Thursday, October 29, 2009

Surf City Double At The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds

Sabine Dukes and Velo Bella will again be hosting their classic Halloween Cyclocross race this Saturday as part of Surf City's two day festival of Cross. Then on Sunday Team Santa Cruz will take over from Velo Bella and the dastardly Dia De Los Muertos Race will finish out the big weekend of racing at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville. The Halloween Cyclocross extravaganza by Velo Bella is always a awesome time, with the Costume race a crowd favorite for sure. There will no doubt be lots of surprises and fun activities taking place during the Halloween day Cross race. I highly recommend making this event as each year it just gets better and better from the Girls & Guys who represent Velo Bella. Then after all the scary fun action of Saturday's Halloween race, the Dia De Los Muertos Race will shock and awe Cross racers from Northern California. Be ready for some seriously twisted good times from the folks at Team Santa Cruz. These two days of Cross racing are equally about racing hard & fast, as well as having a great time out with family and friends. Good luck to everyone & Happy Halloween! More info can be found here on the Saturday & Sunday races- http://www.cyclo-x.com/. And please remember to set your clocks back 1 hour Saturday night...

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Photos of The Week- B.A.S.P. #2 Version

Northern California Cyclocross racers are very fortunate to have excellent photographers who are extremely talented filming their races. Cyclocross racing tends to deliver many photo opportunities, as the racers are literally giving their utmost effort while being challenged by terrain variations plus natural and man made obstacles. The racing circuits are usually no more then 2 miles in length. This provides numerous laps for the riders in each race, and thus numerous photo possibilities for the film workers. Cross races always produce a chance for quality photos of the athletes doing their thing, yet it is still up to the photographers to catch these moments in living color. Please have a look at this B.A.S.P. version of Photos of The Week...


John Suzuki(Team Oakland) is a legend of two wheels. His cycling exploits are mythical and his film work of the racing is fantastic. Suzuki is passionate about Cyclocross and the feeling always comes to life in his photos. Here is the link to his collections.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/95428591@N00/sets/72157622664669752/


And some of my favorite of his work from this past weekends event....














The boys at Cyclocross Magazine always seem to get quality shots of the racing action. Andrew Yee and his crew also put together a solid web page that is must see material for Cross racers. Have a look at his website... http://cxmagazine.com/










Monday, October 26, 2009

B.A.S.P. #2- Big Race By The Bay

Kerry Barnholt(Scott/Ritchey) and Josh Snead(HRS Rock Lobster) cranked out strong wins in the Women's & Men's Elite divisions on a testy course at Coyote Point today. It was a picture perfect day for racing on a stellar course that really tested technical skills and power output. The B.A.S.P. event was huge in turn out, with 136 riders in the "C" Men's division alone. That is most likely a Nor-Cal record for riders in one division. I can remember many, many years ago when most Nor-Cal races did not even have 136 riders total! All in all, around 600 Cross racers lined up for the challenge at hand and were greeted by great crowd support, a beautiful day, plus some fun riding. Congratulations to all who raced! Here are the rest of the division winners on the day: Single Speed A- Rich Maile Sacramento CX, B Men- Isaiah Rapko Team Oakland, Single Speed B- Evan Sarna Sheila Moon, C Men- Miles Stepto, Junior Women- Madeleine Myall Cal Giant Specialized, Juniors 10-14- Skyler Taylor Above Category Racing, Juniors 15-18- Brandon Chan Sycip Racing, Master 55+- John Elgart Webcor Alto Velo, C Women- Alison Starnes Evergreen, B Women- Courtney Shipman, Women 35+ A- Linda Elgart Webcor/Alto Velo, Master 45+ A- Robert Meighan Cal Giant Specialized, Master 35+ A- Don Myrah Ibis/Buy-cell.com, Master 35+ B- Mike Morgan Sycip, Master 45+ B- Zachary W. Beekler Pen Velo/Pomodoro. Full results can be found here-http://www.pilarcitos.com/results/CrossResults/2009/CP2009.htm...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

B.A.S.P. #2 This Sunday!

Tom Simpson has been sending out some good info on the upcoming Bay Area Super Prestige race this Sunday at Coyote Point. Regarding the course: Coyote Point course – we are saving the beach and the flats of Coyote Point for our traditional December date – this weekend’s circuit will be on the knoll above the beach but featuring some old friends we haven’t visited since 2002. Regarding the course conditions: Course soil conditions since the last couple of drenchings – pretty soft. Overall this will be an up ‘n down course with 3 different pavement sections to give you a breather before more of the “work” stuff comes. On his action zones: TRP Brake Zone will consist of a UCI-legal sandpit (that’s one that hasn’t been purposely built just for the race) and run-up. Our SRAM barricades will have 2 locations, either of them potentially hop-able, if you’re able. On the parking and road access issues: Caltrans has at least another year to go before the Peninsula Ave. exit project is completed. So - listed below are the available access roads to get to Round 2 of the Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross Series,presented by Cannondale! When coming to Coyote Point from the north (San Francisco), use Highway101 South. Take the Poplar Avenue exit. Turn right onto Humboldt until Peninsula Avenue. Turn right onto Peninsula Avenue. Go over the freeway, and then circle around and into the Park.When coming to Coyote Point from the south (San Jose), use Highway 101 North. Take the Dore Avenue exit. Immediately turn left onto NorthBayshore Boulevard. Turn right onto Coyote Point Drive to the park. There is going to be some serious action going off at Coyote point this Sunday. For more info please have a look here- http://pilarcitos.com/CP_notes.htm ...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lion Of Fairfax & CCCX - Photos Of The Week

It was an incredible weekend of racing action this past Saturday & Sunday, with two strong events testing Nor-Cal Cyclocross racers to the maximum. The Lion Of Fairfax event was very well attended and the course produced some outstanding racing. Devon Haskell(Velo Bella) delivered another victory in her maiden year of Northern California Cross racing. Sarah Kerlin(HRS Rock Lobster) and Kathleen Hannon(Hunter/Freewheel) rounded out the Women's Elite top 3 in Fairfax. The Men's Elite race featured some very tight racing, and in the end it was HRS Rock Lobster's Josh Snead who posted another overall win in the Lion Of Fairfax event. Snead has won multiple times at the Fairfax classic. Snead's team mate David Wyandt claimed 2nd place on the day, while racing legend Ned Overend(Specialized) finished third in the very strong Elite field. 1990 MTB World Champion Ned Overend is 54 years young, and makes Don Myrah look like a baby. This result by Overend truly shows age does not matter when it comes to World Class talent on a bicycle. Overend has raced Cyclocross in Northern California at selected events over the past few years, and just shows you never know who might take to course in Nor-Cal Cyclocross events. Sunday's CCCX race at Toro park was also a classic Cyclocross event. The course was in top shape and featured a few selective spots that really quizzed a riders fitness, strength, fortitude, and bike handling ability. Any loss of power or control on course was costly in the riders final placing. Karen Brems(Webcor) & Sarah Maile(Ventana MTB) put on quite the show at the head of affairs in the Women's Elite race. Brems claimed victory after fending off multiple attacks from Maile. Stella Carey(HRS Rock Lobster) made third place on the demanding & fun riding course. Cody Kaiser(Cal Giant Inc.) & Scott Chapin(HRS Rock Lobster) got mixed up in a serious tussle for the Elite Men's win, with both riders launching attacks and surges and constantly animating the race. Each rider was vigorously cheered on by their respective camps, but in the end it was "Young Gun", kid- Cody Kaiser who claimed the Elite race win. Justin Robinson(Cal Giant Inc.) was in the mix early before blowing up and having a off day at the office. Robinson barely held off Josh Snead by seven seconds for third place on the day. Please read on for this weeks featured photos and a list of other division winners over the weekend...

Select photos from Steve Abderson at CCCX #3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngsloat/collections/72157622614839032/

Haley Beann(Vanderkitten) Cross racing- is that a Beer feed??.....
Sarah Maile overboard.....
Sacramento's Dan Sovereign.....
Ross TinLine(Pen Velo Pomodoro) of San Carlos in the drops....
Cliff Bar powered Eric Russell.....
Scott/Ritchey rider & newly married Jesse Mayberry leads a strong group into a tricky turn under the oak trees....
Single Speed "A" division winner & newly married Cesar Chavez(Buy-Cell.com) leads into a turn....
Cal Giant Inc. rider Justin Robinson shows why he is the all time CCCX Cyclocross race winner over the past 11 years. Robinson has some of the best Cyclocross bike handling skills in Northern California....
Perfect form.....
Ann Fitzsimmons fighting hard in the Fox Racing Shox kit......
CCCX #3 Elite men's podium- Kaiser, Chapin, Robinson, Snead, D'Aluisio.....


Some select photos from Dylan McReynolds- at the Lion Of Fairfax


Top 3 Elite Women captured attacking the same section of course during the Lion Of Fairfax- Devon Haskell, Sarah Kerlin & Kathleen Hannon.....


Riders kept serious focus on the task at hand.....

More Women race Cyclocross then ever before, and this makes for some very great photos of riders working hard on course....



More results coming.......

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Racing This Weekend- Sat. Lion Of Fairfax, Sun. Central Coast Cyclocross

This weekend the Cyclocross racing in Nor-Cal is featuring two outstanding events, Saturday's Lion Of Fairfax & Sunday's Central Coast Cylcoross Series at Toro Park. Certainly the heavy rain this past Tuesday will have somewhat of an effect of the ground condition, however it has been so dry for so long that Dave Carr's mud index will not come into play just quite yet. Saturday, The Lion Of Fairfax race will be contested on the grounds of the White Hill Middle School. The course will be very challenging, and the race route has received care and maintenance from the Ross Valley School District. This Cross Classic supports the local school and brings great Cross racing to the town of Fairfax. Sunday, the Central Coast Cyclocross Series will go off at Toro Park near Salinas. Toro Park is a awesome place to ride bikes and in the past has hosted Cross races, XC races, as well as DH races. The Cyclocross course on Sunday is a treat to ride and one of its features is a smooth flowing portion of trail that is a pleasure to cycle in any situation. Two different courses will be used at Toro Park for the CCCX Series in 2009, and each course is very spectator friendly and will test Nor-Cal Cyclocross racers full on. More info. can be found on the Lion Of Fairfax event here- http://www.bigswingincycles.com/ , & The Central Coast Cyclocross Series info. can be found here- http://cccx.org/2009/index.shtml. It keeps getting better for Cross racing in Northern California, so be sure and get on out there and compete...

Monday, October 12, 2009

Surf City & Cross In The Capitol Racing Action- Photos Of The Week

Kerry Barnholt(Scott/Ritchey) & Andy Jacques-Maynes(Bissell) ripped off outstanding Elite wins at Surf City #1, while Jeremy Ferguson(Cal Giant Inc./Specialized) & Joan Gregg(Squadra Abruzzo) did the same in Sacramento. Nor-Cal Cyclocross racing continues to grow and the level of competition is at a all time high. A huge "thank you" goes out to all the people who put on the events to facilitate the growth of the sport. Behind the scenes are the promoters who work long hours to prepare & produce events week after week. Constant racing opportunities allow Northern California Cyclocross athletes a means to develop skills and gain knowledge from on course racing experiences. It is now 8 weeks until the National Championships in Bend, Oregon. The non stop race action in Nor-Cal always seems to propel multiple riders into form for Nationals. Straight to the point- Cross in Nor-Cal is top notch, serious, and produces some of the best racers in America. However, week after week, one of the major themes to the racing is riders should have fun and enjoy the competition. Cross is challenging and builds cycling fitness & skills fast, but most of all the Cross scene in Nor-Cal is meant to be fun....

Surf City Video....

Photos Of The Week-
These photos are taken by passionate photographers who are devoted to the sport of Cyclocross. A big thanks goes out to the individuals who capture great photos of the racing exploits week in and week out..... They definitely deserve some great credit!
Photo credit for the pics below to:
Steve Anderson

John Suzuki
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95428591@N00/sets/72157622442813315/

Lauren Haughey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71073602@N00/sets/72157622441075695/

Shane Huntoon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liveplayride/archives/date-taken/2009/10/10/

Steven Woo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swoo/sets/72157622563908780/



Velo Bella's Soni Andreini-Poulsen attacks the grass section at Soquel High School....
Lauren Haughey(Sheila Moon) was on fire at Surf City #1. Haughey was the Master Women 35+ race winner.....
Team Roaring Mouse strongman Paule Bates in action....
Third Pillar's Steven Woo, of Los Altos, cycled to a solid result at the Surf City.....
Stella Carey(HRS Rock Lobster) working hard in the Women's Elite competition....
Style points at Sacramento Cyclocross....
Men's Elite winner Jeremy Ferguson in Sacramento on a challenging course featuring portions of a fun riding BMX track....
Taleo Racing star Joe Miller takes to course surrounded by a strong pack at Cross In The Capitol #2.....
Shane Huntoon(IC3) navigates a daring pass while demonstrating superior bike handling skills at College Cyclery Compound Cyclocross.....
Sheila Moon sponsored May Woo is awesome.....
Tim Samanski(Roaring Mouse) in the drops at Surf City.....
Drive & determination displayed by Mary-Anne Hunter(Freewheel Hunter).....
Karen Brems(Webcor) working the run up.....
Nor-Cal legend Brad Koester(DFL) of San Francisco shouldering his Bianchi properly....
Full flight.....Crowd favorite Ben Dodge(LGBRC) receiving huge applause from the fans lining the course.....
Monterey's Scott Calley(VOS) in action during the Master Men's 45+ "A" event....