The following race summary was written by FLCCX series director Dave Hagen. Full results will be posted 11/17.
This is the third race of the seven race FLC Cyclocross Series p/b Animas Orthopedics, Durango Coca-Cola and Rivergate Sports Medicine.
At Parque de Vida in Cortez the conditions were truly CX with 3 inches of melting snow and windy/cold temps. The course started next to the Rec. Center and used much of the terrain of the park including the banked hill of the skate park, the edge of the goose pond and a long foray through the sand of the volleyball courts right before the finish of the lap.
The Men’s B race was immediately dominated by Garrett Alexander (FLC) while a group of five sat 10 seconds back for the first third of the race. The third lap saw the chase group explode with 15 year old Sepp Kuss (Durango Devo) and Scott Dahlberg (DCCX) distance themselves from the other chasers, but the gap to Alexander kept growing a bit each lap and that was the final order.
Teal Stetson-Lee (FLC) and Lauren Hall (Hudz/Subaru) took off the from the gun to set the early pace while the rest of the women sorted themselves out. FLC racers Missy Erickson and Stephanie Falls flip-flopped in third and fourth most of the race. Stetson-Lee pulled away from Hall a couple laps into the 6 lap race and went on for the win while a late race mechanical saw Falls get a gap on Erickson that held up to the finish.
In the Men’s 40 year old and up race the sprint for the first turn was won by Kenny When (Colavita NM) and he pulled away consistently each lap for the runaway victory. Behind him a group of 4 battled for position with Robert Sonora (DCCX) putting in the first attack and Jon Delacy (DCCX) the second that left the other two chasers, Joe Burtoni (DCCX) and Dave Hagen (FLC) in their wake. On the last lap Delacy ended up getting by Sonora for second.
The Men’s A field, which sometimes can resemble a much larger race with the many world/national caliber racers hailing from the region, started like they were shot out of a cannon. Matt Shriver (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) instantly put his stamp on the race by getting 20 seconds on the first lap. Cycling legend Ned Overend (Boure), Joey Thompson (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory), Greg Lewis (Directory Plus/Trek), Chad Wells (Hudz/Subaru) and Michael Carroll (DCCX) set up the chase on the quickly deteriorating course conditions. This group eventually split up in that order with 20-30 second gaps between each with Overend getting 2nd and Thompson 3rd and Shriver taking the win by a comfortable margin.
A big thank you goes out to Ami Fair, the Special Events Coordinator with Cortez Parks and Rec.for making the race possible and the great volunteers from the Cortez cycling community/Kokopelli Bike Shop.
Next on the slate for the series is a twin bill coming up this weekend, Nov. 21 and 22, with races in Aztec, NM on Saturday and back in Durango at Santa Rita Park on Sunday.
For more info http://cycling.fortlewis.edu or [email protected].
