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Evo Cross - NE
Verge Mid-Atlantic CC Series #1, Buckingham, Bucks County, PA, USA, October 9, 2005
Krause and Schauer diesel to victory at Evo-Cross
On a course made treacherous by 7 inches of rain, Matt Krause (Alan Factory Team) and Betsy Schauer (Fort/GPOA!) rode the victories in the season-opening event of the $30,000 Verge Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series. The already soft fields of the None-Such Farm were turned into quagmires in places by two consecutive days of rain that had the entire region under flood warnings until 10:30 the night before the race. Race day dawned overcast, and dry -- but the damage was done. As 17 time National Champion and Cycling Hall of Famer Joe Saling put it after the Masters Race, "Ribbon to Ribbon, just mud." As the amatuer classes rode their races, their tires turned the wet soil like one of the farm's tractor tillers and left portions of the course unrideable for every Elite class racer, except defending Verge MACS Women's Champion Betsy Schauer.
The likeable West Virginian is shy and demure off the bike, but Schauer is a picture of strength and confidence while riding. Riding for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based FORT frames and GPOA medical services team, Schauer hit the front just 1/4 into the 45 minute Elite Women's race with only Melanie Schwartz (Square Coppi/Van Dessel) able to hang onto her wheel. Schwartz attacked the first time up the double run-up, but Schauer countered on the remount and was never matched. Riding in a position reminiscent of the climbing style of Tyler Hamilton, she increased her lead from 30 seconds after one lap, to two minutes by the end of the race.
The men's race was a see-saw battle that saw New Englander Matt Krause (Alan Factory Team) and defending verge MACS series champion Ryan Leach (FORT/GPOA!) swap the lead several times on the track and in the pits. Krause drew first blood with a holeshot on the grass, uphill start. But Leach retaliated on the double run-up. The lead duo was joined by four other riders -- Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo), and the FORT/GPOA! trio of Weston Schempf, Gunnar Shogren and Mike Yozell. As they hit the "Cornfield Peanut Butter", Leach dismounted while Krause tried to ride through. Leach's decision proved the better as he put time on the tire-spinning Krause, who eventually ground to a halt and had to dismount himself. By the end of the first lap, the Krause and Leach were off the front, Yozell was off the back and third-place Asphlom was in no-man's land between the lead duo and the intramural battle of Shogren and Schempf.
On the second lap, the differences in the two leader's techniques were becoming obvious, with Krause spinning at a higher cadence and Leach pushing a bigger gear and repeatedly coming out of the saddle to maintain momentum. At three laps to go, Krause had established a lead of 9 seconds. But, Leach was able to pass when Krause pulled into the pits for a bike change. The main difference in the two was now clear, according to Leach. "All race long I was stronger in the running sections and he was able to ride faster on the technical parts," said Leach afterwards. With just a lap-and-a-half to go, the two leaders came to a tight, muddy hairpin turn around a tree. Leach, in the lead, ran the section while Krause rode his bike around both the tree and the leader. Once in the lead, Krause extended his margin to take Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross Series Leader's Jersey. Asked afterwards if he attacked Leach at the hairpin, Krause smiled and replied, "I don't really attack. I'm more of a Jan Ulrich diesel kind of rider. I was just faster in that part of the track all day, and he was faster on the runs."
Notes
Pittsburgh's Stephen Cummings made the most of his cross-state commute by dominating the Men's B-Race to win by nearly two-and-a-half minutes. Cummings twice rode up the second run-up without dismounting.
71 Masters made up the largest field of the day with New Jersey's Eric Schlauch (Somerset Wheelmen/Van Dessel) taking the overall win. New Yorker Christopher Long (Independent Fabrication/Gotham Cyclists) and Fred Wittwer of the Charlottesville (Virginia) Racing Club were the highest-placed 45+ and 55+ riders.
After a day of mud-slogging in Pennsylvania, the Verge Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series moves to South Jersey and the high speeds and three-story "Amphitheater of Pain" run-up of the UCI-sanctioned Beacon Cyclocross in Bridgeton, New Jersey on October 16.
Results
Elite Men, 30 starters 1 Matt Kraus (Alan Factory Team) 57.05 2 Ryan Leech (Fort/GPOA !) 0.20 3 Gunnar Shogren (FORT-GPOA!) 1.38 4 Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo) 1.40 5 Weston Schempf (FORT-GPOA!) 3.56 6 Greg Wittwer (FORT-GPOA!) 4.52 7 Jordan Kahlenberg (Alan) 4.57 8 Sean Galegher (Hunt Valley Bicycles) 4.58 9 Dan Wilson (Henrys Bikes) 5.31 10 Joe Piccillo (Evolution Racing) 5.40 11 Myron Baker (Verge Sport.com) 5.42 12 Joseph Reynolds (Wissahickon) 5.45 13 Michael Yozell (FORT/GPOA !) 5.57 14 George Menard (HVB) 6.16 15 Nathan Deibert (Evolution Racing) 6.31 16 Mike Magur (Verge Sport.com) 7.15 17 Kris Ames (Alan Mid Atlantic) 7.28 18 John Minturn (Kraynicks) 7.47 19 Colin Barry (Manulife Financial / Kane Bikes) 8.12 20 Donald Snoop (Verge Sport Test Pilot) 8.32 21 Mike Stubna (Savage Hill Cycling) 8.49 22 Paolo Zenoni (Westwood Velo) 9.06 23 Alistair Sponsel (Colavita Racing) 9.08 24 Nicholas Shaffer (Evolution Racing) 9.59 25 Glenn Turner (Evolution Racing) 26 Greg Black (Vergesport.com) DNF Andrew Wulfkuhl (Alan Mid Atlantic) DNF Greg Ferguson (Fort/GPOA !) DNF FJ Hughes DNF Kurt Scheerer (Test Pilot) Elite Women, 11 Starters 1 Betsy Schauer (FORT- GPOA !) 40.23 2 Melanie Swartz (Square Coppi/Van Dessel) 1.59 3 Erica Yozell (FORT/GPOA !) 4.11 4 Lisa Most (Wissahickon) 4.54 5 Heidi Von Teitenberg (ALAN Mid-Atlantic) 5.46 6 Lisa Vible (Velo Bella) 6.39 7 Tammy Ebersole (Evolution Racing) 7.18 8 Laura Stark (Somerset Wheelmen) 7.47 9 Beth Mason (NCVC/Edge Technologies) 10 Pam Saltzgueber (Evolution Racing) 8.49 11 Tina Kuntzbeck (Altoona Bike Club) 9.30 Masters, 71 Starters 1 Eric Schlauch (Somerset Wheelmen/Van Dessel) 42.02 2 Joseph Ruggert (Freddie Fu) 0.24 3 Troy Kincaid (Westwood Velo) 0.43 4 William Alcorn (SPEEDGOAT) 0.55 5 Christopher Long (Independent Fabrication/Gotham) 0.57 6 Martin Jones (Somerset) 7 Richard Mihills (The Secret Henry's Team) 1.18 8 Randall Root (Team Snow Valley/SIBEX) 0.27 9 Mike Hebe (FORT/GPOA) 2.05 10 Ralf Warmuth (Highland Park Hermes) 2.41 11 Kirk Reisinger (Club Wissahickon) 2.45 12 Jeff Cordisco (CAPOforma) 2.55 13 John Lux (Hunt Valley Bicycles) 3.08 14 Kelly Cline (Club Wissahickon) 3.31 15 Fred Wittwer (Charlottesville racing club) 3.33 16 Douglass Gray (First State Velo Sport) 4.05 17 Robert Lyon Iii (HUNT VALLEY BICYCLE CLUB) 18 N. Johan Anestad (Evolution Racing) 4.34 19 Alan Buday (rotations racing) 20 Bob Piacine (Guys Racing Club) 21 Larry Kaufman (Velocity Sports/CCE) 5.05 22 Mike Connair (First State Velo Sport) 5.13 23 Kurt Mikeska (Wooden Wheels) 5.18 24 Fred Handel (NVC) 5.30 25 Kevin Saint Clair (QCW/Bike Addicts) 5.35 26 Raymond Zeimet (IL Bradipo dei Romiti USA) 5.47 27 Mark Elsasser 28 Rolf Windh (Guy's Racing) 6.25 29 Brad Lang (Team Cobblestone/Nature's Path) 6.29 30 Rob Frederick (Evolution Racing) 6.43 31 Michael Kirk (Wooden Wheels Racing) 6.54 32 James Perren (Wissahickon) 7.41 33 Michael Czupryna (First State Velo Sport) 7.46 34 Charles McDaniel (Wooden Wheels) 35 Pete Smith (Doylestown Wheelman) 7.52 36 Chris Evans (Wissahickon) 8.10 37 Scott Reynolds (Guy's Racing) 38 Jim Watkins (Team Somerset) 8.27 39 Ralph Gulemmo (East End Kreb Cycle) 8.45 40 Douglas Dicks (CRCA/BENNETTS BICYCLES/FDNY) 9.01 41 Donald Morrison (Wissahickon) 9.37 43 Kevin Kuzas (Guy's Racing) 10.08 44 Tom Pinneo (CC Evesham) 11.41 44 Nunzio Dibiasi (Yellow Breeches Racing) 45 George Hollerbach 46 Marc Bechtold (Peddler Shop Racing) 47 Greg Gorel (Somerset Wheelmen) 48 Kevin Breckenmaker (Yellow Breeches Racing) 49 Richard Bauch (Colavita Racing Team) 50 Paul Debartolo (GS Gotham/TOGA) 51 Leo Pizzini (Henry's Bikes) 52 Gustavo Sanchez (Evolution Racing) 53 Paul Incognito (Quakert City Wheelman) 54 Fafar Bayat (CRCA/Strictly Bicycles) 55 Joseph Kenas (Guy's Racing) 56 Joe Saling (Somerset Wheelmen) 57 David Manhardt (Henry's Bikes) 58 Bob Perna (beans bikes) 59 Christian Faino (Evolution Racing) 60 Jay Downs (FORT/GPOA) 61 Vincent Aloyo 62 Mark McCabe (3D) 63 Charles Wahl 64 Robert Sands (Evolution Racing) 65 Rob Lea (TEAM Fuji) 66 Michael Williams (Wilmington Velocity) B Men, 60 starters 1 Stephen Cummings (kraynicks/mezzatesta) 44.13 2 Michael Rea (Bayside Velo/Bike Doctor) 2.28 3 Tom Mains (Velocity Sports/CCE) 3.00 4 Gregory Lindstrom (First Capital Velo) 3.12 5 Brent Biddle (First State Velo Sport) 3.19 6 Sean Mealey (Hunt Valley Bicycles/HVB) 3.28 7 Daniel Brill (Team Beacon) 3.58 8 Michael Biegalski 4.00 9 Matthew Ferrari (Mt. Nittany Wheelworks) 4.04 10 Chris Ganter (HighRoad Bicycles) 4.06 11 Adam Szczepanski (Bike & Blade - Serfs) 4.20 12 Ray Ignosh (Gotham Cyclists) 4.24 13 Wayne Scott (First State Velo Sport) 4.32 14 Chris Thaler (Evolution Racing) 4.39 15 Randall Henderson (CycleSports) 4.48 16 Chad Totaro (Team Human Zoom) 4.49 17 Emerson Loustau 5.12 18 Charles Florek (Rutgers Cycling) 5.48 19 Leo Kolshorn (3D/Atlantic Cyclery) 20 John Bernardi (Action Wheels) 5.58 21 Chip Sovek (Potomac Velo Club) 6.05 22 John Hostetter Iii (ALAN Mid-Atlantic) 6.24 23 Trevor Williams (Guys Racing) 6.58 24 Christopher Johnson (Mt. Nittany Wheelworks) 7.05 25 Wade Hess (Team Beacon) 7.09 26 Eric Morgan (Wissahickon) 7.14 27 Joel Nace (First Capital Velo) 7.17 28 Bernard McDonald (LSV/Kelly) 7.20 29 Bruce Freehoff (Beacon) 7.25 30 Frank Zgoda (CRCA/Strictly Bicycles) 7.29 31 Josh West (Bikeman) 7.52 32 JP Partland (Kissena Cycling Team) 8.06 33 Alessandro Desouza (Rutgers University/All Brunswick Cyclery) 8.11 34 Mike O'Hara (LSV/Kelly Benefit Strategies) 8.20 35 Wade Andrews (Oz) 9.08 36 Mark Kilgore (First Capital Velo) 9.17 37 James Revere (Team Cobblestone/Nature's Path) 38 Kirk Palermo (Premier Bank/Cycle Sports) 9.22 39 Eric Lowenstein (Highland Park Hermes) 40 Andrew Newmann (Evolution Racing) 9.38 41 Theo Procopos (Wissahickon) 10.05 42 Drew Guldalian (Club Wissahickon) 11.17 43 John Eorio 11.57 44 Bill Bradley 45 Craig Callan (Highland Park Hermes) 46 Eben Weiss (GS Gotham) 47 Montana Norvell (Club Wissahickon) 48 Jeff Shumaker (Breakaway Endurance Sports) 49 Dusan Strika (Kissena Cycling Team) 50 Jeremy Joyce (Evolution Racing) 51 Brad Quinnan (Evolution Racing) 52 Christopher Stine (Cedar Bike) B women, 14 Starters 1 Krista Schultz (Hunt Valley Bicycles) 41.02 2 Marilyn Galegher (Hunt Valley Bicycles) 1.34 3 Amy Breyla (Henry's Bikes) 1.37 4 Karen Tourian (Club Wissahickon) 1.56 5 Annelisa Ochoa (Wissahickon) 1.59 6 Nikki Thiemann (Human Zoom) 2.05 7 Alicia Kahn (Rutgers Cycling/All Brunswick Cyclery) 3.32 8 Nina Santiago (ACT-UPMC) 5.02 9 Laura Csira (Trophy Bikes) 10 Jessica Singerman (Lehigh Valley Bike Line) 5.40 11 Kim Dubek (Bean's Bikies) 12 Kate Flore (Artemis) dnf Laney Siegrist (Human Zoom) dnf Lisa Gonella Juniors 10-16, 3 Starters 1 Morgan Gerlak (Alan Mid-Atlantic) 36.26 2 Adam Schlauch (Somerset Wheelmen) 8.48 3 Jeff Bahnson (Henry's Bikes) C Men, 29 Starters 1 Syd Lea (TEAM Fuji) 37.04 2 Don Yungher (Rutgers University Cycling) 0.12 3 David Berson (East Coast Velo) 0.33 4 Gerhardt Herbert (East Coast Velo) 1.21 5 Barry Wahner 1.25 6 Alex Hall (South Bay Wheelman) 7 Kevin Dillard (NCVC/Edge Technologies) 1.32 8 David Covell (Guy's cycling club) 1.37 9 Glenn Masuda 1.47 10 Travis Sapsford (Cycle Sports/Premier Bank) 2.44 11 Matthew Peterson (HP Hermes) 2.52 12 James Ambagis (FORT-GPOA!) 3.27 13 Dennis Dischler (Wooden Wheels) 3.40 14 Daniel Niedzioda (Trophy Bikes - Team Shiftless) 3.53 15 Leo Kolshorn (0:3D/Atlantic Cyclery) 4.08 16 Robert Peiffer (Evolution Racing) 4.22 17 Darren Malone 4.56 18 Richard Jager (Evolution Racing) 5.25 19 Tim Bowman (Trophy Bikes) 5.32 20 Steven Burke (Hunt Valley Bicycles) 21 Jake Dedoyard 5.35 22 Andre Lopez (Peddlers Shop Racing) 6.35 23 Edward Moran 6.49 24 Mark Fitzwater (Wooden Wheels) 6.56 25 Jay Rothberg (Evolution Racing) 8.18 26 Patrick Gillham 27 Albert Ruigrok
