The Start... 165+ Elite Men coming full-gas towards the first turn... One hour later, they weren't nearly as clean, and Kona's 2006 National Champ, Ryan Trebon wouldn't even be on-site, as a head-on collision with another racer sent him first to the ground unconscious, then to the hospital for a check-over. He checked out A-OK, according to Cory at Kona... bummed out, no doubt, at getting taken out of an opportunity to defend his stars and stripes, but lucky to have escaped worse injury. It was sketchy out there... Trebon wasn't the only victim of the conditions.
Just two seconds later, Trebon exits the left side of my lens, while Planet Bike's Tristan Schouten rides his Chili Con Crosso right at me. CVO, my new GB "Hollywood", from Hollywood Cycles in Minneapolis and I had the prime pole position in the first corner of the Elite Men's race. I was lucky enough to get four shots total of it. This was #2 of 4.
Jay "Hollywood" Henderson does some "grassroots" marketing at its finest beside the course, while the Great US 'Cross Hope in Europe, Jonathan Page, puts in an impressive effort that would eventually land him in second place at the finish. He had the speed to win, but minor mechanicals and on-course bobbles cost him critical seconds in the closing laps to eventual victor, Johnson.
Durango, CO resident Todd Wells, GT Bicycles, nailed down a solid third today to stand on the podium. He and Page had a nice battle up front in the first half of the race too. Wells was givin' it to him hard and Page was dishing it right back, mano-a-mano. It was good, hard racin' action -- a great day to be a spectator.That, my friends, was a very fun weekend... Thanks to all who made the trip down to Kansas City for the race, and also to everybody at KCCX for putting on an awesome event. Whether you were a racer or a spectator, there was plenty of fun to be had for all.
Cheers,
MG
Cheers,
MG
7 comments:
It's been a long time since that road trip to Denver for the, what was it, 1997?, nationsls?
I bet that was fun!
That was 1997... that was my last cx nats too. The sport is a lot bigger now. There were 168 pro men and 101 pro women on the line, in insanely crappy conditions!!
It was fun... Wish you'd have been there, good buddy.
Cheers,
MG
Yeah man, cross is definitely getting to be the real deal. Well, it is the real deal. CO State Championships had a 75ish man pro field. It was fun. Wish I coulda made it out to KC though. mmmm, Gates Barbeque...
Looks like about the same conditions as the '97 race, too, eh?
yeah, sunday was a carbon copy of colorado. saturday was colder, windier and more frozen than it was in colorado. no sun at all either, so it was biting cold. i felt bad for the people that had to race that day... bad stuff. sunday was primo though. belgian style cyclocross conditions. you woulda' loved it dave.
I broke my lens on my glasses just toodling around Syd's mom's farm. I wonder how many people lost their's last weekend.
Oh well, here's to mud in your eyes.
(BTW- is that "ride to work" contest still going on?)
lol... i suspect there were a lot of lost glasses last weekend, though i have to admit i didn't see any laying around in the mud.
... i wasn't exactly looking for them either.
as for the commuter challenge, it ended on memorial day. i've been really bad lately too, but at least laura and i have been carpooling, so we're only using one car. need to start riding to work again more though... it's easy to fall out of the habit.
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