KnoxieCross Winter Cyclocross Series: Race #2
Knoxville, TN
| January 13, 2007 |
Knoxie-Cross number two is finished. It was the first Knoxie-Cross at Victor Ashe Park and hopefully not the last. Named after a former Knoxville mayor, Victor Ashe Park proved to be an ideal venue for cyclo-cross. Plenty of open fields, bark chip trails and some pavement allowed for long laps with lots of transitions. Conditions were good for 'cross in that there was no precipitation (good in the sense that dismal weather is the hallmark of this winter sport). Temperatures were a little brisk, but spending 40 to 70 minutes at or above your anaerobic threshold does a lot to fend off the January chill.
Racing was fun to watch in all categories, as most of the course was visible from a central vantage point. Watching the A race from the field, I saw Sam Evans take the front (Druid City Bicycle Club) followed by Chad Black (Nob Hill Velo), with Joel Marshall (Knox Velo/CBC) taking the third spot early on the in race. Sam and Chad were in contact for a large portion of the race, but Sam took the win in what was said to be his first cyclo-cross race ever (however he was wearing some T-Mobile style Rudy Projects, so you never know). Chad's second runner-up spot for the series has him first in the series overall with Joel trailing by 4 points. The TrueSport Prime this race was the TrueSport Caboose. This meant that the first rider to lap me got the prime. I was hoping to keep the money this week, but failing will and failing legs meant the money went to Sam.
In the B race, Brad Wunderlich made the trip down from Louisville to take the B race victory. He didn't get all the prizes as he missed out of the first lap prime (put up by A racer and single speeder Bob Davies), but put in some amazing lap times to take the V for Team Louisville. Caleb Ryan (Bike Zoo/SCO) took second with Greg Casteel (Knox Velo/CBC) taking third. Brad reminded me that Louisville is going to host a US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross in 2007. The racing is scheduled for November 17th and 18th, so mark your calendars.
The C race was a Tri-Cities Road Club sweep, with Mike Mefford, Dwayne Letterman and Larry Bishop taking the top three spots. The Tri-Cities area (Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol) has excellent 'cross with the Mud, Sweat and Gears series and evidently a full fall season of 'cross is paying off for the TCRC.
The Women's race saw Julie Whitaker (Knox Velo/CBC) take the win trailed by Kim Bishop (TCRC) and Rebecca Falls (Druid City Bicycle Club). Julie was one of many Whitakers racing at Victor Ashe today, with all of the Whitakers putting in strong rides.
In the Junior race, Stephen Bassett took the victory with Max Hanset and Levi Trentham taking the rest of the podium spots. The Juniors all seem to have boundless energy, most of them pre-rode the course multiple times with no evidence of apparent fatigue.
Here are a few random thoughts and musing from the event. To begin with, there is a huge variety of bikes at Knoxie-Cross. Single speeds are plentiful and chances are if someone is riding one they're fast. Secondly, 'cross racing is fun to watch and to race. There are always technical sections that present challenges lap after lap. Confronting them or watching a rider confront them each lap is like watching the opening credits to ABC's Wide World of Sports. You always see something cool and sometimes someone ends up crashing into a sign with course tape wrapped around their leg. Finally, 'cross is a friendly affair. I met some cool new people, saw some old competitors from my OVCX days and enjoyed the whole day (even the bonking and getting lapped part). I also learned that Victor Ashe was named US Ambassador to Poland in 2004 and that Knoxville was the Underwear Capital of the World (or maybe the US). I'm not sure what happened, but evidently that is no longer the case.
Next race: Melton Hill.
For photos check out http://dgcphoto.photoreflect.com
RACE RESULTS
Men-A
1 16 Sam Evans
70:38 3:58 6:42 6:24 6:38 6:35 6:32 6:43 6:44 6:53 6:35 6:48
2 1 Chad Black
71:26 4:05 6:36 6:21 6:32 6:43 6:49 6:53 7:01 6:54 6:51 6:35
3 19 Joel Marshall
74:19 4:12 7:01 7:06 7:04 7:00 7:09 7:04 7:04 6:47 6:56 6:49
4 21 Cory Rimmer
74:23 4:07 6:49 7:01 7:00 6:54 7:10 7:07 7:14 6:57 7:11 6:50
5 3 Luke Whitaker
76:21 5:08 6:56 7:09 7:19 7:29 7:17 7:16 6:57 6:59 7:01 6:46
6 2 Bob Whitaker
76:42 4:17 7:05 7:07 7:13 7:09 7:10 7:12 7:19 7:18 7:23 7:26
7 10 Scott Kennedy
77:05 4:20 7:09 7:07 7:12 7:11 7:22 7:22 7:21 7:24 7:22 7:10
8 8 Bob Davies
78:04 4:14 7:02 7:09 7:10 7:09 7:20 7:15 7:23 7:22 7:51 8:03
9 14 Steve Bacon
71:50 @1 lap 4:17 7:03 7:23 7:26 7:37 7:42 7:29 7:36 7:47 7:25
10 17 Steve Rider
72:13 @1 lap 4:02 7:02 7:10 7:24 7:10 7:29 7:56 7:43 7:57 8:16
11 13 Robert Dills
74:35 @1 lap 4:32 7:31 7:28 7:45 8:01 7:58 7:38 7:58 8:10 7:30
12 9 Josh Reed
75:08 @1 lap 4:18 7:51 7:40 7:49 8:24 7:53 8:08 7:41 7:42 7:37
DNF 385 Greg MillerMen-B
1 29 Brad Wunderlich
2 34 Caleb Ryan
3 22 Greg Casteel
4 31 Wayne Nix
5 33 Andy Bailey
6 39 Matthew Baxter
7 24 Thomas Gaines
8 38 Max Trent
9 47 Dwayne Van Hoose
10 30 Matt Jernigan
11 46 David Holmes
12 48 Jon Magnuson
13 44 Ben Ramsbottom
14 32 Derek Jamison
15 42 Allen Carnell
16 23 Mark Morgan
17 45 Wally Judy
18 36 David Bassett
19 40 Dave ThomasMen-C
1 55 Mike Mefford
2 52 Larry Bishop
3 57 Dwayne Letterman
4 27 Josh Talley
5 54 Doug Ferguson
6 49 Mike Patterson
7 25 Phillip Burgess
8 26 Eric Mohn
9 35 Nelson Fields
10 56 Dale Tillman
11 12 Lee Walter
12 50 John Webber
DNS 41 Todd HamrickWomen
1 4 Julie Whitaker
2 51 Kim Bishop
3 15 Rebecca Falls
4 5 Kayla Whitaker
5 6 Rachel Whitaker
6 28 Alexis DecosimoJuniors
1 37 Stephen Bassett
2 53 Max Hanset
3 11 Levi Trentham
4 20 Sebastian Alig
5 7 Matt Whitaker
