[Editor’s Note: The rollout continues. With this post I am thrilled to introduce Brett Rothmeyer to the In The Crosshairs family. Brett takes some of my favorite photos out there. He will be providing photos and words throughout the season starting with this past weekend’s Ellison Park p/b Full Moon Vista races. Check out Brett’s other work at thefurthestpointfromhome.tumblr.com.]
A C1 in the first weekend of September?! A World Cup on American soil?! Belgians in Rochester New York ?! It’s all true and all awesome. For those of us who wait summer long for the season to start this was one heck of way to get it going. Sure late summer sweltering heat and an impromptu splash zone in the pits doesn’t feel like proper cyclocross, the battles in both women’s and mens fields sure did look like the kind of racing we are used to here in the states. [Editor’s note: Results for Day 1 men are here. Day 1 women are here. Day 2 men are here, and Day 2 women are here.]
Day 1 was hot, like real hot, the kinda hot that makes you feel like your skull is melting under your helmet. Ice socks, bottles poured over heads and backs were the go to maneuvers for battling the overwhelming conditions. The Elite women got things cracking with a win by Katie Antonneau. Mani, Miller, Miller and Durrin all took a shot at the front of the race but Antonneau proved that power to weight ratio was huge advantage on a course with this kind of sustained climbing.
There was a pretty stacked field for the mens race and some revelations and continuations of last seasons antics. A visit from the Belgian Vincent Baestaens had everyone buzzing around the parking lot but unfortunately Baestaens took a pretty heavy tumble into the stairs on the opening lap resulting in a long chase under heavy heat. Baestaens absence did not take anything away from what was going on at the front of the race. Stephen Hyde turned up the pace early putting pressure on Powers and the front group. Dan Timmerman and Cameron Dodge rounded out the front end for the bulk of the race, Hyde would have a bit of crash later opening the door for Powers to twist the throttle and take his first big win of the year.
Day 2 saw more of the same conditions, HOT!! It also saw a shake up in the Women’s field with Meredith Miller getting the better of Antonneau with a late race attack. The men lined up without Jeremy Powers Sunday as he adheres to the C1 only schedule we saw him follow last year which opened the door for a recovered Vincent Baestaens. Baestaens, Hyde, Timmerman, Dodge, White, and Drew Dillman created a strong lead group with the perennial dangler Driscoll chasing hard for the bulk of the race.
The slogan for Ellison Park was “not another grass crit” and that was very much a true statement. This course had a little bit of everything and a lot climbing, slalom down hills, rooty technical woods section, lots of places you had to make decision to run or ride and did I mention it was hot!
