of Hoke who finished fourth with the same time. Hecht arrived a second later. Stefko poured himself into the sprint for sixth, but Benesh got the best of him.
See the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado website for full results from Cyclo X Sienna Lake.
The next Cyclo X series race takes place at the Boulder Reservoir on November 15.
Brady Kappius edges out Mitch Hoke for third and Ken Benesh holds off Steven Stefko
Gallery
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- Men’s elite podium
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- Just three guys
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- Ken Benesh
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- Gage Hecht in Pan Am jersey
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- The heckling crowd
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- Trench warfare
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- Last lap slip
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- Can we go home now?
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- Brady Kappius
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- Course after start/finish
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- Men’s 35 plus lap 1
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- Mitch Hoke runup trio
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- Taylor Carrington
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- Another slippery corner
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- Matt Davies and Tim Faia
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- Cornering by the lake
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- Bryan Alders
Kristin Weber got her first win of this season at Cyclo-X Sienna Lake in Broomfield, Colorado
When would not winning as often be a good thing?
By this time last year Kristin Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport) had stacked up five cyclocross wins. Coming into last weekend’s Front Range Cyclo X Sienna Lake race, she had yet to score her first.
Instead of dwelling entirely on whether she’d ever win again (banishing that thought forever is difficult for nearly all humans), she considered the big picture. “I actually just kept saying to my coach Anne Trombley that I felt like I was faster than last year, even though I had a bunch of wins last year.
“There’s always six to ten women who come out on a given weekend and can win a race. I knew it was making me faster by having all those fast people randomly show up to a lot of our local races,” Weber said, referring to a set of very strong local amateur women combined with a pro rider or two at every weekend race.
“But I think the competition has gotten faster. So I just feel like the bar has been raised a little bit.” Even the juniors, she said, are faster this year.
Megan Carrington, third at Sienna Lake, raced cat 3 last season
Part of the explanation for what she’s experiencing could be the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado’s added emphasis on attracting women to bike racing. The lower category fields are expanding in numbers. With that growth, perhaps more women are taking what might be the toughest leap up in competition: from category 3 to elite or open races. Several women in the Sienna Lake field raced category 3 last year.
More women racing and advancing their skills is a great situation overall; additional competition drives riders to improve which makes winning all the more satisfying.
“It feels really good [to win] to tell you the truth,” Weber said after crossing the line first at Sienna Lake, “because we’ve just had so many strong women this year.”
Race action
An errant cyclist pedaling across the road near the start area created a bit of disarray after the whistle. Weber slotted into fourth position on the first bend. Typically a fast starter, she had aimed for the front, but hesitated in the confusion.
“I wanted to be in the ditch first,” she explained later. “I came by three people to get to the ditch first because often in the beginning of this race the ditch can be a big divider if someone crashes or everyone is nervous about it.” Sure enough, her concern came to pass in the men’s elite race that followed.
Only Evol Racing’s Kate Powlison could match Weber’s trajectory around the predominantly grassy and pavement course. The two pulled away early and stayed away together until the next to last lap.
Kate Powlison and Kristin Weber mid-race at Sienna Lake
“Kate [Powlison] was riding so strong on the power sections and I knew I was faster than her in the technical, so I just made one move,” Weber said. “Right before the ditch I just stepped it up for like 10 seconds and then I made that gap.
“I would get ahead of her in the technical sections and then she would close it up. It was definitely some cat and mouse with us because we had different strengths today. I was worried.”
Behind them Margell Abel (Natural Grocers) and Megan Carrington (Naked Women’s Racing) fought for the third spot on the podium; Carrington captured it. Abel finished fourth. Kristal Boni (Rapid Racing) and Karen Hogan (Kappius Components) came in together and placed fifth and sixth.
See the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado website for full results from Cyclo X Sienna Lake.
The next Cyclo X series race takes place at the Boulder Reservoir on November 15. Melissa Barker (Evol Racing) currently leads the seven-race series by two points over teammate Kristen Legan.
Kristin Weber’s family watched her win at Sienna Lake
Gallery
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- Ditch challenge
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- Kate and Spencer Powlison dog podium
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- Grassy Sienna Lake course
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- Tracy Yates
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- Kristal Boni up the wall
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- Just joy
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- Kristen Legan
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- Megan Hottman won 35+
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- Johanne Albrigtsen up the wall
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- Ksenia Lepikhina, Lisa Strong
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- Karen Hogan drops in
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- Out of the ditch
Team Small Batch rider on the Feedback Cup course, near the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center fencing
[updated 11/10/2014]
Sunday’s Feedback Cup ‘cross event provided an outstanding reminder of what cyclocross is all about.
Sure, ‘cross is about physical achievement as well as a life lesson in taking bad luck with the good. But even more so the Feedback Cup in Golden, Colorado exemplified the sport’s community foundation and the dedication of people who commit personal resources to elevate local bike racing to a high quality level. Golden-based Feedback Sports put on the event. The company makes and sells bicycle work stands and other accessories.
Those familiar with the course sandwiched between a youth detention center and golf course near the foot of South Table Mountain found something new: a long pit of sand entered after a strategically-placed ninety degree turn. One after another of the guys scheduled to start the elite men’s race scoped it out, trying to ride it. Almost all of those who could pedal through it – and they were in the minority – ground away in slow motion as tires lost traction in the silty stuff.
Leaders in the elite men’s race run the Golden sand
According to Tim Allen, Feedback Sports employee and ‘cross team member, the sand was donated by Jay Kenney of the Kenney Brothers Foundation. Lee Waldman and the Feedback Sports crew installed a dozen or more railroad ties to contain the new feature. Kenney joined them to distribute the sand.
“That sandpit blew Valmont’s away,” said Allen.
He was referring to Valmont Bike Park in Boulder. An awesome space for a cyclocross race with diverse features, it hosts local races, but it’s designed to hold world-class events, like the Boulder Cup UCI contest and cyclocross nationals, which touched down in Valmont last January.
So there was something very sweet about a local course adding such a stellar feature, courtesy of a benefactor. The addition tops off years of course design supplied by Waldman.
That feel-good aurora stands in stark contrast to what must happen in the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center adjacent to the course. In late August four male teens between the ages of 14 and 17 escaped from that facility. On their way out they assaulted a 65 year-old employee. A press release from the City of Golden Police Department about the incident read: “Attempted Homicide and Escape at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center.” The four teens were caught the next day.
A Denver Post article about the break-out said, “Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center is described by the Department of Human Services as an ‘intensive’ treatment program for up to 130 ‘highest risk’ male juvenile offenders committed to the facility by the courts. The agency says that up to 75 percent of those in the facility have been diagnosed with mental health issues, and more than half have substance-abuse issues.”
It’s hard to stand in the shadow of the Youth Services Center during a cyclocross race at the Golden course and not wonder a few things. Are some of those kids watching from a window behind the high security fence surrounding the building? Did they ride bikes when they were younger? Did any of them grow up in a safe, friendly community like the greater cyclocross family present at the Feedback Cup?
Sometimes we cyclists can be so devoted to our sport we become a bit insular. The Youth Services Center stands as a reminder to not take our cycling community for granted and to share its benefits with anyone we think might need some family love.
Now back to the race.
Feedback Cup elite women’s race action
Kristin Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport) unleashed another fiery start and captured the holeshot. Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports) and Erin Huck (Scott-3Rox) tailed her along with the rest of the field.
Kristin Weber aces the holeshot in the elite women’s race
The new sandpit appeared near the end of each lap. Aside from riding into it during lap one, Vestal ran it.
“You could make it like half-way [riding] through, but it’s just an energy sapper,” Vestal said. “But I think Erin Huck rode it through the whole way a couple of times. That’s sweet. She was on her mountain bike which is awesome.”
When the women arrived to tackle the new feature for the first time, Weber and Vestal crossed in the lead together. Kate Powlison (Evol Racing) and Kristal Boni (Rapid Racing) pursued 20 seconds later. Next was a large group led by Feedback Sports’ Lisa Hudson, containing six riders with Huck now near the back. But the new Scott-3Rox rider wouldn’t stay there for long.
Erin Huck finished second in the Feedback Cup on a mountain bike
Although pretty new to ‘cross, coming into the Feedback Cup Huck had already finished top five in four of five local cyclocross races this season.
Why is this year’s number two in the USA Cycling Pro XC Tour and world mountain bike championships pick racing cyclocross? In a Twitter exchange she explained: “for a new, fun challenge – lots to learn!” In those five previous races she competed on a ‘cross bike. She chose fat tires for Golden because she desired a “refresher on the mtb” before starting Iceman Cometh on November 8 in Michigan.
By lap three Huck was in third and chasing down Weber on the loose, dry course while up ahead Vestal had pulled away with a 30 second lead. Coming into the sand Huck moved into second on course. She couldn’t catch Vestal who would win with a gap of over a minute, but she collected another cyclocross podium place to add to her growing collection.
Weber finished third. Megan Carrington (Naked Women’s Racing) surged in the final laps and arrived fourth with Powlison in for fifth.
Caitlyn Vestal makes it a two-for-two winning weekend at the Feedback Cup
Vestal’s victory was number two on the weekend; the day before she won Schoolyard Cross. Right now she’s one of the Front Range’s most winning elite women. How has this lady with a full time job been so successful? She attributes it to sixteen years of racing experience and her training program.
“I’m doing a lot of high anaerobic threshold workouts. I also rest really hard. I take rest really, really seriously and I know my body needs about two days fully off the bike a week,” she said. “I run and I lift. I try to keep it really balanced because I just feel a lot better when I do that. So just really strength based workouts seem to help me a lot.”
Feedback Cup elite men’s race action
After Allen claimed the holeshot a group of five leaders quickly formed with Allen at the front. It included Chris Baddick (Boulder Cycle Sport), Spencer Powlison (Evol Racing), Brady Kappius (Clif Bar), and Garrett Gerchar (Clif Bar Devo Cyclocross Team).
A mechanical dispatched Baddick from the race. Gerchar dangled then dropped off the lead group.
Bryan Alders and Taylor Carrington on dip #2
Near the beginning of lap five Allen washed out at the bottom of the first of two consecutive sharp descents on the opposite side of the course from the sandpit. By the time he ran his bike up the hill, Kappius and Powlison had flown beyond reach, however he maintained a lead over Gerchar. Next on course were Taylor Carrington in a Feedback Sports kit and Bryan Alders (Marin Bikes Factory Team); they carried on as a duo and eventually passed Gerchar.
As Kappius and Powlison approached the climb leading into the sandpit it seemed the winner would be decided in a sprint to the line. But the presence of a lapped 35+ rider in a corner – that field started a minute or so after the elite pack – became as decisive as that climb.
Powlison later explained what happened. The lapped rider “didn’t understand where he needed to be, so he was on the inside corner where we needed to be riding.” Powlison swung wide around him. “I slipped out because I was in a totally different line than I was accustomed to. I kind of put my knee down then popped back up but Brady passed me and I could never come back after that.
“It’s just really frustrating. I think they need to start pulling lapped riders on the final lap because it’s just pointless. It wouldn’t have made any difference [to the 35+ rider] – there was no one in front of him and no one behind him.”
Spencer Powlison and Brady Kappius climbing out of dip #1
Kappius entered the sand first and won. Powlison arrived twelve seconds later. Allen came in third. Alders finished fourth with Carrington next in fifth. Gerchar finished sixth.
Did bad luck alone siphon off Powlison’s chance for a double win weekend, or was it Kappius’ plan for how to shake him? It’s hard to say.
“There were definitely some fast sweepy corners where Spencer was on the edge, taking it a bit faster than I wanted to. So I knew as long as I could stay with him on those that when we got to this last climb I’d be able to try to do something there,” Kappius said. “Unfortunately we got a little bit of lapped 35+ traffic and probably it should have been a little closer at the end…” The veteran Clif Bar rider especially enjoyed winning that day in the presence of his family.
Brady Kappius wins the second Feedback Cup
Regarding the sandpit, Kappius said he ran it every lap and offered praise for the new obstacle. “It’s sweet. I like having ones that are hard enough that you actually have to think about riding it or not.”
Then he commented on making the decision about dismounting to handle an obstacle. “I think lately I’ve been kind of conservative on my ‘should I ride it or should I run it’ deals; I didn’t even ride the barriers the first lap then I saw I was getting gapped so I went for it again. On those kinds of things, my train of thought is, unless you can do it 99 percent of the time, the amount of time you gain isn’t worth screwing up that one time.”
See the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado website for full results from the second edition of the Feedback Cup.
Feedback Cup men’s elite podium (l – r): Taylor Carrington 5th, Tim Allen 3rd, Brady Kappius 1st, Spencer Powlison 2nd, Bryan Alders 4th
Gallery
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- Brady Kappius leads Spencer Powlison
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- Golden whoop-de-doo
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- Men’s 35+ early leaders
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- Lisa Hudson floating in field flotsam
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- Bo Bickerstaff, photog at work
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- Kate Powlison
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- Elite women’s early second chase group
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- Kristin Weber and Caitlyn Vestal, lap 1 sand
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- Tim Faia wins 35+ race over Eric Collins
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- Catching a lapped rider
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- Men’s 35+ podium
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- Caitlyn Vestal checking her lead
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- Table Mountains view
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- Pink and more pink
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- Another loose corner
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- Gotta go, homework to do
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- Tim Faia reps the colors
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- “Boups” Bouplon
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- Womens 3 leaders
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- Kristin Weber
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- Run run
New Canadian ‘cross champions who will take home maple leaf jerseys on Saturday own their titles for 2015. To get them they need to win on a 3.2 kilometer course with a little bit of everything. The circuit travels through riverside park and a popular entertainment spot called The Forks in Winnipeg.
The start grid sits about 150 meters behind the finish arch, which is on the east side of the course near the new Canadian Museum for human rights.
During the Kick Cancer Derby corporate team relay mates tagged each other at the finish arch
Riders veer right onto grass as they head out, onto gravel, and then back onto grass to ascend then descend a low hill. There’s a couple of off-camber grassy turns here, one of which exits uphill.
Jeremy Durrin pre-rides an off camber section
The wrong gear going into the hill after that off -camber U-turn means a dab
More grass, barriers, and then a short section of cobblestones precedes a flat open area that houses a double pit. If there’s one theme to this course it’s alternating surfaces. Riders move from grass to thin gravel on to grass to thin gravel. They repeat the formula with short sections of loose dirt on the run-ups, cobbles, pavement, and sand.
The new Human Rights Museum overlooks the double pit
The next section flows alongside and in sight of the Red River. A short downhill with roots poking out of soil dips onto a flat section of chalky soil littered with leaves. The run-up that follows is steep; it carries riders up to the main level of the course then dips down to the river in steps.
Second short drop down to the Red River
Contestant in the University race approaching the “Abyss”
The long, very steep run-up dubbed the “Abyss” will get competitors’ hearts pumping faster. Dry as it was on Friday riders easily dug their toes into footholds in the loose soil. If it rains — which it might on Sunday for the C2 Manitoba Grand Prix, it will become really interesting.
Catharine Pendrel on the Abyss run-up during course preview
A little thin gravel and concrete later, the course swings right onto loose bark and into 46 meters of sand pit number one. The sand runs a few inches deep here.
Maghalie Rochette scoping out the sand
After a U-turn on grass with a set of thick tree trunks, sand pit number two follows. It’s the same length as pit number one. However, the sand feels more compacted here.
Pipe-smoking professor (?) approaches sand pit two
From the sand a long stone staircase ascends to the heart of The Forks where shops and take-out foods from around the world are located. The custom-made podium rests in this area.
Inlaid stones form the surface in The Forks marketplace where the podium waits
The course turns right around the edge of the marketplace. As it swerves south, cobbles appear. A section of dirt topped with scattered gravel and then grass leads into a small amphitheater where a sweeping curves and a U-turn sit on sloping grass.
Cobblestones, the real thing, in pretty good condition
Riders enter the amphitheater on the river side and exit opposite
A little bit of cobbles, a little bit of grass, and then a little bit of packed service strewn with gravel brings riders back to the start/finish area. Whew.
Catharine Pendrel, Nicole Duke, and Amanda Miller sped off the front early in the elite women’s Cyclo X race at Valmont Bike Park
So often at Front Range cyclocross races the winner crosses the finish line alone. The elite women’s Cyclo X series race at Valmont Bike Park on October 19 bucked that trend as Nicole Duke (Marin-Spy) and Boulder Cycle Sport’s Amanda Miller rounded the last turn before the start/finish straight together. About 100 meters of hypoxia stretched before them.
Amanda Miller puts the hurt on Nicole Duke in the sprint for the win at Valmont Bike Park.
When the sprint to the line began Miller wasn’t sure how it would end up, she said later. The prior Friday night at Cross of the North thirteen year-old Katie Clouse beat her in a two-up sprint, and that memory had planted a seed of doubt in her mind.
But Miller took the win, her first so far this season as a new member of the formidable black and orange team kitted team. Duke finished right behind her.
Third place Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports) came in 38 seconds later for third, alone. Evol Racing’s Melissa Barker, also solo, arrived in fourth place. Both women are having very strong seasons to-date.
Kate Powlison holds off Kristin Weber in the sprint for fifth at Valmont Bike Park
Then a group of four took the last corner and stormed toward the finish line, raising a collective plume of dust as they pounded on the pedals in search of fifth place. The group consisted of Kate Powlison and Kristen Legan of Evol Racing, Kristin Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport), and Margell Abel (Natural Grocers). Legan dropped off the pace. Powlison proved best of the remaining three, but Weber was right there, back by less than a second.
Gallery
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- Kristin Weber, holeshot
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- Climb after start
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- Catharine Pendrel
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- Three leaders
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- Amanda Miller
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- Liz Barcheck, Kate Powlison
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- Margell Abel drives
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- Fighting for fifth
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- Melissa Barker
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- Amanda Miller wins
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- women’s elite podium
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- Men’s dust tunnel
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- Brady Kappius takes holeshot
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- Danny Summerhill, men’s elite winner
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- Up up
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- Fernando Riveros moves up
Chris Baddick wins 2014 Cross of the North day 2 men’s elite race
[updated 10/17/2014]
Chris Baddick (Boulder Cycle Sport) won the men’s elite race at day two of the Cross of the North by going full-on from start to finish. While Tim Allen (Feedback Sports) took the hole shot and at first seemed like the guy to beat, Evol Racing’s Spencer Powlison emerged as the biggest threat to the British rider’s bid for his first win of the season.
A five second gap separated Powlison and Baddick throughout most of the race. Baddick’s win only became a sure thing when Powlison clipped a course pole with less than a lap remaining.
The start
Allen and Baddick both zoomed away from the start line at full speed, albeit for different reasons.
Allen: “I was just motived for that $35 prime on the first lap.”
Baddick: “The last two races I lost in a sprint finish by half of a wheel length. I’ve realized my sprint is not working this year so I had to go as early as possible.”
Going into the second lap Allen gained about ten seconds over Baddick. Five seconds further behind Brady Kappius (Clif Bar), Powlison, and Russell Finsterwald (SRAM) chased with Taylor Carrington (Turin) dangling off that group. Each man that followed now raced for the top ten, including local Steven Stefko (First City Cycling Team).
Then Baddick arrived first at the maze of tape before the track pitched onto the start/finish pavement at the beginning of lap three.
“I ended up burning too many matches and couldn’t hang with those guys,” Allen later said.
The middle
“I really just put the power down from the beginning and couldn’t really let it up,” Baddick said. “Normally in a ‘cross race there are two or three laps in the middle where it eases back a bit. Today I just couldn’t really do anything but pedal on through.”
Taylor Carrington in the only trees on this year’s Cross of the North course
Powlison forced that pace, proving strongest of the chasers as Allen faded to third on course. As hard as he worked, so did Baddick; five seconds separated them from the middle until near the end of the race.
Baddick never changed his bike. He knew if he did he might risk giving up the lead. “I had a pit bike. I’m not very good at pitting – it costs me 10 or 15 seconds,” he said. “It’s just not worth it for me to pit.”
With three laps to go Carrington passed Finsterwald. Now fourth on course, he began to nibble away at the space between him and the third place Allen struggled to maintain.
The end
With one lap to go Baddick surged and lengthened his lead over the Evol rider. Powlison’s persistence, however, finally brought him up to Baddick’s rear wheel.
“We did the mud and I was right there, really close to him,” Powlison said. “But I’d gone pretty deep after that mud section and he kind of extended the gap again.”
Whether or not Powlison could have given it another shot will remain an unanswered question. On the twisty downhill toward the pit with less than a lap remaining he snagged a plastic pole. What happened next exactly he couldn’t say. After righting himself he found his bike tangled in course tape.
“My bars were all crooked,” he said. “It was a total mess.”
The bike functioned well enough to conclude the race but Baddick was gone. He cleared the finish line forty-two seconds ahead of Powlison who had gathered enough of a lead throughout the hour’s competition to keep second place.
After the race Powlison reviewed a key moment that may have defined the outcome. “I was a little lazy the first few laps; I should have just gone right with him [Baddick] when he went. I was kind of hanging in there, counting on Russell [Finsterwald] to pull us up to the front.”
Allen held on to third place by four seconds. Carrington got fourth. Finsterwald finished fifth.
“Taylor almost caught me on the last lap,” Allen said. “He definitely made me work for it.”
For Baddick the win was his first of the season and first on the Boulder Cycle Sport team. Like the day’s women’s elite winner Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports), he chose a gentle build-up to the cyclocross season.
“I’m kind of easing into this ‘cross season; I haven’t done too many intervals or anything yet because I want to be fit in December. I’m just kind of racing myself into fitness. So to win is good, especially against Spencer [Powlison] because he’s flying right now. It means a lot really.”
The near future
The Brit’s December goal is the Colorado state cyclocross championships. Subsequently he’ll take a break to rest before training for mountain bike season when he’ll race for the Red Ace Organics team he joined this year. He lives and studies in Boulder, Colorado.
“I race ‘cross as kind of secondary to mountain biking, so I’m not going to race through to nationals,” Baddick said. “I still race [cyclocross] to win; it’s not like I’m just out here training. Every race I start I want to win.”
See the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado website for full results from Cross of the North day two, as well as days one and three.
Spencer Powlison ahead of Tim Allen in Cross of the North’s mudpit
First pass of the runup after the start
Gallery (more to come)
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- Tim Faia won 35+
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- Finsterwald won day 3 of COTN
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- Denzel Stephenson wins men’s 3
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- Tim Allen next to last lap
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- Jeff Cospolich in 35+ race
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- Looking up from the pit
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- Prime view
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- Liam Dunn
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- Barrier concentration
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- Power washer’s many uses
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- Well done
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- Well-dressed feet
Caitlyn Vestal leads junior Katie Clouse and Amanda Miller midway into the women’s elite race at 2014 Cross of the North day 2
[updated 10/13/2014]
Two of the threesome had met the night before.
In late evening coolness Amanda Miller (Boulder Cycle Sport) and Katie Clouse (Canyon Bicycles) left narrow knobby tracks that connected pools of light with lengths of shadow at the Cross of the North Friday night cyclocross contest in Loveland, Colorado. The rest of the field behind could no longer hear the two leaders breathe or the click-thunk of changing gears on their bikes.
The pair arrived together at the start/finish stretch of pavement and sprinted for the line where thirteen year-old Clouse beat Miller by less than a second. Miller, 26, has represented the US at road world championships.
Shift forward to Saturday afternoon.
In the daytime race yesterday it seemed like the two took up where they had left off, together again at the front of the elite women’s race, though now on a drier, faster course. However this time they had company.
Just after the start they trailed hole shot conqueror Laurel Rathbun (Raleigh-Clement) who came to the start line after a spill Friday night that t-boned her bike and forced her to pull out of that race.
Rathbun charged onto the steep run-up on the south side of the course first. Footholds had taken shape in the soft ground thanks to hundreds of riders who raced earlier in the day. From there the circuit wound north then switch-backed downhill into a sunken section of the venue where runoff from the power washer pooled around the pit, creating a large puddle and expanse of mud inches deep.
Melissa Barker running the pitside mud
By well into the first lap Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports) made herself at home with Friday night’s top two and Rathbun.
“I just tried to keep them in sight,” Vestal said post-race. “And people on the course were really pushing me to bridge the gap.”
After they dropped Rathbun early in lap two, for the better part of thirty minutes threesome Vestal, Clouse, and Miller tried to shake each other but couldn’t.
In the second lap Miller took charge at the front. She and Clouse opened a gap of five seconds on Vestal. While a brief burst of rain and wind gust buffeted the open venue, Clouse passed Miller on an uphill portion of track cut by multiple railroad tie barriers. Vestal caught back on, making up time in the corners and going hard on the flats.
“Katie [Clouse] and Amanda [Miller] were kind of playing cat and mouse. I think they were slowing down a tiny bit so I would jump and get them and I don’t mind pulling,” Vestal later recounted. “I’ll just do it, just go fast. Then I was able to stay with them and kept feeling good.”
Miller gained a little separation from Clouse in lap three. The junior closed the gap on one of several rideable pitches that rose out of the low section that housed the pit.
In lap four Vestal shot off the front. She gained a handful of seconds on Clouse with more to Miller. According to the junior, Miller had experienced mechanical problems and Vestal took advantage of the delay and surged. Clouse tried to pass the Feedback Sports Rider at the barriers, but Vestal dodged to the right and blocked her.
Meanwhile behind them riders worked single-handedly on the well-packed nearly all dirt and turf surface. Rathbun held on to fourth on course until the last lap when Evol Racing’s Melissa Barker, who finished third the night before, slipped ahead of her after passing Boulder Cycle Sport’s diligent Kristin Weber. Going into last trip around the three km circuit Ksenia Lepikhina (SDG Factory Team) and then Evol Racing’s Kate Powlison and Jess Case pursued next on course.
In that fifth and final lap Miller lost time. Vestal and Clouse seemed set to repeat Friday night’s two-up sprint scenario Then when about a third of the lap remained, Clouse flew over her bike’s handlebars.
“Caitlyn [Vestal] got a little away from me so I was trying to catch back up,” Clouse said after the race. “I was I guess a little tired. On the single log I got up [over it] and I must have twisted my wheel…I’m OK. It was actually fun.”
Vestal crossed the finish line alone, taking her seventh win so far this season. Clouse came in twenty seconds later for second, happy from her day’s effort and the experience of contending for the win versus her two main competitors.
Miller claimed third one minute after Vestal’s win. Barker finished fourth and Rathbun fifth.
Even though Vestal’s season to date shows more wins than losses, she said she hadn’t expected to come away with the victory. “I really just rode my heavy mountain bike and had fun all summer, so I started training end of summer. I just try to stay positive and calm…and have fun. It helps.”
The Feedback Sports rider, who started racing at about Clouse’s age of thirteen, praised the Utah junior’s performance on a course she perceived as the toughest to date on the Front Range calendar.
Vestal now leads the Colorado Cross Cup competition by twenty-one points over Barker.
See the Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado website for full results from Cross of the North day two. A third day of racing takes place Sunday.
2014 Cross of the North day 2 women’s elite podium (l to r): Melissa Barker 4th, Katie Clouse 2nd, Caitlyn Vestal 1st, Amanda Miller 3rd, Laurel Rathbun 5th
Gallery
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- South side turn
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- Laurel Rathbun leads
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- Weber and Rathbun post-finish
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- Vestal takes in her win
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- Rathbun holds off Barker
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- Kate Powlison at the barriers
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- Amanda Miller off the front
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- Minutes after the start
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- Local color, literally
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- Meg Hottman, 2nd in 35+
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- Pitting for women
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- Kristal Boni
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- Ksenia Lepikhina
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- Katie Clouse post-race
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- Cynthia Milnick, 3rd in 35+
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- Lynn Bush, 35+ rider
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- Amy D with our girls
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- women’s 35+ podium
Nicole Duke and Karen Hogan complete a treacherous U-turn at Flatirons
[updated 10/3/2014]
When pros like Nicole Duke and Danny Summerhill and Mitch Hoke show up at a local cyclocross race the amateurs have more to fight for.
It’s a chance to stretch personal limits and explore capabilities. To savor the satisfaction from a speedier start, capturing the hole shot, and taking slippery corners faster. To feel good about the time and effort socked away into training and optimizing the bike.
The local Colorado amateur race, fiercely fought to begin with, becomes that much harder.
And so with more at stake the elite men and women took the start on Sunday at Cyclo X Flatirons. Duke (Marin-Spy) and Summerhill (K-Edge / Felt) established early leads and won. The toughest struggles played out behind them.
Spencer Powlison rides the steep hill just before the finish
In the men’s race Hoke (The Pro’s Closet CX Team), Spencer Powlison (Evol Racing), and Tim Allen (Feedback Sports) competed for the remaining podium spots after some early re-shuffling of places on course.
Powlison, who took the hole shot, appeared to have second place locked down.
But in the last lap Allen and Hoke found a way around him and Powlison came in fourth.
At the end of the day, it’s just amateur bike racing. But goddammit why does it seem so important?! Wish I could care less than I do …
— Spencer Powlison (@spino_powerlegs) September 29, 2014
Allen crossed the line second, 39 seconds after Summerhill. “I was thrilled to finish second behind the world class Summerhill,” he wrote after the race. “It was a hard fought battle and felt so good to have a strong finish.”
The rain that started during the men’s last lap continued through much of the elite women’s race. A predominantly grassy course, already slippery in off-camber corners, became slicker. Karen Hogan (Team Kappius) moved into second with Duke always visible ahead.
Just before the finish line Duke replaced a victory salute with a few words to race announcer Larry Grossman. “Hogan crushed it,” she said.
Evol’s Melissa Barker confirmed her early season form with a strong third after going down four times in a close contest with Feedback Sports’ Caitlyn Vestal.
But Barker had forgotten to wear a timing chip. After going as hard as she could, she was disqualified. She left with grass and mud-encrusted bike and shoes. She left disappointed about forfeiting points for herself in the Cyclo X series and for her team in the Colorado Cross Cup best team ranking.
Hogan, who placed next best after Duke, was able to absorb the meaning of her achievement yesterday. When asked what it was like to score her result, she said, “Well that’s super fun. Any time you can even see Nicole in a race, that’s a huge accomplishment in my mind.”
Danny Summerhill won Cyclo X Flatirons
Men’s race action
Less than one minute into the men’s elite race at least two riders in the field of 37 slid out in a set of off-camber grassy switchbacks on the Flatirons course hillside. The first of those mishaps held up Summerhill but only briefly; he quickly joined the three men on front: Powlison, Allen, and Clif Bar’s Brady Kappius.
Following the leaders in a loose group were junior Eric Brunner (Boulder Junior Cycling), Brandon Dwight (Boulder Cycle Sport), Ken Benesh (Evol Racing), Hoke, Boulder Cycle Sport’s Johs Huseby and Pete Webber, and Taylor Carrington (Turin). In the first half lap they had a small gap to next set of riders which contained junior Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycle Co.).
Summerhill owned the lead early in lap two as he reached the north end of the course where more off-camber turns would pop several riders out of the saddle. Powlison tailed him. Ten seconds separated them from Allen, Kappius, and Brunner. Hoke pursued them alone, followed by riders near the front in lap one. Carrington punctured and lost time.
Mitch Hoke at top of climb
As lap three began Hoke moved into third on course, fifteen seconds behind Summerhill and Powlison. Allen arrived ten seconds later ahead of a group containing Benesh, Kappius, Brunner and Hecht.
Then Summerhill poured on the speed. Midway through the ten lap race he preceded Powlison by 45 seconds. Hoke and Allen now rode together just a few seconds behind the Evol rider.
While spectators wondered who would be next best after Summerhill, Powlison held his gap until the last lap. Hoke, who said later that he slid out a couple of times during the race, almost pulled away from Allen but didn’t succeed.
Less than one minute after Summerhill took the victory Allen stunned the crowd by cresting the top of the hill and claiming second. Hoke, who later said he felt good fitness-wise but struggled with driving the bike that day, finished seconds later for third. After all his efforts, Powlison got fourth. Hecht came in fifth over a minute later, with Benesh sixth.
As the riders told it, two factors affected the outcome during the last circuit. Rain commenced and lapped riders created a decent amount of traffic. Powlison described the latter situation as “a mess” with guys who should have been pulled not giving way to the leaders.
Tim Allen second at Flatirons
In that tenth lap Allen snuck ahead of Hoke in the off-camber switchbacks located early in the course while also passing a lapped rider.
“Then I just buried myself to try to bridge up to Spencer [Powlison]…It was not easy to get around Spencer – he was riding super aggressive (the good kind of aggressive) sprinting every time I tried to come around,” Allen wrote after the race. Just ahead of the steep climb before the finish he passed the Evol rider.
Meanwhile, Hoke made it back to Allen. On the dirt-surface climb now brushed with rain, Spencer slipped. “He was running pretty slick tires,” Hoke said, “and had to run it. I rode the last part so I was in my pedals and came around him. Tim was right there, but I couldn’t close it to him.
“We were coming through a lot of lapped traffic, but there’s nothing you can do – somebody’s going to get lucky and someone’s going to get unlucky.”
See the WithoutLimits website for full results from Cyclo X Flatirons.
Women’s race action – a tale of five slick laps
What was it like when you all were getting ready to start and rain came down?
Karen Hogan answers the question, speaking after finishing second: “Kris Weber said she’d never raced in the rain before, which surprised me. But then when I thought about it, I haven’t raced much in the rain either. We had lots of sprinkler water; it just made it a little more dicey, which I kind of like. It was super fun.”
Jess Case, Karen Hogan, and Caitlyn Vestal prepare lines around a switchback
Lap one: off-camber switchbacks on the wet grass hillside quickly sort out the early leaders. Duke enters the section first. Boulder Cycle Sport’s Kristin Weber is the only woman close to Duke as they exit the turns and point their bikes back uphill toward the barriers. Kristen Legan (Evol Racing) and Hogan are next on course.
Lap two: Hogan advances while Duke maintains the lead. Ten to twenty seconds separate each of the top four on course. Weber rides third; Caitlyn Vestal (Feedback Sports), fourth.
Lap three: the best five shifts and Barker moves up. Hogan refuses to allow the space between her and Duke to expand. Barker catches on to Vestal and Weber. The rain lets off for a bit but one slippery corner in particular still requires hugging a tree.
After the race Duke will say, “Oh my God, that was the hardest local race I’ve ever done. Karen [Hogan] pushed me so hard. And so I didn’t get to rest really at all and then I was like, all over the place. I didn’t have mud tires on and it was super slippery.”
Lap four: Barker proves strongest in the chase group. She advances to third while Duke slides in the switchbacks and Hogan draws closer to the leader.
Lap five: Duke finds better lines that help her gain on Hogan and reach the finish line first. Hogan places second twelve seconds later. One minute passes. Barker gets third a few seconds before Vestal; but she’ll lose that result to the Feedback Sports rider after being disqualified. Weber finishes fifth after another forty seconds.
“Today was great because I kept Nicole [Duke] pretty much in the same place,” Hogan said. “Then I heard she fell on this side of the course and I got a couple of seconds closer, but I could never close the gap.”
Duke recalled Flatirons had hosted a UCI race, about 2009, when she rode to third place.
“I’m happy to win in front of all my peers and friends,” she said, about Flatirons 2014. “It was great to have a win, and have a win that was actually so hard to win. It was hard-fought because Karen was so strong.”
Nicole Duke wins Cyclo X Flatirons and praises Karen Hogan’s ride
Gallery
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- Danny Summerhill wins Cyclo X Flatirons
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- Men take first lap switchbacks
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- Taylor Carrington in lap 1
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- Eric Brunner chases Ken Benesh
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- Hoke & Allen pass lapped rider
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- Zane Godby
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- Troublesome turn
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- Hugging a tree works well
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- Rebecca Blatt in the sprinklers
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- Kristin Weber all-in
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- Kristin Weber on the outside line
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- Too slippery to ride
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- Across the pond
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- Jessica Crouch
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- Unicorn calling
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- Sprinklers gone mad
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- Amy D. never forgotten
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- Caitlyn Vestal
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- Final lap
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- Karen Hogan approaches hug a tree
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- Jessica Bernstein, 35+ race
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- Deirdre Garvey, 2nd in 35+
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- Melissa Barker
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- Women 35+ podium
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- Celebrate strength
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- Elite women podium scene
ProVéloPassion 