2012 USA Cycling MTB Nationals Day 2

(July 8^th, 2012) Sun Valley Idaho-Day two of this years MTB Nationals saw both the Super D and the Short Track events run at the Sun Valley Ski Area. The day broke warm and dry as racers began their runs down the Super D course. With many riders racing both events on Sunday, the racing was fast and furious from morning till evening as national titles were once again up for grabs.

In the Super D, racers faced a 6-mile course with over 2000 feet of vertical loss, and some climbing thrown in for good measure. Macky Franklin (Orbea-Tuff Shed) had this to say about the course after his solid third place finish in the Pro field. “This course is what I would consider a non-traditional Super D, with a solid 4-5 minute climb at the start. Most Super D’s never have any climbs longer than 30 seconds.” 

The dust, and rider traffic were also factors in this event.  “As the number one ranked super D rider in the US,” Macky said, “I got to start second after Adam Craig (last year’s winner). It was great not to deal with the dust and traffic like I did last year and I think that helped me move up a few spots.”  Adam Craigs’ (Rabobank-Giant)winning time was right around 21mins 28 seconds, with Carl Decker (Giant) coming in only a couple of seconds behind.

In the Women’s Super D, Kelli Emmett (Giant) came back from her second place finish in last years nationals, to take the win in 2012. "I had a pretty clean run out there," Emmett said. "I really went for it on the climb. It was a pretty long Super D. There was probably an eight-minute climb in there. I just really went for it. I tried to ride a smooth race on the descents. It was good, it was fun. "This was Emmett’s third Super D national championship win.  Rounding out the podium for the women were Elizabeth English (unattached) and Lea Davidson (Specialized), last years champion.

The second event on Sunday was the Short Track XC, which was held around the base area at the venue. Scattered with a few rock gardens, plenty of tight turns in the woods, and a big flyover, the course kept racers on their toes for the last event of the weekend. In the Men’s race, Todd Wells took the lead on the first lap, and then when Ryan Trebon dropped his chain in a rock garden, Wells got a small gap on the field and continued to build on it through the rest of the race. The battle for second place was tight, as Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Trek), and Adam Craig (Giant) battled hard, only to have Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale) take them both on the last lap. Craig ended up third with JHK fourth. 

In the Women’s Short Track, it was once again Gould and Davidson off the front doing battle. The two took an early lead, with Gould doing most of the time on the front. “I got the hole shot” said Gould, “and rode a steady hard tempo at the front for a few laps. That whittled the group down to 4 of us, with Lea, Mary and Chloe making the selection and Kelli dangling just off the back.”

Gould continued to lead through most of the race as she and Davidson pulled away from the pack. “I knew I shouldn’t do all the work, but at the same time I didn’t want the pace to slow enough that others caught up- I’d rather worry about one person than three- so I stayed at the front. Halfway through the last lap, Lea attacked in the perfect spot and while I was able to close it down quickly, there wasn’t anywhere to get around before the finish.”  In the end it was Davidson, Gould, and McConneloug (Kenda-Seven-NoTubes) for the top three finishers.

For full results see:  USA Cycling results