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Cyclo-X Louisville

Race Report and Photos by Shawn Lortie

(Dec.3, 2011) Louisville Colo.-A storm rolled across the Front Range on Friday night and into Saturday morning, turning Louisville Rec Center’s Bowl of Death into The Snow Bowl, with a good 6 inches of the white stuff blanketing the course on the morning of the race. Not to be scared off by a bit of weather, hundreds of hearty CX racers turned out to do battle in the Colorado Cross Cup race #8 as the series nears it’s season end and State Championships loom just around the corner.

The course remained the same as in the past years, but as Josh Whitney (Rocky Mounts/Izzies), who finished eighth in the Men’s Open race said, “While typically a power course, today's conditions turned everything that was straightforward on its head, which made for an exciting and welcome change of pace.” With unconsolidated snow all over the course, a narrow compacted strip was often the only clean line, and veering off the strip could have dire consequences. As the day wore on, ice and mud began to develop on course and bike-handling skills became imperative to riding fast. 

With two run ups, and a section of switchbacks in the middle of the course that were battered into a run only situation, racers were off and on the bike multiple times every lap. For many, this meant iced up pedals and cleats, which only added to the already challenging conditions. Throw in some icy corners and a few tricky transitions off and onto pavement, and it was demanding and intense racing all day long.

In the Women’s Open race Amanda Carey (Kenda) and Rebecca Gross (Tough Girl) took the lead early, with Kristin Webber (Boulder Cycle Sport), and Krital Boni (Rapid Racing) giving chase. Gross and Carey battled hard at the front, trading time on the front. “Amanda is so strong” said Gross, “but I really wanted to focus on staying with her, I just wasn't sure how anything was going to go in the snowy conditions. We went back and forth for a bit but my cleats were clearing better than hers and it gave me an advantage.” Gross eventually took the win almost a minute ahead of Carey, with Boni edging out Webber for third place by a mere 3 seconds.

In the Men’s Open, Danny Summerhill (Garmin/Chipotle) once again put on a clinic of how to ride fast and smooth, even under the most demanding race conditions. Not one to pass up a challenge, Pete Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport) gave chase as Summerhill proceeded to pull the field apart. As the laps ticked by, Summerhill’s gap slowly grew as Weber did what he could to limit the damage, and Brandon Dwight (Boulder Cycle Sport) began to close on Weber. Behind the three frontrunners, the Feedback Sports duo of Tim Allen and Chris Case worked to bring back Dwight. Eventually Summerhill took the win over Weber by 30 seconds with Dwight in third close behind.

For full results see ACA Results

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