National Elite Wrap-Up: Solid performances from Wicks, BJM, AJM, Olds

The US Elite Cyclocross Championships were decided on Saturday (Men) and Sunday (Women), with dominating performances my Ryan Trebon and Katie Compton, respectively.

Northern California riders were in the action as well, with standout performances from Elite Men Barry Wicks (6th), Ben Jacques-Maynes (7th) and Andy Jacques-Maynes (10th).

In the Women's race, Shelley Olds' US Cyclocross Nationals debut was a strong one, notching up an incredible 8th place, and Christine Vardaros returned to home soil for a 7th place finish. Also in the mix were Sarah Kerlin (16th) and Josie Beggs (20th).

Full results here.

Also see CyclingNews' US Natz page to links to all race reports.

Nationals Day 1 Wrap-Up - Noble wins, Kramer and Hoefer close, Myall=madman

Also, John Elgart wins again! No repeat for Robinson or Kerlin.

Here's my race day wrap-up.

That course was F.U.N.

Sadly, no first-hand report from me on Day 2 - I'm headed home to nurse this cold.

Also, full results here.

Surf City #3 - Epic...

As with most epic races, far too many of you stayed home on Saturday. Still, there was some great racing in some truly epic conditions on hand at Surf City #3 at the Watsonville Fairgrounds. Ben Jacques-Maynes lent a hand to ace course designer Jeff Clark and the result was a challenging and fun twisty, muddy, and painful course across the hillside and lowlands of the Fairgrounds. Three tough run-ups including the grand-daddy of them all (the new BIG run-up) and of course, the trudge through the corral - a minute-plus of painful schlogging on foot thru shin-deep goop - added a few beats to the old ticker. Throw in some great off-cambers, back-busting mud pits, tough little climbs, and fun descents and you've got a great race.

Todd Hoefer showed his mud prowess in the M35+ race, he really knows how to ride that stuff. Rachel Lloyd, one the best in the business in the slop, dominated the women's race. Barry Wicks was head and shoulders above everyone else (figuratively AND literally) in the goop and took the Men's race by a comfy margin. In the Juniors race, Logan Loader outsprinted Lars Mommer for (by far) the closest race of the day. More winners and reports can be seen in the Surf City Results as well as in the Race Reports and Photos blog.

Oh, and here's my race report, if you care.

Thanks again to the Velo Bella gang and all the folks that helped put on, and break down, the event.

District Champions Crowned at CCCP

A gorgeous Fall day and a humdinger of a course greeted racers on Sunday at Coyote Point for the NCNCA District Cyclocross Championships/Bay Area SuperPrestige Series Finals. District medals in 10 different categories and augmented (not quite double) series points were up for grabs in the day's races. The Pilarcitos crew laid out a great course that snaked up the hill, then blasted back down to the questionably ride-able "walk on the beach" before tackling the twists and turns and grass of the flat East end of the course.

In the Elite Men's Race, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Cyclocrossworld.com) left the group behind early in the 2nd lap to solo for the win ahead of Dave Wyandt and Josh Snead. BTW here's my race report from the race.

The Elite Women's Race saw another familiar outcome, with Rachel Lloyd (Proman) solo-ing away for the District Title in front of Shelley Olds and Stella Carey.

The Juniors race was an amazing race, with a 4-man race all the way to the finish - Logan Loader (Alan) outsprinted his companions Jeremy Ferguson, Cody Kaiser, and Jeremy Blalock for the Gold Medal.

As expected, the Masters 35+ race was a nailbiter, though going into the final lap it was already apparent that Todd Hoefer would emerge District Champion, as his companion Mark Noble races in the S. Cal district. Mark managed to outsprint Todd for the race. Gannon Myall and Alan Coates were close behind and gathered up the remaining District medals.

The Masters 45+ race saw Henry Kramer repeat as District Champion, but was never that far in front of Mark Abele, Brett Lambert, and Steven Gile, who finished in that order.

The Masters 55+ saw a dominating win by Frank Cuaresma over Gary Noe and Hank Mini. I didn't catch what happened to favorite John Elgart...I'm sure someone can enlighten me in the commments below.

The three Womens Masters races were sorted out in one event that saw Kathleen Bortolussi win the outright race as well as the 35+ Title. Joan Gregg's 2nd place was more than enough to win her the Gold for the 45+ Masters, and Betty Jordan captured the 55+ Title.

The big surprise of the day wasn't that Rich Maile won the Single Speed title, but that he didn't try defend his Masters 35+ title. Pat Schott and Cesar Chavez took the Silver and Bronze medals behind Rich.

Congratulations to all our new District Champions!

Bay Area Super Prestige Overall Champions

The CCCP race not only decided the District Champions, but also crowned the winners for the General Classification for the Series.

Here is a list of the 2006 Bay Area Super Prestige Overall Series Winners:

Elite Women: Shelley Olds (HRS/Rock Lobster)
Elite Men: John Funke (Sycip Racing)
Junior Men: Jeremy Blalock (Ventana MTB's)
Master 35+ Men: Steve Reaney (Cal Giant Strawberry)
Master 45+ Men: Mark Abele (Boure/Cane Creek)
Master 55+ Men: John Elgart (Webcor/Alto Velo)
Master 35+ Women: Linda Elgart (Webcor/Alto Velo)
Single Speed: Kurt Gensheimer (Buy-Cell.com)
Cat B Women: Beverly Chaney (Roaring Mouse Cycles)
Cat B Men: Chris Brown (Windsor Bicycle)
Cat B 35+ Men: Matthias Behrends (Sycip Racing)
Cat B 45+ Men: Dave Libby (Cycle Sport)
Cat C Women: Jennifer Jordan (Velo Girls-Tri-Flow)
Cat C Men: Anthony Coando (Cupertino Bike Shop)

Congratulations to all the winners.

Also, a big thank you to the Pilarcitos and Roaring Mouse crew who put on another top-notch series.

Full GC results are here:

http://pilarcitos.com/results/CrossResults/2006/BASPS2006_GC.html