Nationals day 2

 Wednesday at the course the rain held off until later in the morning. This meant that the first two races would be pretty dry. Starting in the bitter cold at 8:30 AM were the women's 30-34 group containing Hannah Dillard in her first full season of CX. She would finish a credible 8th place. Next up were the men in the same 30-34 age group. Brendan Lehman cracked the top-10 finishing 9th and Eric Brown got a top-20 at 19th . Later at 10:30 the men's 65-69 race got started in the drizzle and the course got slippery. I managed to finish a surprising 15th .

 in the afternoon the men's 35-39 group started on a much wetter and slick track. This suited Aaron Bradford as he rode from the back to finish 16th.

 The night after the first championship day was a good one for a big team meal of pasta , salad and garlic bread. With a house full of hungry racers and others two full batches were cooked . So far, the start of this nationals week was looking good. The course was very challenging and fun at the same time. The dark skies, low temperatures and frequent showers made for classic Pacific Northwest CX conditions. We in California rarely get to ride in mud like the stuff we were seeing in Lakewood.

Although different than what conditions were for most of the season, we were experiencing what it is all about- the mud.

2019 nationals day 1

We had a treat this season- a nationals you could drive to, as long as you didn't mind the 800+ mile marathon. Our first stop was the family home of Aaron Bradford. Aaron and his dad made sure that we were comfortable and well fed on the first night in Tacoma.

The next morning we were down at the course. While most of us would just be checking out the course on foot and doing a few pre-race laps there were some who opted to race in the 'non-championship' events on Tuesday. Although risky, the races were a good way to check out the course conditions on that day. The conditions would be changing quite a bit from day to day. Tuesday's relatively dry and tacky course would give way to Wednesday's rain and the softening of the muddy stretches in the area surrounding the pit.

 Sarah Jordan, Kristy Vahlberg, Kathleen Bortolussi and John Vahlberg did the non-championship races on Tuesday. There would be more later in the week.

 It would not be until the next day that official championship racing would begin for the team. The cloudy skies and nearly constant rain of the following days coupled with low temperatures would make conditions for a classic edition of the cyclocross nationals.

The Lakewood, Wa. Stielacoom park course has been used on many occasions for CX racing and its most notable features are the steep and choppy run-ups, probably some of the toughest in USA cyclocross. These long runs would prove to be testing to every person on a bike the whole week.

CX nation mud fest

 The races were behind schedule , the results were a mess and some of the races were cut short. That said, it was about as good as it gets in terms of CX racing as it should be. The rain came down all day and the mud was deep and plentiful. We had a pretty good number of riders there and some decent results. Getting them all sorted out might happen some day but here's what I know for sure: Hannah Dillard got 2nd in the women's elite, Brendan Lehman got 6th in the men's elite, Kathleen Bortolussi got the win and Sarah Jordan got 2nd in the women's masters 45+. Eric Brown , many juniors , Kailin Waterman and others were there-not sure where they finished but I think that Kailin might have won the single speed A race.

 All the bikes got pretty trashed and the mud might never fully wash out of the kits but it was all worth the long drive to Sonoma for this, the first real mud of the season. Now it is off to Lakewood, Wa. for the nationals and more mud- maybe not as deep as the Sonoma mud but it should be wet and slippery. Just about everyone who was at the CX Nation cup will be going to the nationals.

 I would like to thank Brian Staby and CX Nation for putting on this event as I know that it must have been a really difficult day with the weather and the timing glitches. If you came to get re-aquainted with the mud, you got your wish last Sunday.

Surf City CX this weekend

 Well , it won't be muddy and it won't be Louisville but it will be a CX party at a brand new course.

 Check Surf City CX on facebook and elsewhere for info. The race will be at Antonelli pond, just about one city block from the Rock Lobster shop. Proceeds will go to MBOSC, the local trail advocacy group and some funds will go to the team. I'm signed up......what about you ? If you are not racing volunteers are still needed tomorrow to help with course setup and Sunday more will be needed for marshaling and course teardown. It will probably be the only CX race this season in Santa Cruz county so be there.

New Portland single speeder

This is Fred Mills, the most recent addition to the team. He has been terrorizing the pacific northwest's one-gear fields and now he will do it as a part of our team. His goals are lofty but he seems to be preparing with a lot of energy and dedication. Look for him at the Cross Crusade and at the nationals in Tacoma. He will be part of our sizable entry into the single speed class.

CCCX II Fort Ord

The second race of the CCCX series saw slightly smaller fields in some cases, larger fields in others. Our team is still not fully present at the races as many of the team are waiting until October to start. This didn't keep the team from having a dominant showing for the second week in a row.

The juniors and C groups started off early with the boy's 10-14 where we were well represented:

10-14  Mac Tomkins 2nd, Remy Schmidt 3rd.
15-18 Peter Vahlberg 5th

Open C race
Enzo Sapojnikoff 1st.

 In the B wave we had limited but good results:

Open B race
Enzo Sapojnikoff 1st
Joey Kochlacs  4th

Men's 45 B
Eric Werner  4th

 The masters A races saw a few of our team do well

35 A race
Ben Dodge 2nd.
45 A race
John Vahlberg 19th
55 + race
Detlef Adam 4th
Manny Affonso 7th
60+ race
Paul Sadoff 3rd
Mark Hubbell 4th

 In the single speed A race there were only two but Kyle Taylor managed a convincing win in his first try .

In the Women's A race we had only one entrant but it was Hannah Dillard and the pace she set was more than enough to beat the field. She is undefeated so far in the series.

After last week's near miss, Brendan Lehman got his first ever elite CX win-riding at the front and wearing everyone down until he was alone at the end. He got the win and now has the series lead.

Men's A race:
Brendan Lehman 1st
Ben Dodge         11th
Eric Brown         13th
Nate Vahlberg     16th
Ian Stowe            17th

With no races in the coming week there will be time for team folks to do other events such as the Old Growth classic. Several of the team will be there- it isn't a CX event but it is the dirt and it is local.

CCCX opener

 Kathleen Bortolussi opting to race in the A race rather than in her age group. She finished on the lead lap in 5th.

Brendan Lehman led the men's A race from the first lap and came within one second of winning it.

Plenty of great results here-the team came to the first local race and put in a dominant performance. The juniors started the day early in the morning with some great riding.

Open men's C

Enzo Sapojnikoff   1st.

Junior boy's 10-14

Colin Manalang 1st, Jason Burgess 2nd, Remy Schmidt 4th, Mac Tomkins 5th, Cullen Keefe 6th, Matthew Werner 9th.

Junior boy's 15-18   

Dylan Gong 1st, Peter Bissell 6th, Jayden Cheung 7th, Zain Huq 9th, Nicolas Goumas 10th, Korben Tomkin 11th.

Junior girls 15-18 Shilpa Rao 1st.

Men's open B race
Enzo Sapojnikoff 1st
Dylan Gong 5th
Manny Affonso jr. 12th.

Master's B 45+

Eric Werner 4th

Single Speed B

Kyle Taylor 1st.

Men's 55+

Detlef Adam 6th

Men's 60+

Rick Ortenblad 2nd

Paul Sadoff 3rd.

Women's A race

Hannah Dillard 1st

Kathleen Bortolussi 5th

Men's A race 

Brendan Lehman 2nd

Ian Stowe 14th

Dean Poshard 16th

Ben Dodge 17th.

Some people had best ever showings and there are people yet to race who will shake things up even more at the bay area cyclocross scene. Newcomer Hannah Dillard had her first elite win- Brendan Lehman nearly had his first elite win as well. Ben Dodge had an excellent 2nd in the 35 A race. Kyle Taylor might look at upgrading to the single speed A race as he looked pretty far ahead of the B field.

This coming weekend will be at the same Ft. Ord location -hopefully we will have a similar showing.

West coast points prestige series

Cyclocross in mid August ? Five races in three days ? -Yes- that's what we had this weekend. The race series was set up to give west coast racers a chance to improve their USAC rankings by racing against some top elite riders. Among the invited riders were four of our team and they really put on a show. On both men's and women's elite podiums we had the top step in all but one race-sometimes the second or third step as well. It was a dominant showing for the team at what looks to be the only major USAC event in Calif. this season with the cancellation of the West Sacramento series. This made it doubly important for the team to have a showing. 

Day 1 results: 

Men's 4-5 race   Keegan Pelton 1st.  Women's 4-5 race Ciara Wing 3rd.

Men's 1,2,3 race Max Judelson 1st, Nate Barton 2nd, Brendan Lehman 6th, Dan English 22nd, Ben Dodge 27th, John Vahlberg 60th, Nate Vahlberg 66th.

Women's 1,2,3 race  Caroline Nolan 1st, Kathleen Bortolussi 16th.

Day 2 race # 1 results:

Men's 4-5 race Keegan Pelton 6th ,Peter Vahlberg 38th.  Women's 4-5 race Ciara Wing 8th.

Men's 1,2,3 race  Max Judelson 1st, Nate Barton 3rd, Brendan Lehman 11th, Ben Dodge 18th, Dan English 21st, Josh Vahlberg 44th, Nate Vahlberg 46th

Women's 1,2,3 race  Caroline Nolan 3rd, Kathleen Bortolussi 19th.

Day 2 race # 2 results:

Men's 4-5 race Keegan Pelton 6th

Men's 1,2,3 race  Max Judelson 1st, Nate Barton 3rd, Brendan Lehman 14th, Dan English 16th, Ben Dodge 38th, Eric 'Houte' Brown 55th, Nate Vahlberg 59th, John Vahlberg 60th, Paul Sadoff 70th.

Women's 1,2,3 race  Caroline Nolan 1st, Kathleen Bortolussi 19th.

Day 3 race # 1 results:

Men's 4-5 race Keegan Pelton 3rd

Men's 1,2,3 race Max Judelson 1st, Brendan Lehman 3rd, Nate Barton 5th, Dan English 30th, Ben Dodge 37th, Eric Brown 41st, Nate Vahlberg 43rd,Paul Sadoff 67th, John Vahlberg 68th.

Women's 1,2,3 race  Caroline Nolan 1st, Kathleen Bortolussi 19th.

Day 3 race # 2 results:

Mens's 4-5 race  Keegan Pelton 2nd

Men's 1,2,3 race  Max Judelson 1st, Nate Barton 3rd, Brendan Lehman 4th,Ben Dodge 26th, Eric Brown 39th, John Vahlberg 40th, Dan English 58th, Paul Sadoff 60th, Nate Vahlberg 62nd. 

The series saw some great riding from the veteran racers but two new additions made some noise with some high placings. In the 4-5 race Keegan Pelton was always in the top-6. Nate Barton was on the podium in nearly every 1-3 race. Caroline and Max put on a show of dominance winning all but one race. Brendan Lehman had three top-6 placings in the 1-3 race. 15 year old Dan English broke the top-20 in one of the 1-3 races and he and team mate Nate Vahlberg put on a barrier hopping clinic for the rest of the field. Bend Dodge broke into the top 20 in one of the 1-3 races as well. 

While it is still very early in the season-really pre season- the team is showing the kind of strength that made it arguably the top Nor-Cal team in CX. Who knows what the 2019 season has in store......