Green Mountain Sports Cross #2

Report by Eddie Clark

Dwight takes first victory of season, and Boni claims her third.

(Nov 27, 2010) GOLDEN, Colo.—Colorado cyclocross racers converged on Lookout Mountain to work off their Thanksgiving Day indulgences with some warm abundant sunshine to bring on a sweat.  In a stark contrast to last years’ muddy race, racers returning this year competed on basically the exact same course but it was completely dry and much faster. 

For those who missed last year’s race, the start was held in a grassy field with a wide sweeping right hand corner which served as the sprint line to get to the front before entering tighter sections of the course where passing wasn’t as easy.  Once off the grass field the course took a gentle downhill turn on mostly dirt and gravel path which was just loose enough to slide out on if too much speed was carried.  Two dirt stair step run-up sections and a couple barrier sections had most racers dismounting 4 times per lap with a select few opting to bunny hop the barriers.  “It was a fun fast course”, noted women’s open race winner Crystal Boni. 

In the men’s 35+ race, Tim Faia of Boulder Cycle Sport got an early lead and never looked back in taking the win.  Also present in the Men’s 35+ race was Amy Dombroski of Luna Team, who was seeking some faster wheels to chase, and ultimately just cracked the top twenty in that field.

The women’s open race saw a foursome of Crystal Boni, Becca Blay, Karen Hogan, and Laura Hudson racing tightly for the first couple laps.  Behind them Megan Taylor had the misfortune of going down in the opening minutes of the race, and never rejoined the leaders but did eventually ride to a sixth place.   By their second lap Boni started to pull away and only Blay was able to match her but even she fell off the relentless pace set by Boni after another lap.  In the end, Hogan took second place buy a few seconds over Blay.

In the men’s open race, the competition was even closer with no clear leader opening a gap in the first half of the race.  Brady Kappius (Clif-Bar) was right at the front with Brandon Dwight (Boulder Cycle Sport) as Matt Pacocha and Jonathan Baker (Hudz/Subaru), and Chris Case (Feedback Sports) all rode closely behind.  Baker washed out and sampled the dusty dirt in a corner which allowed Kappius, Dwight, and Pacocha to get a gap on the field.  Dwight would get in the groove and slowly build his lead over Kappius and Pacocha who both traded positions several times in the closing laps.  Dwight kept it together for his first cross victory of the season, and Kappius just edged out Pacocha for second place.

Full results at the ACA.

More photos here.

Tim Faia opens up a substantial gap.	Amy Dombroski gives the 35+ men a run for their money.	Open women get down to business with a fierce opening sprint.
A Rotor racer air's over the barrier.	45+ Men make their way into the second set of barriers.	Karen Hogan working her way back to the leaders.
Becca Blay runs the dirt stairs	Crystal Bonikept had a solid gap over her chasers.	Jonathan Baker was looking fast early on.
Brandon Dwight opens up the gap on his way to first place.	Matt Pacocha leads Brady Kappius up a sceninc run-up.	JJ Laughon took the women's 35+ win.
The Golden Taj Mahal takes up the background behind a cat 3 racer.	Taylor Nye put up a valiant fight for second place in the singlespeed race.	Brady Kappius took a start to finish victory in the singlespeed race.