Nationals , Hartford CT.

In 2017 the nationals were in Hartford in icy, snowy conditions that made just getting to and from the course an ordeal. I was certain that we would not come back no matter what. When Max and Andy told me that they were intent on coming this year my hand was forced-I would be returning along with a few others who were ready to brave whatever Hartford could dish out. Little did I know how this trip would wind up being so successful for the team. Everyone who raced went forward , even the few of us who had to start on the last row. It was a really great outing with some great rides from the members of this small contingent. 

Wednesday the course was wet and very muddy in places making for quite a bit of running. Max Judelson had a front row start in the 35-39 race and led from the gun for the first lap making a separation of five riders who would not be caught by anyone from the rest of the field. He wound up on the podium in 4th,

Later that day I raced when the temperature was 57 degrees , warmer than Santa Cruz that day. I had a last row start in 28th and managed to slog my way up to 21st and finish on the lead lap , but just barely. There was a lot of running and footing on an off-camber section was poor , leading to a lot of slipping and falling.

Andy Wulfkuhle is from PA. and used to the winter conditions and did a stellar ride in the men's 40-44 group, nearly winning the jersey. He finished 2nd and got the team another podium.  Matthew Werner had a last row start in the 52 field  junior men's 13-14  race and rode up to 29th and also made the lead lap. His father Eric rode in the Tuesday non-championship race and finished 21st from the back row of 36 riders. Gabriella Dominguez raced in the highly competitive women's 15-16 race and finished 33rd from the back row of the field of 37.

Max was going big at this nationals and was on the front row with the single speed field. Many top elite racers decided to ride in the single speed race and this would make getting on the podium a long shot but Max rode a strong race and wound up 4th for the third podium of the week.  The Werners, Gabby Dominguez and I rode in the mixed relay. There were some very strong teams and out team with two young juniors and a couple of older master's riders wound up doing pretty respectably finishing 27th out of 34 teams.

The last day was epic, not just because of the racing but at about 11:00 AM the snow began to fall. Temperatures had steadily been dropping throughout the week and now we were treated to some real winter cyclocross weather. Max and Andy would both race in the men's elite race at 2:30 when the snow was coming really down . I would be working in the pit with two people that Andy had recruited. 

As the race started it was certain that on the UCI off camber section going down off of the one hill on the course there would be carnage. Max managed to get through it with not too much delay but Andy got caught up in several pileups and this would make his race a lot harder. As the race progressed , both Max and Andy moved forward but Max was up in the top - 20 with Andy having to rally from the back of the field. Andy would eventually finish 28th. Max rode perhaps his best elite nationals ever with a really strong ride up to 15th after a third row start-he made the lead lap in a race where only 15 of the 40+ riders were not pulled before the finish. 

Here's a view of the pit and one of Andy's helpers showing how the course went from dry to snow covered in a matter of a few hours. It might not have been as cold a nationals as 2017 but it was every bit as competitive and dramatic. Frozen ruts in the morning caused many crashes. The muddy days in the middle of the week made the pit crews very busy.Speaking of pit crews, I would like to thank my Sister Elizabeth who had never even seen a CX race - she worked tirelessly catching and washing bikes in my race and Max's 35-39 race. She never missed a handoff and worked like a pro. I would also like to thank Max as well who worked in my race. Andy's friends who helped in the single speed and elite races were great.

For dinner on the last night we had to use up what leftover bacon and eggs we had left so this meant tagliatelle carbonara, maybe the best one I have ever made. The only thing left to do was to load up the vans for the trip home. 

Maybe in 2017 I got a bad taste from coming to Hartford for the nationals. Not this time- the team did really well, even if we didn't bring very many people to the event. I can't say enough good things about all the people who made the trip possible and the folks that made the journey and took part in one way or another. Next year it will be Louisville, KY. -another place with serious mud and the possibility for dramatic racing. 
 

Nationals pre-report

After the icy 2017 Hartford nationals experience we were not super enthused to come back but the week turned out to be one of the better nationals trips in many years. What will follow in the next report will be a day to day account of what the experience was like and how the team fared. With three podiums and a top-15 elite finish , this trip went about as good as it could have for results and the experience here was very positive , in spite of how much of an ordeal 2017 turned out to be. With a good snow fall on the last day we were treated to one of the most epic days in US cyclocross in many years. I'll tell you all about it soon.

 

Andy Wulfkhule wins at the Pan-Am games

History has been made for the team- Andrew Wulfkhule won the 40+ age group in the Pan-Am games. I don't need to tell you how big of a win this is for Andy, the team and Rock Lobster. 

Andy can wear this jersey until next year's games. Looks like he is really ready for the nationals in only about 4 weeks. The conditions on the ground might be different but this guy knows what real winter cyclocross is all about. Well done !
 

Surf City Cyclocross Sunday Oct. 30 th.

Sunday was not as crowded as Saturday but the costume race was gigantic and rivaled that of last year's event. Seems like the pandemic has subsided enough for Santa Cruz to come out and party. 

Even a sponsor or two were in the mix. 

Racers from the team's past showed up as well- this is Kailin Waterman who probably has not raced much in a few years but got on the podium in the single speed A race.

In the morning the juniors started the day.

Junior men 9-14

Remy Schmidt   1st, Dillon Hall  3rd, Bar Shohat Rozenfeld  4th , Keanan Vawter  5th , Noam Gilat 6th , Matthew Warner 7th , Noah Hekkert 9th , Kai Yee  10th.

 Junior  men 15-18

Christopher Bachman 2nd , Mac Tomkins 3rd , Jimmy Hawley 4th , Jaiden Ramiro 9th

Junior women  9-14

Gabriella Dominguez  2nd , Kyla Vawter 4th

Junior women 15-18 

Lily Sanders  1st

Open B men

Anthony Griffin-Yeh  4th , Enzo Sapojnikof  5th , Christopher Bachman 13th , Nathan Delaney 20th , Matt Miller 36th.

Single speed B men 

Chris Seymour  4th

Master men 45 B

Carl Hekkert 3rd,  Eric Werner 8th

Matser men 35 A

Fred Mills 1st , Eric Brown 2nd

Master men 45 A

Josh Snead 3rd

Master men 60 

Paul Sadoff 4th

Women elite 

Caroline Dezendorf  1st , 

Women B

Lily Sanders 3rd, Kate Hochler 7th 

Women single speed A

Hannah Solberg 1st, Campbell Steers 2nd

Women C

Gabriella Dominguez 5th

Sam Mchugh  12th

Men elite

Noah Hayes 4th , Max Judelson 5th , Cole Williams 12th , Eric Williams 18th ,  Nathan Barton 23rd , Joey Kochlacs 24th , Dean Poshard 35th

Single speed A men

Fred Mills 2nd , Kyle Taylor 4th

Tracklocross 

Isaac Estrada 2nd.

 

Surf City weekend Saturday Oct. 29th

There's a lot of people to thank for making this happen- our second edition of the Rock Lobster/Surf City cyclocross at the Crest Ranch. First, I have to thank the Crest Ranch for letting us invade their property with hundreds of racers and enthusiasts. Secondly I would like to give a big shout out to Sightline Construction for providing sanitation facilities and for behind the scenes support of the team and the event. Also, I would like to thank Jeff Clark, David Crum, Rod Hernandez, Justin Eatinger, Will Bachar , Joey Kochlacs and all of our team and volunteers that really brought their 'A' game. A big thanks goes to Rick Ortenblad for the podium backdrop and to Campbell Steers for all the hand printed wooden medals. I really want to thank Giro, Ibis,Voler,Bell and all the companies that step up for a local event, even if it is out in the sticks and not on the national calendar. A big thanks to Spokesman bicycles for the neutral support. I can't complete this without thanking the guy who put it all together- Brendan Lehman. Brendan worked on all aspects of organizing the event - no easy task. He did the work of many people and this year's event went smoother than any Surf City CX I have witnessed, and that has been many. It looks like we will be coming back to the Crest Ranch in 2023 so I guess we passed the two year audition !

Saturday was a day of big fields of riders and huge clouds of dust as the conditions were very dry for late October. Riders finished with faces resembling coal miners as the loose soil covered bodies and bikes.

The morning saw the juniors first with the men's 9-14 race.  

Remy Schmidt     1st , Rani Joseph         3rd,Keanan Vawter    4th, Bar Shohat Rozenfeld  6th ,Matthew Werner   7th , Kai  Yee              12th

Junior 15-18

Christopher Bachman 5th , Jimmy Hawley  9th

Junior Women  9-14

Gabriella Dominguez    2nd , Kyla Vawter 3rd.

Junior Women  15-18    

Lily Sanders  1st 

Open Men B

Anthony Griffin-Yeh   2nd , Caleb O'Hare  5th , Christopher Bachman 13th , Nathan Delaney 24th

Single Speed Men  B

Chris Seymour 9th

Masters 45 B Men

Carl Hekkert 4th , Eric Werner 5th

Maters 55 B Men

Michael Schaller  7th

Masters 35 A Men

Fred Mills  1st , Eric Brown 3rd.

Masters 45 A Men 

Josh Snead 3rd

Maters 60 Men

Paul Sadoff 7th

Women Elite 

Caroline Dezendorf  1st , Hannah Dillard 3rd , Mara Valcarcel  7th

Women B

Lily Sanders  7th, Kate Hochler 8th

Women ingle Speed   

Campbell Steers  1st

Women C 

Gabriella Dominguez 11th

Elite Men

Noah Hayes  5th, Max Judelson 6th , Eric Williams 11th , Nathan Barton 13th , Joey Kochlacs 26th , Austin King  27th , Dean Poshard 32nd , Cole Williams 33rd.

Men Single Speed A

Dylan Gong 2nd , Fred Mills 4th , Kailin Waterman 5th , Kyle Taylor 6th.

Men's Tracklocross 

Isaac Estrada  3rd

Gene Park      6th

 

It's on! The team race - Surf City CX Halloween weekend.

If you want to race CX in Santa Cruz county, this is your chance. There will be racing Saturday and Sunday and there will be on site camping.
 

There will be random acts of music and various wind driven noise

There will also be raffled off this fine example of Joey's handwork-  beautiful hand made table by the team sponsor. You don't want to miss a chance at this. The costume race was really huge last  year but I think that it might get eclipsed by this year's edition. Check the flyer for the link to the race website and be part of the longest running CX series in the whole USA.

7005 CX frame for a team member

This one will get picked up tomorrow and built up for the remainder of the CX season. 

 

VSRT race Livermore....or less

 This race was actually 14 miles outside of Livemore way up Mines road and then further up a dirt road to a park. The course was hilly and rustic will some very twisty narrow sections through the Manzanita. There were a number of low branches where hitting your head was not only possible, it was probable. I would say that this was vintage old-school Nor-Cal CX and I was not alone in saying that it was a fun lap.The team showed up in pretty substantial numbers and the results were impressive.

Junior men 10-14

Remy Schmidt     1st

Dillon Hall           3rd

Bar Shohat Rozenfeld 6th

Kenan Vawter      7th

Matthew Werner  8th

Noam Gilat          9th

Noah Hekkert     12th

Kai Yee               13th

Junior men  15-18

Christopher Bachman 1st

Austin Fowlkes           3rd

Charlie Vanacht          4th

Junior women 10-14

Kyla Vawter              2nd

Gabriella Dominguez  3rd

Junior women  15-18

Lily Sanders   3rd

Men 45 B

Carl Hekkert   3rd

Eric Werner    9th

Men open B

Nathan Delaney   12th

Gene Park            16th

Austin Fowlkes    21st

Women open B

Lily Sanders        3rd

Kate Hochler       5th

Women open C

Gabriella Dominguez  3rd

Single Speed men B

Chris Seymour            3rd

Tracklocross              

Isaac Estrada               1st

Gene Park                    3rd

Men 35 A

Eric Brown                  3rd

Men 45 A

Joshua Snead               3rd

Men 60+

Brent Harris                 4th 

Paul Sadoff                  5th

Men   open A

Eric Williams              5th

Brendan Lehman        7th

Austin King               16th

Women open A

Caroline Dezendorf       1st

Hannah Dillard              3rd

Austin King, Brent Harris and I all had mechanicals but got credit for finishing. There were lots of sticks and stuff to get caught in your wheels if you veered off course even a little. It mad for exciting racing.

Dean wins the 'Legends' class at the Breck Epic.

 Yeah, that's right......you read it here. Dean Poshard- the guy in this photo- won his class at the Breck Epic MTN. stage race. This is a monumentally difficult race and Dean outlasted all the others in his group. All the other entrants failed to finish the first stage so Dean was in the driver seat for the rest of the event-all he needed to do was to finish all the stages. It sounds easy ,but when you know how many people dropped out you realize how difficult a race is is to complete, let alone be competitive in.  I don't think that Dean has had many wins in the last few years so he is going to savor this one- it will be one to remember.

Dan English rides with the national team at the CX worlds

Anyone who has seen Dan race knows that he has talent. He has been on a steady trajectory since he joined the team a few years ago. Now at 16 he is racing at the top of the sport, the world championships.

After a short UCI campaign that took up a few weekends racing in some key events around the country, Dan accumulated enough UCI points to get the call to be on the national team racing the 17-18 year old group at 16 years old. He was one of the youngest at the Fayetteville CX worlds and had a 4th row start but he showed that he really belonged there - quickly moving up, passing older more experienced riders.

His eventual 17th place is really remarkable for someone who has just started racing at the national level. Dan's progress has been steady and his attitude toward riding and racing appears to be the same as it has always been- have fun- go fast, ride hard but definitely have fun. 

As long as Dan continues to have fun racing, there's no telling how far he will go in the sport. He is the first active team member to make it to the world championships while on the team - Dan holds that distinction alone. His approach to racing is as original as it is inspired. His drive to do well is built into who he is- he does not seem to be intimidated by his surrounding competitors or the importance of the event , while still respecting all of it simultaneously. 

We as a team are really lucky to have the junior program started by Ben Dodge. The result of this program has been to take riders like Dan and give them support to follow their dreams in racing, whatever those dreams may be and wherever those dreams will take them. In the case of Dan, his dreams have taken him very far in a very short time and there's no telling where he will go- it will be fun to watch. 
 

NCNCA district championship season finale

This is about a month late but I had a long wait for the results for this race to be posted. The long wait was worth it as the team came to this race with a number of people missing and still put on a dominant performance- no less than six NCNCA district championships and many medals were awarded to team riders. We had enough people there at Manzanita park that if we had not shown up, the race would have been a tiny affair. 

In the morning our juniors tore it up with some great performances all around. In the junior boy's 10-12 race Noam Gilat placed 2nd. with Noah Hekkert in 5th. In the boy's 13-14 Boaz Cohen finished 3rd, Remy Schmidt 5th , and Matt Werner 8th. In the boy's 15-16 Mac Tomkins finished 5th with Sterling Woodson 8th.

In the boy's 17-18 Nate Vahlberg got the win with Austin Fowlkes 3rd, Jonah Pirnejad 4th and Korben Tomkin 5th, nearly a sweep of the podium.

Next up were the B categories with Dylan Gong taking the win in the open B race followed by Nathan Delaney in 6th. In the 45 B race Eric Werner finished 2nd with Michael Schaller coming in 4th.

 

The next wave of racers were the master's A's. In the 45 A race John Vahlberg finished 12th with Carl Hekkert finishing 15th. In the men's 65 + I rode alone so I got the win - hey, its a rare win so I'll take it.

Next up were the women's races with Kate Hochler winning the open B  race. Christy Vahlberg finished 3rd in the 45+ age group. Hannah Dillard took the win in the women's single speed race.

Las races of the day started with men's A single speed with Dylan Gong making the podium for the second time coming in 3rd. He was followed by Kyle Taylor in 4th. 

Last up was the Elite men's A race. We had the numbers in this field and the results were good with Brendan Lehman coming in 3rd,Cole Williams in 5th, Austin King in 6th and Joey Kochlacs the title sponsor in 7th. 

What a way to cap off the first real season since 2019. With luck, 2022 will be even bigger with more races and more participants. 2022 will also be the beginning of the first official gravel team headed up by Joey Kochlacs. More on that soon- it made sense to create a gravel squad as a number of people on the team already had been doing the events for the last few years. Now, they will be doing the rides in the team kit and the whole program will be more structured.