The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Final race December 3
Round two of the Western State Cycling Campus Cyclocross series took place on Saturday, November 19 afternoon under stormy skies but no precipitation.
Twenty riders lined up for 40 minutes of bike racing on a course designed by WSC Cycling head coach Eszter Horanyi, who said, ”I wanted to create a course that had all the characteristics of a cyclocross course but would still be fun on a mountain bike.”
Indeed, many riders on mountain bikes excelled in the single track portions of the course, which included the newly constructed flow track and pump track on the WSC campus, while those on cross bikes could make up time on the long grass straight-aways, the two barrier sections requiring dismounts and the set of stairs.
With a hole-shot prize for the first person over the first set of barriers, WSC Cycling’s Brae Patten took off from the gun, intent on winning the extra prize.
After the barriers, Alpine Orthopaedics’ Brian Smith quickly joined him and the two opened up a sizeable gap on the rest of the field, which included many Western State athletes training for their trip to Cyclocross National Championships in Madison, Wisc. in January.
Ben Johnson, wearing yet another costume, took a more conservative approach to the start but quickly began working his way through the field. He passed a fading Patten, who was paying for his initial effort about halfway through the race but was unable to catch Smith, who opened up an insurmountable gap on the rest of the field.
Race co-promoter Horanyi, racing for the Alpine Orthopaedics team, came out of cyclocross retirement and won the women’s race ahead of Angela Vitulli of WSC Cycling, who was racing in her first cross race.
The three-race series will conclude on Saturday, December 3 on a course that will run through the WSC campus. Individual race prizes will be awarded as well as prizes for the top three riders in the series.
