Boulder CX Series Race #1

Race report by Shawn Lortie

The folks at Boulder Racing put on the first of their 5 race series last Saturday at Xilinx in Longmont. This is always a great venue as lots of open space in the fields surrounding the property gives promoters plenty of options for laying out a great course. The ample parking and shady grass areas also make it a great place to watch the race, and with the great weather over the weekend, it was no wonder there were lots of racers and lots of spectators out for the event. 

Brian and the rest of the crew at Boulder Racing laid out a classic course with plenty of straight ahead power riding across rough and sandy fields, mixed with tighter, technical sections, and plenty of dismounts. A long paved sprint up a hill and around a bend led to a high speed hop onto the dirt and into a technical section that included a loose and dusty turn, into another hop over a small log, across a footbridge, through a tight wooded single track, over a two barrier run up, then across a lose off camber section. And this is all within the first few minutes of the lap. Needless to say, this course had it all. 

Once through the top section of the course, racers headed out across a field, across another small footbridge, and down a gravel footpath to the front side of the course. Here riders contended with drainage ditches forcing dismounts, some rough s-turns, a couple of long pulls through wheel sucking sand, and a triple log run over.

Melanie Long, racing for Tough Girls in the Women’s Open race had this to say about the course;  “The course was super fun with a variety of obstacles that kept me on my toes the entire race. There were a lot of fast corners and some single track sections that really tested your technical abilities, and provided a couple great cheering sections which I always look forward to in a CX race.”

In the Men’s Open race the boys from Boulder Cycle Sport put on a great show as they swept the podium. Half way through the first lap it was Brandon Dwight and Allen Krughoff (Boulder Cycle Sport), along with Matt Pacocha (Hudz/Subaru) with a small gap on a group of five including Pete Webber (Boulder Cycle Sport), Troy Heithacker (Echelon Energy), and a few others. Dwight and Krughoff pushed the pace off the front as Webber separated himself from the chase group and began to bridge up. 

Pacocha dropped back into fourth spot with Zane Godby (Focus), Jon Tarkington, and Christian McCarthy (Natural Grocers) chasing hard. As the race wore on, Pacocha must have run into some trouble as he eventually dropped back to an 8^th place finish while Webber fought hard to bring back the two leaders. In the end it was Krughoff for the win with Dwight and Webber rounding out the podium spots. 

After the race Webber said; “My first CX race of the season and I’m psyched with my result. The bike worked perfect, and our team killed it.” Pete’s got his sights set on the Masters Nationals this year, and if his early season form is any indication, he’s on his way.

In the Women’s Open, it was Nicole Duke (Hudz/Subaru) from the start, as she continued her strong early season racing. Lisa Strong chased hard, but Nicole just kept powering through the 45+ men and never looked back. A great battle for the third spot on the podium ensued between Melanie Long (Tough Girls) and Ann Trombly (Tokyo Joe’s). 

“Ann T. and I went back and forth for a few laps,” said Long, “and at one point I thought I might be able to pull off a podium spot for the day, but she was able to pull away on the 2^nd to last lap and the hold the gap until the finish.”  It was great to see a good sized Women’s field out there pushing each other through the even larger 45+ Men’s field. 

Thanks to Boulder Racing for putting on a great event.  For complerte results please check:  American Cycling Association 

The Men's 45+ field hits the dirt.  Check out the snarling teeth on that pack.	Ten seconds later and the pack hits the pinch.	This scene does not tell the story of pain and suffering that is really going on.
Ann Trombly holding off the pack of Pro Women on her heels.	Some serious battle going on in the Women's Open race.	Cat Johnson on the double barrier run up in the Women's Open.
Melanie Long shows some serious determination as she hammers her way into fourth for the day.	Nicole duke off the front and over the barrier.	Rolling through the fields, racers work their way back towards the start finish line.
Brandon Dwight and Matt Pacocha piulling hard through the sand.	Heading out into the fields on the front side of the course.	William Iaia up and over in the Men's Open race.
Webber, doing his thing, quickly.	Robin Eckmann runs it in the Men's Open race.	Krughoff leading Dwight down some sweet singletrack.
A racer in the Men's Open race  arcing through a turn.	There was plenty of exciting spectating to be had around the course.