Boulder Cup Cyclocross

I went to another bike race last weekend

This race day included an UCI sanctioned race at the end of a long full day of racing. A day which also had a huge turnout for most of the amateur categories. As is typical of early-season cross races in Colorado, the weather was perfect (last night we had our first snow in Denver).

My complete album of photos can be viewed here: Pedal Dancer Images - Boulder Cup, Sunday  (or in slideshow). See other photos from fellow photographers at 303Cycling here. See the Boulder Cup Race Results here.

Today I share the anatomy of a sand pit fall at Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, Colorado. Known to be the location of the 2014 USA Cyclo-cross National Championships this January 8-12, and you can bet that this long stretch of sand will be included in the course. Sometimes I avert my camera lens when I see a fall, instinctively caring more about the rider, but for this one I kept snapping ...

All photos below by  Karen Rakestraw at Pedal Dancer® click any image to enlarge

album of photos: Pedal Dancer Images - Boulder Cup, Sunday

Oh and Jeremy Powers (Rapha-Focus) won the Mens UCI Elite race on Sunday.

Jeremy Powers  Photo by Karen Rakestraw at Pedal Dancer®

Full results Victory Circle Graphix Boulder Cup, October 13, 2013

I like this picture of Ryan Trebon

Ryan Trebon.  Photo by Karen Rakestraw at Pedal Dancer®

And Jamie Driscoll

James Driscoll  Photo by Karen Rakestraw at Pedal Dancer®

And here is a nice one of VeloNews Tech reporter Leonard Zinn riding his Zinn bicycle. Leonard is a regular at the local CX races.

Leonard Zinn  Photo by Karen Rakestraw at Pedal Dancer®

And because I am a big big fan of Cosmo of Cyclocosm, for Behind the Barriers: How The Race Was Won: Boulder Cup.

Cyclocross Calendar

Cyclocross season in Colorado is here

For an updated calendar for the 2013-14 CX season, please see: 2013-14 Colorado Cyclocross Calendar, By Pedal Dancer®

The time of year when disappointment sets in when the sun shines and the sky is clear. Cyclocross is synonymous with muddy chains and freezing riders. When men and women attempt to hold onto their fitness for months extending across the Holidays, simply to race their friends across dirt, sand, water, obstacles and yes, snow.
 

I confess I attended only 1 local criterium race this summer in Colorado. My calendar was filled with pro races in the States and abroad with lots of travel, but when it comes to cyclocross, I plan to be out there many weekends this cold winter. Cyclocross in Colorado is a relaxed entertaining friendly sport, and one that is certainly on the rise for men, women, juniors, and kids.
 

With perfect timing Cross Vegas (in Las Vegas, Nevada) sort of kicks off the cyclocross season. Cross Vegas is the #1 reason to go to Las Vegas, Interbike is #2, there is no #3. Cross Vegas and Interbike are just over a week away and I will be going for two quick days. I have been reading the tech reports from Eurobike and although Interbike is not as big or well represented as Eurobike, it is the best offered in North America, so all those interested in the latest greatest from bicycle and equipment manufacturers file into Las Vegas to see shiny new cycling related things.
 

The other day I went to my first local cyclocross race of the year in Colorado Springs. Amy Dombroski was there, she will be racing at Cross Vegas on September 19th in Las Vegas (for her new team Telenet Fidea), she was second in the womens race in 2011 behind Katerina Nash, who will not be racing at Cross Vegas 2012, although Georgia Gould will be there, (see the 2012 USA Cycling Women Open start list for Cross Vegas).
 

Amy Dombroski, last Saturday in Colorado Springs    ©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

We can also expect some big names for the USA Cycling Men Cat. 1-3 including Americans Ryan Trebon (riding for his new team cyclocrossworld.com/Cannondale), Tim Johnson, Todd Wells, Jamie Driscoll, Jeremy Powers, Chris Jones, Zach McDonald, Jonathan Page, and Geoff Kabush. Also Europeans Lars Van der Haar (2011 winner), Rob Peeters, Bart Wellens, Ben Berden, Arnaud Jouffrey, Niels Wubben, Lukas Fluckinger and Lukas Winterberg. Cross Vegas 2012 should be very entertaining. 

Tim Johnson, 2 weeks ago in Aspen, representing Cannondale   ©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

If you cannot attend the race in Las Vegas, you can watch the action online: Live webcast of CrossVegas will be available at www.crossvegas.com beginning at 8:00 pm Pacific Time on race day, Wednesday September 19. 2012.  Related posts by Pedal Dancer from 2011: Cross Vegas - Vegas style and Interbike - I am a fan.
 

I will be taking more photos from Interbike and following up on the very popular pieces I did last year about Specialized Bikes and BMC Bikes. Sorry Colnago, Pinarello, Trek, and Cannondale bikes will not be on exhibit at Interbike. Giant, BMC, Specialized, Fuji, BH, Scott, and Cervelo will be exhibiting. There will also be lots of pedals, tires, wheels, saddles, and apparel to drool over.
 

For now check the dates of these cyclocross races in Colorado, mark your Calendar, and get out to see or race a cyclocross race in your local town. To see the best of the best, try to attend the New Belgium US GranPrix of Cyclocross in Fort Collins on October 13 to 14, 2012. What is cyclocross - this video should give you the feel of the sport.

Full Schedule of all races at the BRAC website: Calendar of cycling races in Colorado. Racers for full details view (.pdf): www.coloradocycling.org Calendar. To view this list of races in date order go to: COLORADO CYCLING PAGE. (**silver, ***gold)

Denver/Aurora/Brighton
09/15/12, Saturday - Kick It CX Festival and TT, Brighton
09/30/12 Sunday - Adrenalin CX, Highlands Ranch
11/11/12, Sunday - Mile High Urban Cross Chaos, Denver
11/18/12, Sunday - Alpha Cross, Centennial ***

Arvada/Golden/Morrison
09/23/12, Sunday - Queens of Cross, Arvada/Golden
09/29/12, Saturday - Primalpalooza, Arvada/Golden
11/04/12, Sunday - Routine Leg Works Cyclo-Cross, Golden
11/25/12, Sunday - Green Mountain Sports #1, Morrison
12/09/12, Sunday - Green Mountain Sports #2, Morrison

Parker/Castle Rock
11/24/12, Saturday - Parker CX **
12/02/12, Sunday - Castle Cross, Castle Rock ***

Louisville/Lafayette/Westminster/Broomfield
10/20/12, Saturday - Boulder Racing CX Series #3 - Interlocken, Broomfield **
11/10/12, Saturday - CycloX- Sienna Lake, Broomfield **
12/01/12, Saturday - CycloX- Louisville **
12/08/12, Saturday - Boulder Racing #5, Westminster ***

Boulder
09/16/12, Sunday - Boulder Racing CX Series #1 - Valmont Park
10/27/12, Saturday - CO Cross Classic (UCI - C2), Valmont Park **
10/28/12, Sunday - Victory Circle Graphics Boulder Cup (UCI - C2), Valmont Park ***
11/17/12, Saturday - Boulder Racing #4 TBA **

Longmont
09/22/12, Saturday - Boulder Racing CX Series #2 - Xilinx
10/21/12, Sunday - Blue Sky Velo Cup Xilinx **
11/03/12, Saturday - Schoolyard Cross, Longmont **

Fort Collins/Loveland
10/13-14/12, Saturday-Sunday - New Belgium USGP , Fort Collins
12/15/16/12, Saturday-Sunday - States CX with Cross of the North, Loveland ***

Colorado Springs
11/04/12, Sunday - Fall Back Cross 

Summit County/Buena Vista
10/06/12, Saturday - Frisco **
10/07/12, Sunday - Cross the River, Buena Vista **

Junior Cyclocross Camp
October 5-6-7, 2012, Fri-Sun - Junior CX Camp, Loveland (see BRAC events) 

Nationals/World Championships
January 4-8, 2012 - USAC National Championships, Madison, WI
January 29-February1, 2012 - UCI Masters World Championships, Louisville, KY
February 2-3, 2012 - UCI Elite World Championships, Louisville, KY

Photos from the Pikes Peak Velo Campus Cross cyclocross race in Colorado Springs last Saturday:

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

©Photo by Karen at PedalDancer.com

US Grand Prix Cyclocross

A muddy day in Fort Collins

Saturday afternoon, on a very cold rainy day, I ventured north to Fort Collins, CO to watch the New Belgium Cup cyclocross race. The race was the second on the calendar of four races in Wisconsin, Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon comprising the 2011 Exergy Cyclocross US Gran Prix presented by Greenware. That is a long name for a fun event. This was to be the big cyclocross race of the season in Colorado, and I wanted to be there to watch some of the best racers in the nation compete.

Perfect cyclocross weather

When you hear that phrase expect rain or snow, cold and lots of mud. Yesterday was perfect cyclocross weather in an open field in southern Fort Collins 1.5 hours north of Denver, CO. As usual, it is tons of fun to be a fan at a cyclocross race. Even the fans got sprayed with mud as we were slipping and sliding in the mud along the barriers. All Photos by PedalDancer.com

The riders begin looking like this:

Jeremy Powers at the start line

And finish looking like this:

Jeremy Powers riding to the finish line

Some images from the day (please add 40 degree temperatures and rain to set the mood): All photos by PedalDancer.com  click any image to enlarge

Jamey Driscoll

Jamey Driscoll checks out his bike pre-race with his cold mechanic

After the call-ups to the start line for the top riders, the waiting began

Ryan Trebon

Ryan told Tim that I was trying to take his picture, so Tim tried to look as tall as Ryan

Tim Johnson

Jamey Driscoll

Jeremy Powers had an official Rapha umbrella holder, not sure why, because he got wet and muddy anyway

Jake Wells and Cody Kaiser

Behind the start line waited the field of elite male racers

4:00pm start time

Ryan Trebon

The line up: Barry Wicks, Zach Mcdonald, Christian Heule, Geoff Kabush, Jamey Driscoll, Jeremy Powers, Timothy Johnson, Ryan Trebon,

start the engines

Jeremy Powers

Geoff Kabush

Jamey Driscoll

Robin Eckmann

Evan Guthrie

It got muddier on every lap

Jeremy Powers leads Ryan Trebon

Troy Wells

Ross Holbrook

Of course the fans stayed and cheered in the cold and rain

Jamey Driscoll chasing Yannick Eckmann

fly over

more laps, more fun, more cheering, more beer

hardy cyclocross fans

and the first signs of exhaustion

Jamey Driscoll

Zach Mcdonald

bike change please!

much better, a new clean bike helps a lot

the last efforts as nearly 1 hour of hard cold racing comes to an end

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski

Tim Johnson

Cody Kaiser

56:07 minutes of racing and Ryan Trebon comes in for an easy win

Ryan Trebon takes the win

Followed by Geoff Kabush

and Jeremy Powers

Race Results Day 1 (Saturday):

• 1. Ryan Trebon, (USA) LTS, 56:07:00
• 2. Geoff Kabush, (CAN) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain, at 24
• 3. Jeremy Powers, (USA) Rapha-Focus, at 58
• 4. James Driscoll, (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, at 2:08
• 5. Yannick Eckmann, (GER) Pearl Izumi-Shimano, s.t.
• 6. Chris Sheppard, (CAN), at 2:25
• 7. Troy Wells, (USA) Team Clif Bar, at 2:34
• 8. Ben Berden, (BEL) Ops Ale-Clement, at 2:49
• 9. Christian Heule, (SUI) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, at 3:07
• 10. Barry Wicks, (USA) Kona, at 3:18
• 11. Zach Mcdonald, (USA) Rapha-Focus, at 3:26
• 12. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, (USA), at 3:26
• 13. Timothy Johnson, (USA) Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, at 3:59

Race Reports by Brian Holcombe at VeloNews: 

Ryan Trebon takes day 1 of the 2011 New Belgium Cup 

Jeremy Powers stages miraculous comeback to win day 2 of 2011 New Belgium Cup

 

After the race, I attended a large dinner party in Boulder, where I was asked, "what is cyclocross?" They were serious. So I began gently, "it is bike racing in the winter, the bikes look like beefed-up road bikes. They ride over pavement, dirt, wood, and grass. They carry their bikes, they run with their bikes, they jump over things and they ride in between." I realized this boring description was doing the fun sport of cyclocross no justice, so I changed gears, "remember when you were a child and the neighborhood kids would gather to ride bikes and play in the local construction lot and make jumps with wood and ride around a course one after another? Well cyclocross is like that - for adults. Plus it is a fantastic spectator sport!"

I nearly thought this was to be my transportation home after the race when the parking lot turned into a huge mud rally with cars stuck everywhere, luckily I got mine out. 

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