Blue Sky Velo Cup CX

By Eddie Clark  

(October 15, 2011) Longmont, Colo.—The Blue Sky Velo Cup, a Front Range darling of a cyclocross race, once again enticed plenty of racers to come out for a fun day of fast racing at the Xilinx complex.  Slightly overcast skies provided chilly temperatures in the early morning, but it quickly warmed up with ample sunshine for the days later races.  In fact, it got so warm in the afternoon that the merits of carrying a water bottle were debated by some.

The 35+ Master's race saw Michael Robson of Moots go to the front after a couple laps and open a fair gap which he held over the field for 45 minutes.  Notably singlespeed racer Jesse Swift (Gates Carbon Drive and Taylor Carrington (TLR Cycling) started to reel Robson in with one lap to go. An untimely flat had Swift running his bike across the line for 10th while Carrington stayed on the gas to finish in second just behind Robson.

Starting roughly after noon, the Senior Women's Open race got under way with a field sprint up a gentle paved climb through the start/finish area. Twenty-five women battled for the front before exiting the pavement, and Flora Duffy proved to have gotten her warm up right by taking the lead from the start.  Tough Girl's Rebecca Gross never gave an inch and kept her pace high enough to maintain second, but never managed to real Duffy in before the finish.  Mountain biker Amanda Carey (Kenda) worked her way through the field to eventually claim the third place.

In the Senior Men's Open race a seasoned field with incredible speed was lead out by Matt Pacocha (BikeRadar.com) who stayed on the front for nearly the first two laps.  Boulder Cycle Sport's Brandon Dwight was next to take up the role of race leader, and in turn kept the pace high for another couple laps.  Finally, Chris Case (Feedback Sports Racing) grab the race and stepped on the gas to open a gap which maintained for the remainder of the race.

"It was just a good day, a surprisingly good day for me. I had a big season on the road this year, so that worked out well for me here." said Case.

Also of notice in the Men's Open race was the National Short Track mountain bike champ, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, who appears to be getting his cyclocross race legs figured out.  There was no doubt Jeremy had a big turn of speed, and was looking to back up his wife Heather Irmiger's Pan Am Games Gold medal.  However, his chain dropped so many times throughout the race that he literally passed several people several times on his way to claiming second place.  Bryan Alders rode, perhaps, the most consistent race to steadily work his way up and finish in 3rd place.

Results here.