By Bill Schieken, Cyclocross Editor
The penultimate weekend in the 2009 MABRA Cyclocross series played out under clear skies and warm temperatures in Howard County, Maryland. The Howard County Double Cross was the brainchild of Rockburn 'Cross promoter Matt Brancheau, who started scouting the new Schooley Mill location after Howard County said they wanted more bike races. Yes, you read that correctly, the county wanted more bicycle racing.
Brancheau quickly got Team BBC on board for Schooley Mill and John Scott took over the controls as lead promoter for that race. Brancheau said that it was a bit of gamble starting a new race at such a high level, "but both races came through fine."
The varying course layouts made for a diverse and challenging weekend. Saturday's Schooley Mill race favored the big engines in the field with long stretches and boggy conditions. Sunday's Rockburn Cross tipped the scales towards the better bike handlers in the pack with its tight greasy turns and single-track sectors.
Scott explained the thinking behind the course design for Saturday's race. "We've seen a lot of twisty courses this year, so we wanted to open things up a bit at Schooley Mill," he said. "I think we achieved that, though the course wasn't as fast as some of the racers expected due to the three climbs on the course and the sloppy-area near the pond. Scott added that overall, he thought the day was a success."I was very happy with the amount of positive feedback we received during and after the race, and will certainly use it to improve the course a bit next year."
The lion's share of Sunday's course has been a constant since its debut in 2007. Brancheau, who co-promotes the race with the Howard County Recreation and Parks Department, said the he scouts the course frequently, testing lines and seeing what the growth is doing. "I felt compelled to finally fix the start so I planned on building the giant ramps [to get over a long curb section], and I also wanted to take the opportunity to move the pit to a better spot," he said. "From there it was a matter of connecting all the salient points. "The course still retained a lot of the old flow until I had the breakthrough of two factors: the Parks dept. cleared a lot of scrubby growth and I moved the barriers." Brancheau said that these changes opened up the central rise in the park to all kinds of options.
Saturday's elite men's race shook out fairly early. The dueling duos from Haymarket Bicycles/HomeVisit and Alan North America Cycling took to the front early in the race with Haymarket's Jared Nieters and Joe Dombrowski putting in some strong efforts to distance themselves from Alan's Dave Weaver and Greg Wittwer. After a couple laps, Dombroski left everybody behind and flew around the course for what looked like an easy win.
Dombrowski on cruise control at Schooley Mill.
"I actually wanted to sit in the first couple laps and take a look at what everyone else was doing," Dombrowski said. "However, Jared and I seemed to get a gap early so we rolled with it." Dombrowski explained that after that he was just doing hard tempo on the open sections, and minimizing risk in the corners and descents. "In retrospect, I should have waited and towed Jared along; he is in the overall points race and I maybe could have helped him to second if he would have sat on longer," he said. "I just need to race with my head screwed on."
After Dombrowski left him, Nieters battled it out with Wittwer who was able to establish enough of a gap to take second. Nieters held on for third. Tom Jeffrey (Team Natures Path/3Sports) took fourth and Wes Schempf (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) hung on for fifth. Jeff Bahnson (Thule/Van Dessel), the current U.S. National Cyclocross Champion in the 15-16 age group, came in sixth.
The women's elite race also featured a familiar cast of characters at the front end of the group. Julie Kuliecza (Alan North American Cycling) outgunned the pack at the start and held an early lead before being reeled in by Jennifer Maxwell (ATAC Sportswear/Bike Rack) and Lenore Pipes (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes). After catching the leader, Maxwell did not let up, driving the pace until she had established a sizable lead over the field. A lead she held to the finish.
Kuliecza with a strong start at Schooley Mill.
Behind Maxwell, Kuliecza and Pipes looked to be rekindling their seemingly weekly battle for top podium spots. On this day, however, they were unable to answer a late race attack by Libbey Sheldon (T.E.A.M. Fuji), who gapped the pair to take second place. Elizabeth Harlow (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes) also worked her way into the mix losing out to Kuliecza in the sprint for third. Pipes rounded out the podium coming home in fifth place.
Sunday at Rockburn started a little later than planned but that did not put a damper on the festivities. "The day started a little rough because a massive accident on I-95 delayed my volunteers and some racers, so we elected to delay the first start by 30 minutes," Brancheau explained. "But by about 9:30 we were humming and it was smooth sailing for the rest of the day. Everyone loved the pie and the food, and said they liked last year's course, but this year's was so much better." He added that he heard lots of great stories of "top finishes and mid-pack finishes and even did-not-finishes. I'd call it a success."
In the men's elite fields, Saturday's main protagonists had some company. Unlike previous seasons, reigning MABRA 'cross points champion Wes Schempf was not dominating the field week to week. That changed at Rockburn. Schempf put in a huge sprint to start the race, won the holeshot and never looked back.
"It feels good to put together a complete race again," Schempf said. "I've been struggling since being sick over the DCCX weekend. Things just haven't been right with my legs and breathing. I was getting in my head and getting down on myself and my racing, but my mindset was perfect today and the race sensations were fantastic."
Schempf said that the Rockburn course was perfect for him and the conditions were superb, adding that even though the corners were slick, "if you knew how to corner you were golden." Schempf saw that after the first lap only Dave Weaver was able to hold his wheel and the gap was pretty decent back to the chasers."On the second lap I wanted Dave to work with me, but every time I looked back for him to take over I could see I had a couple bike lengths on him," Schempf said. "At that point, I just went for it. I tried hard to accelerate out of every corner and take the free speed that some of the downhill sections provided. Every rise I was out of the saddle and trying hard to drill it."
Even though he established a lead of well over a minute about mid-way through the race, Schempf believed he needed to go hard the whole sixty minutes. "I'm trying to build up for masters 30-34 nationals (as well as elites) and I think I have a great chance to podium again in the masters race. I really want that top step."
"It was a great feeling to get the bell and know that the gap was that big," Schempf said. "Winning was a weight off my shoulders as I want to keep our sponsors happy. I know they are, with how the team has been performing, but it's nice for both me and the sponsors to be on the top step."
Behind Schempf the most exciting race of the day was starting to develop. A group of five riders battled most of the sixty minutes to determine who would take the remaining podium spots. Dave Weaver and Greg Wittwer set the early pace along with Stephen (Steevo) Cummings (Indiana Regional Medical Center), Jared Nieters, and 15-year-old Sam O'Keefe (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes). The group stayed more or less together until Cummings started putting in little attacks that stretched out the group. With about three laps to go, these attacks started to stick and Steevo slowly opened up about a five second lead that he was able to maintain to the finish. Wittwer came in third with his teammate, Weaver, fourth. Nieters rounded out the podium in fifth. O'Keefe may have ended the day in sixth, a step off the podium, but as a consolation prize he went home with a pie, the sixth place preme awarded in all categories throughout the day.
Steevo Cummings attacking the chase group.
Schooley Mill winner, Dombrowski, started strong at Rockburn but ended up pulling out of the race early. "Sunday was rough," he said. "I was up there for a bit, then started cramping and dropping way back. No excuses, just a poor performance." He added, "Wes was flying, props to him; it is good to see him ride to his potential. He's one fast dude."
For the women, the sequel played pretty close to the original. Maxwell, Pipes and Kuliecza battled it out early in the race. Pipes and Maxwell were able to put some time on the field and traded attacks for much of the race. Maxwell ultimately was able to open a lead and hold off a charging Pipes to take the victory.
Coming in third was Betsy Shogren (Cannondale Factory Racing/Backyard Bike Club), who had won the previous two races at Rockburn and is the defending MABRA champion. Libbey Sheldon finished fourth and Kuliecza was fifth.
The MABRA Cyclocross Championship and Maryland/DC and Delaware State Championships take place November 29 in Taneytown, Maryland.
--
photo credits: Bill Schieken. More at www.cxhairs.com/photos.
--
GamJams Cyclocross Editor Bill Schieken races for Route1Velo/Arrow Bicycle. He is also the editor of In The Crosshairs.
Fan us.
Follow Us.
Network.
Comments