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River City Bicycles 2003 Cross Crusade Round 6
Memorial Park, Wilsonville, Oregon, November 16, 2003
Skerritt and Mazza masterful in miserable conditions
While the wacky weather conditions continued for the sixth round of the 2003 River City Bicycles Cyclo-Cross Crusade, Shannon Skerritt (Trek/VW/Bicycle Gallery) and Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M/Sellwood Bicycles) frolicked in the muddy conditions for impressive victories. Indeed, Skerritt's nearly five-minute margin of victory, which was nearly a mile of a lead, is the largest gap in a 'Cross Crusade race in recent memory.
Following the balmy and then wintry weather of the last two rounds, Wilsonville's Memorial Park was being pounded by a powerful storm that was the first of several taking aim at Oregon. During the day of cyclo-cross races, nearly an inch of rain deluged the course while 20 m.p.h. winds buffeted the fields. Although the stormy conditions made spectating unpleasant, the racers seemed to be enjoying the classic 'cross conditions.
The 2.6-kilometer course through Memorial Park was significantly revamped from last year, although the popular 'MacTarnahan's Six Pack' - a run-up over six barriers - was back. Approximately two thirds of the loop zigzagged on goopy double-track under a canopy of towering fir trees. The last portion emphasized power as it was more straightforward, including a mix of open turf fields, gravel and asphalt.
Skerritt runs away in a race of attrition
After skipping the Johnson Farm race in order to gain valuable UCI points in races on the East Coast, the trio of Barry Wicks (Kona/Kenwood), Eric Tonkin (Kona/Kenwood) and Skerritt were back home in mid-November. Three weeks earlier, Wicks and Tonkin had worked Skerritt over at Alpenrose, so he was looking to even the score.
The start was a quarter-mile drag race that ended at the base of the "MacTarnahan's Six Pack." At the whistle for the Category A Men's race, Wicks surged ahead, with the Johnson Farm winner Mark King (Sunnyside Sports) on his tail. Skerritt, Tonkin and Kevin Hulick were next in line. Wicks skillful bike handling served him well in the technical single-track section. He stayed ahead, as Skerritt moved into second ahead of Tonkin and King. After the first lap, Wicks enjoyed a four second lead after first of eight laps.
However, Skerritt was tenacious and matched Wicks through the forest and was right on his wheel exiting the woods. The race at the front had pushed the pace and Tonkin was dropping back. The second time through, Tonkin was 19 seconds back, followed by King, Hulick, Mike Schindler (Sunnyside Sports), John Leonard (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery), Chris Brandt (Collin's), Brody Anderson (River City Bicycles) and Jon Myers (Team S&M).
The first of the favorites to be snake-bitten was Wicks. He went into the forest in the lead, but Skerritt emerged alone. After several riders passed through, Wicks pulled into the pits and changed bikes. He immediately remounted and was in pursuit of the leaders. Wicks overtook a few riders, but was 90 seconds behind Skerritt and a minute behind his teammate at the end of the third lap.
As the race approached the midpoint, the wheels fell off of the Kona/Kenwood challenge. First, Tonkin pulled into the pits with a mechanical and less than a minute later, the news filtered back to the finish area that Wicks was out too.
It looked like it would be Skerritt's day. At half distance, Skerritt was ahead by almost two minutes in front of King. Hulick was holding onto third, in front of Leonard, Schindler, Anderson, Brandt and Myers.
The Trek/VW/Bike Gallery never let up and was lapping 40 seconds per lap faster than anyone else. The intriguing race was for fourth, where five riders were within 15 seconds of each other. Leonard and Schindler were ahead on the fifth lap, with Brandt, Myers and Anderson about 100 meters back. The next time around, Brandt and Myers had charged ahead of this 'race within the race.'
Skerritt was on one of those untouchable rides where he was only racing himself. With three to go, he was leading King by 3:15 and was another 50 seconds faster for a dominating lead of more than four minutes at the bell. In the end, Skerritt's winning margin was 4:58 ahead of King. Hulick rode well to finish third at 5:13. Brandt won the race for fourth, ahead of Myers, Leonard, Schindler and Anderson.
Heading into the last round, the series points total is very tight with Mark King on top and Shannon Skerritt trailing by a single point at 82 and 81 points, respectively. The honor of being the 2003 'Cross Crusade Category A Men's champion will come down to who can win in Estacada next Sunday.
Mazza motors through mud for wire-to-wire win
Rhonda Mazza was seeking her third win of the season, after dominant performances at Barton and the second visit to Alpenrose. However, last week's winner Alice Pennington was looking confident after her win at Johnson Farm.
From the start, Mazza put herself at the head of the pack of the Category A Women's field. By the base of the 'Six Pack,' she had opened up several bike lengths in front of up-and-coming Kori Kunz (Sorella Forte) and Karen Kenlan (Sunnyside Sports). After half of the lap, Kunz was holding on to second just in front of Pennington.
With one lap in the books, Mazza was pulling away. Pennington had gotten around Kunz and crossed the line 15 seconds behind the leader. Martha Hanford (Indpendent Fabrications) was a minute back, ahead of Emily Babcock, Kenlan, Naomi Gollogly (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery) and JoAnne Stephens (Sunnyside Sports).
The gaps continued to grow, but that all changed on the third of four laps. Pennington started having mechanical troubles and dropped from 20 seconds in front of Kunz, to more than 20 seconds behind. Gollogly was on a charge and moved up to fourth ahead of Hanford. On the last lap, Pennington's bike gave out and she was forced out of the race.
On the last lap, Mazza kept her pace of more than 20 seconds per lap faster than the others and finished with a lead of 1:26. Kunz earned her best result of the season with a surprising second place. Gollogly moved up strongly to finish third, ahead of Hanford and Stephens.
Preview of Estacada Round of the 'Cross Crusade
The 'Cross Crusade moves to the Estacada Timber Park for one of the oldest venues on the schedule. This will be the last round of the series and also serves as the State Cyclo-cross Championships and will count for double points in the series.
Results
Category A Men 1 Shannon Skerritt (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery) 2 Mark King (Sunnyside Sports) 3 Kevin Hulick 4 Chris Brandt (Collin's) 5 Jon Myers (Team S&M) 6 John Leonard (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery) 7 Mike Schindler (Sunnyside Sports) 8 Brody Anderson (River City Bicycles) 9 Spencer Paxson (Disco Velo) 10 Chad Swanson (Team S&M) Women 1 Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M/Sellwood Bicycles) 2 Kori Kunz (Sorella Forte) 3 Naomi Gollogly (Trek/VW/Bike Gallery) 4 Martha Handford (Independent Fabrications) 5 JoAnne Stevens (Sunnyside Sports) 6 Karen Kenlan (Sunnyside Sports) 7 Emily Babcock 8 Kristan Watanabe 9 Jadine Riley (Subway) 10 Laurel Gitlan (Vanilla)
