Author: Chad

Cross Hecklers,
Sure would be nice to have some enthusiastic cross race hecklers for the CX series finals at FLC on Sunday! Sounds like we might get some real weather as an extra bonus.

Bring your drums/bells/pots and pans.

When: Sunday
Where: FLC stadium for start/finish.
Times: Women and Men’s B’s at 10am, Men’s A and 35+ dudes at 11am.

Please spread the word to other known hecklers.

Don’t forget the awards party at the Irish Embassy Pub at 6pm on Sunday night.

Stan’s NoTubes 4CCX Series Finals Course Map

Aztec Race Report
The new venue for this weekend at Tiger Park in Aztec offered up some new terrain for everyone with some sandy run/ride ups, gravelly paths, sandy sections and some thick grass accentuated by the obligatory collegiate maze. Thanks to the City of Aztec, Pete Shirk and Cottonwood Cycles for hosting the event.

Day 1 began with the standard weather so far this year, dry and relatively mild. The Men’s B class was a pack race for the first few of the 4:40 laps with the usual suspects at the front with one newcomer, Adam Digby (FLC). Jacob Smith (FLC) soon separated himself and despite repeated attempts by Digby, took the win with Digby in second and Troy Hachmann (FLC Alum) having yet another solid ride for third.

The Open Women’s race also stayed tight for the first few laps until Sofia Gomez Villafane (FLC) created a gap over the chasers and went on to a comfortable win. Lauren Catlin (FLC) and Sarah Sturm (FLC) have their form coming on at the right time to take 2nd and 3rd. Series leader Brianne Marshall (Stan’s NoTubes) had an off day and finished 4th.

The Men’s 35+ race had the same group of instigators start off the race but the outcome was highlighted by a newcomer. Matt McGee (2Cross) was in town from Las Vegas and showed up to create a gap from the beginning and grew his lead throughout the race to take a convincing win over the Stan’s NoTubes tandem of Frank Mapel (2nd) and Michael Carroll (3rd). Jon Delacy (DWC) again showed he was the best of the rest by finishing 4th.

The Men’s A race was sure to be decided by the FLC racers vying for spots on the National Team that will represent FLC on Januray 13th in Madison, WI. Leave it up to Sepp Kuss (RMCF Sweet Elite) to derail those plans by keeping tabs on Skyler Trujillo (FLC) and Rotem Ishay (FLC/Jamis) for the majority of the race and then pulling away to take the win – Trujillo 2nd, Ishay 3rd. Mike Sampson (FLC) had his best result to date by riding to a solid 4th and Robbie Jones (FLC) kept up the consistent results coming with a 5th place effort.

Day 2 in Aztec conditions were markedly different with a brutally cold wind out of the west making it very cold out in the elements and a few snowflakes flying. The course was run in the reverse direction from the day before with a few additions to make it a longer lap.

The Men’s B race seemed a tight pack race from the beginning but the group didn’t realize that Peter Marshall (DWC) had exploded off the front to take the win in dominating fashion. Jacob Smith (FLC) road the majority of the race alone to take 2nd and Troy Hachmann (FLC Alum) overcame a first lap mechanical to take 3rd yet again.

In the Open Women race Brianne Marshall (Stan’s NoTubes) exacted her revenge on everyone by using her teams cannon to obliterating the field and even passing all but one B man despite starting 1 minute behind them. Sofia Gomez Villafane, Sarah Strum, Lauren Catlin and Brittany Clawson formed up the FLC Cycling chase train before spreading out in that order to finish 2,3,4,and 5.

The Men 35+ field was missing the guest instigator from the day before and the Frank Mapel (Stan’s NoTubes) Michael Carroll (Stan’s NoTubes) duo (they might as well be riding a tandem) created a small gap over Andre Michaud (DWC) and Jon Delacy (DWC). The DWC racers did their best to close down the gap but fell short with Mapel taking another win, Carroll in 2nd, Delacy 3rd and Michaud 4th.

The Men’s A race got off to a quick start with Sepp Kuss (RMCF Sweet Elite), Skyler Trujillo (FLC) and Mike Wilk (FLC Alum) trading off on the front of the race with Chad Cheeney (RMCF Sweet Elite) holding a gap on a group of FLC chasers. Trujillo and Wilk turned up the throttle to gap Kuss and then Wilk bobbled in the hopable barrier section to give Trujillo the winning margin. Kuss kept riding hard to hold onto 3rd and Cheeney held off the chasing Mike Sampson (FLC) and Robbie Jones (FLC) to take 4th.

The Stan’s NoTubes Series Finals are this Sunday, December 16th up at Fort Lewis College with Open Women/Men B at 10am and Men A/Men 35+ at 11am. The venue will be slightly different than in the past with the Start/Finish next to the Amphitheater/Clocktower on the south side of Whalen Gymnasium.

All please be sure to make it to the Series awards on Sunday night at 6pm at the Irish Embassy pub at 9th and Main Ave. Should be a great time with the CX community coming together to celebrate the season.
Series Points; Stan’s NoTubes 4CCX Overall