Boulder Racing Series CX #2

Race report and photos by Shawn Lortie.

(Sept. 24, 2011) Longmont, Colo.-Continued warm and dry weather greeted racers for the Boulder Racing Series CX #2 last weekend at Xilinx. Although this venue has seen its share of rain, snow, and mud, this year would not deliver those coveted CX conditions. Instead, Mother Nature dished up some fast and dry conditions as more than 500 racers showed up to make the rounds at Xilinx. 

The classic course involves some flat out power riding through long stretches of field with a couple sandy sections and a handful of tricky turns that demanded a smooth line or a loss of speed. The backside of the course included the infamous log drop that quickly leads across a footbridge, then into a barrier run up. From there it’s out of the saddle across the pavement to another flat rugged section of field, then down the through the S-turns back to the fields of the front side. 

In the Women’s Open race, Allison Powers (Cross Propz) took the lead fairly early, but Margell Abel (Tough Girls) and Kristal Boni (Rapid Racing) put up a great fight and never let Powers out of their sights. Cat Johnson (The Service Course) led the Women from the start, but Abel jumped by her right as the pack it the dirt.  “After that I just tried to ride smooth. I tried to stay with Allison when she came by on the road but could not quite keep up.”  Said Abel.

Abel and Boni pushed each other throughout the race, trying to bring back Powers, who was riding about 30 seconds up on the two chasers. “Krystal rode great also, I sat on her a bit for a draft, but then went hard up the road with a lap to go, and she was not able to follow,” said Abel who ended up second behind Powers with Boni in third. 

In the Men’s Open race it was Allen Krughoff (Boulder Cycle Sport), Spencer Powlison (Plains to Peaks Racing), and Brady Kappius (Clif Bar) leading the charge on the first lap. Once things got sorted out, Russell Harding (Natural Grocers) had made a charge for the front and was able to create a small gap, with Powlison, Krughoff, and Kappius forming the chase group behind. 

At some point near the middle of the race, there was a tangle up within the chase group. As Kappius puts it, “Spencer had a lapse of concentration and crashed on a straight. I thought I came away fine but my bead came off and the tube exploded. I had good legs too. Oh well, I can only be mad at myself, shoulda been on the front!”  Krughoff also ended up having a couple mechanical issues, but was able to hang on for a second place finish behind Harding, with Chris Case (Feedback Sports) coming in for third spot on the podium.   

For full results see American Cycling Association