Racing around the park at the 2011 North Boulder Classic

By Shawn Lortie

(July 10, 2011) BOULDER, Colo.-The afternoon downpours of the preceding few days were thankfully absent for the racing on Sunday at North Boulder Park. Thunder rolled around off in the distance but stayed away as fans cheered on the racers tackling the circuit around the park. With a slight uphill start/finish, a few 90 degree corners and a set of three successive turns packed tightly together along the back corner of the course, the racing was never dull.

In the Men’s Pro 1,2 race, the field was stacked with talent. Chris Winn, Alex Howes, Sean Sullivan, Jake Wells, and a handful of others including some of the Trek/Livestrong team were on hand to keep the racing top notch. A few early attempts at breaks failed, until Colby Pearce (Horizon/Panache) and Russell Harding (Natural Grocers), were able to get away. They stayed off the front alone, until the last few minutes of the race, when Jorge Espinoza (Natural Grocers), Harding’s teammate, bridged up to the leaders. Espinoza didn’t wait long to launch his attack, and timed it perfectly, holding off a charging pack that had overtaken Pearce and Harding right at the end.

Big gun CX racer Jake Wells had this to say about the race, “The field was big and fast, with a lot of fire power, mostly coming from Horizon, JuWi, Chipolte, and Kelly Benefits. Unfortunately I missed out on that second move. It's always tough when you are rolling solo, especially with so many real deal teams making moves. But it was a great turnout, a fun course, and the crowds were good.”

In the Womens Pro 1,2 race, Beth Fisk (Natural Grocers) got a gap for a few laps at the start, but the effort was soon eclipsed by the speed of the pack.  Soon after, Megan Hottman (Primal/Map My Ride) and Kori  Seehafer (Team Type 1), took off on their own and eventually gained a sizeable gap. The two worked together and eventually gained more than half a lap on the pack. In the end it was a sprint between Hottman and Seehafer, as nobody in the chase ever seemed too keen on bringing them back. Hottman took the sprint for the win.

After the race, Nicole Duke (Vitamin Cottage) said, “I didn't know what to expect out of myself...but I did better than expected. The Frasca prime was the big win for me.”  Asked about the chase effort, Nicole said, “We should have chased for sure but just weren't organized enough. I think in the next few races we'll get it together and hopefully I'll be stronger by then, and feel confident to chase.”

Davis Phinny was on hand to present some awards throughout the day, and much of the proceeds went to the Davis Phinney foundation helping people with Parkinson’s disease.  The beer garden and the vendor areas were busy all day, and of course there were some awesome little kids races right before the Pro 1,2 men went off.  Once again the promoters put on a great event enjoyed by all.