December 10, 2000

Team Burn's

Bike Authority Cyclocross #4

Copley, Ohio

Report and Results from Mike Woods

The fourth race of the Bike Authority Cyclocross Series was held 12/10/00 at Boughton’s Farm in Copley, OH. A total of 26 riders contested three classes of racing. Cash prizes were awarded to the top five "A" racers, with merchandize given to the top 5 in the "B" group. The top 3 "C" race contestants were also given merchandize. The course was run in reverse of what the riders faced in BACX #1: a long farm field course with some technical woods sections and four sets of barriers.

Very cold conditions (26 degrees at race time) greeted the contestants with a snow covering the course at depths of 1 to 2 inches. The hot topic at the start area was: mountain bike or ‘cross machine? Certainly, many chose MTBs for their suspension over the rutted, frozen ground, but a like amount stayed with their traditional cyclocross machines. Most riders with suspensions were happy to have them.

The "B" and "C" races were started first, the "C" riders held back for 30 seconds. Andre Goldstein (Ellacott Shaker) took off out of the start area with teammate Ed Hoffmeier, series leader Scott Hoffman (Team Burn), and his teammate Derek Wilford in tow. Independent rider Steve Heibel managed to stay with this bunch. As in prior races of the series, Hoffman stayed close to the group for two laps or so, having to contend with Goldstein and Hoffmeier’s spirited runs at his lead. Wilford and Heibel were content to keep the three in sight during their dogfights for the lead until the last lap. When the bell sounded, just shy of 44 minutes, Hoffman motored past the start/finish area and Wilford made his move to pass the Ellacott Shaker pair. Points leader Hoffman meanwhile tacked onto his lead, pulling away from the pack with a margin of :26. A real horserace for second occurred behind him as Wilford worked his way past Goldstein, with a gap of a mere three seconds at the line. Heibel had been working on Hoffmeier towards the last set of barriers, finally passing him there to take fourth, leaving him to cruise in behind for a comfortable fifth. Julie Lewis, the only woman in the race, continued to defend her 5th spot in the overall with a 8th place finish.

The "C" race was pretty much a carbon copy of prior editions, with Henry Hauerstein leaving the other beginners behind from the start. The Eddy’s rider finished with a cushion of nearly 4 minutes over second place. Kevin Kimmich, second in the series points took second, with newcomer Brett Davis taking third, six seconds in front of Team Burner Russ Johnson.

The "A" race started as a sprint out of the start section, with tires sliding madly from the power output of the riders. It seemed a miracle that someone didn’t slide out during the scramble, but it didn’t take long for many of them to get acquainted with the hard-packed snow. Out of this dash came none other than points contender Brian Kenney (Eddy’s) who impressed mightily by riding away from the group from the start line. Shadowing Kenny from a short distance were Brent Evans (Color Me Safe) and SoBe’s Dave Walker, who had problems with pedals freezing and went down hard just before the start finish area halfway through the race. PDQ’s Brian Stern was content to keep the three in sight for the first couple of laps, with Marty Gulaian staying close behind. Turning less than nine minute laps, Kenny got stronger as the race progressed, leaving the pack for good at lap 3 and building up a margin of more than two minutes. Attrition by mechanicals or falls reshuffled the deck for the rest of the top five, with Stern breaking through at around twenty minutes to be Kenny’s only real concern. Evans battled through some falls and mechanical trouble to lock down and defend third place at 30 minutes. Gulaian made up enough time on Walker to take fourth at the line in a sprint finish after almost 68 minutes of racing.

The next race in the series will be held in Avon Lake on 12/31/00. Please check in at Truesport.com for a BACX #5 flier and series point totals.