Boulder Cup Cyclocross Weekend, Day 1

The USA cyclocross elite are in Boulder this weekend for two races, one today at the Boulder Reservoir and another tomorrow in Boulder at Harlow Platts Park. Someday this race will have snow, wind, and cold temperatures but once again, like last year, it was warm and dry.

Deep sand and the dreaded goatheads were some of the obstacles out here. There was a reported twenty flats during one of the races, from goatheads, which occurred when riders just strayed just a little off course.

A mens 35+ rider dismounts to cross the sand "at the beach":


Prime goathead territory:


Rachel Lloyd and Olympian Georgia Gould line up for the women's elite race. They would eventually finish #2 and #1. Remember Georgia from two weeks ago at Xilinx in Longmont?



Georgia Gould won today, from start to finish:


A day on the beach:



Ryan Trebon, who always does well in Boulder, lines up for the mens elite race.


Crowds tend to build up at the obstacles (from elite mens race):



A rider will become a fan favorite, and get lots of applause, if they successfully pull off a "bunny hop"!

Todd Wells from Durango, right about to start the winning breakaway from the leading group, with just under a lap to go. Tim Johnson and Ryon Trebon behind. Final finishing order was Wells, Trebon, and Johnson.


Garmin-Chipotle pro road rider Tom Danielson was a spectator today. Hopefully, he'll finally get a Tour de France roster spot in 2009.


An elite rider reminds us that yesterday was Halloween:


Dave Towle (on the left): the always-present announcer:



A full wrapup is over at cyclingnews (womens, mens). Another race tomorrow; let's see if I get over to Boulder for that.

Blue Sky Velo Cyclocross Race 2008 in Longmont

Much better (or worse if you're a hard-core cross fan!) weather yesterday than last week, at the Blue Sky Velo cyclocross race out at the Xilinx campus in Longmont. It was dust instead of mud, sun instead of rain, and temperatures in the mid-70's (~ 23C). And, it was announced that a record number of women participated in this event.








Olympian mountain-biker Georgia Gould from Ft. Collins takes the woman's open title. Amazingly, she also participated in at least two of the other races (category 3, men and woman's) races as well! She keeps an interesting up-to-date blog, too.



Woman's open podium:


Men's open, at one of the cambers on the course:


The leaders with a few laps to go. I was not around for the finish but I'm guessing one of these three won the race:


A rider watches as the all-important neutral pit crew changes a wheel during the race.


The familiar voice of USA cycling race announcing, Dave Towle:

Boulder Cyclocross Series comes to Longmont

Round #2 of the Boulder Cyclocross Series was held today at the Longmont Xilinx campus in ideal northern European "cross" weather: rainy, muddy, and cold (4C, 39F).

If you missed it, there is another cyclocross race at Xilinx next Saturday (October 18, 2008), organized by Blue Sky Velo, with the legendary Dave Towle doing the announcing!

And in three weeks, the pro's will making a circuit stop at the Boulder Cup cyclocross race (Harlow Platts Park) on the weekend of November 1 - 2, much like they did last year at the Boulder Reservoir (notice the dry conditions and blue skies!)



The hose-down!

Katie Compton, 2007 US Cyclocross Champion

Congratulations to Katie Compton of Colorado Springs, the USA 2007 Cyclocross elite female champion, at the nationals today in Kansas City. The Longmont connection? Katie uses a frame made by Primus Mootry right here in town.

The top three podium finishers were all at the Boulder Reservoir last month for the Redline Cup.

Redline Cyclocross Bike Race at the Boulder Reservoir

A great day for a cyclocross race at the Boulder Reservoir, loaded with USA's best riders. "Cross" is dominant in Belgium and Holland, but is growing in popularity here in the States. Unlike most other road and mountain bike cycling races, cross is a great spectator sport because the riders compete on a loop course, most of which is observable from a single point. The Redline Cup attracted some all-star cyclists, including Ryan Trebon, Katie Compton, Barry Wicks, and road cyclist and frequent Tour De France participant, Chris Horner. He must enjoy cross cycling because he also rode at the Xilinx Cup race last year in Longmont, although he missed the cut because of some mechanical problems. Today, he finished impressively in the top ten.

Multiple-time US champion and World's silver-medalist Katie Compton takes one of the tricky turns, on the her last lap, before winning the elite women's race today.











Today's best helmet:


Rachel Lloyd:


The start of the men's elite race








Early part of the men's elite race:



Cyclocross courses are required to have obstacles, such as telephone poles to go over or stairs to climb. In today's race, one of the obstacle sections had two boards on the course. Most riders dismounted and carried their bikes over, but a few "bunny jumped" 'em much to the crowd's delight. You can gain some valuable seconds if you're good at this but it can be a serious wipe-out if you miss.














Six foot five Ryan Trebon of the Kona team, the men's elite winner, just like last year in Longmont. He overcame a slow start to take a commanding lead.


A wave to the crowd, ten feet in front of the finishing line.


A cross tire: thin but knobby:


These tires come in handy for dealing with deep sand and loose gravel, all part of cyclocross:



Chris Horner after the race:


Is Cyclocross weather supposed to be this nice? The pictures you always see from Belgium cross races show a lot of mud, rain, and gray skies!



Race results on Cyclingnews. Velonews has their results here