Trebon wins 'Cross after Dark ahead of Berden

Ryan Trebon (LTS/Felt) won the 'Cross after dark ahead of Ben Berden (Ops Ale - Stoemper) and Todd Wells (Specialized) on Saturday night.

It looked like Trebon (LTS/Felt) was going to take the hole shot, but Brian Lopes (Oakley/Ibis) shot his way up and snuck on the inside of Trebon through the first corner. It was an impressive start with Lopes third row call-up, and he remained on the front leading out the field through the first half of lap one.

Then Trebon took over and a group of three instantly broke away up front. It was Berden and Allen Krughoff (Boulder Cycle Sport) with him. By lap two, Wells had worked his way to the front group and they all seemed to be exchanging the work up front.

Krughoff dropped his chain and another mistake cost him his place in the front group as he slipped back. Chris Jones (Rapha Focus) never made it on the front group, but he caught Krughoff and the two battled until there were three laps to go. Jones fell over on a tricky little climb that popped back into the wet grassy field and it was there that Krughoff made his move to open enough of a gap to hold of Jones and finish fourth, for his best race of the season, and Jones fifth.

Up front, the battle continued but Wells fell off the group to finish third and the race up front came down to a sprint between Berden and Trebon. It was an exciting finish as Trebon grabbed another win.

Sunday, will be a repeat of more of the same action with some minor changes to the course, the warm California sun, and no wet evening dew all which will definitely make things faster for day two.

Race notes

- The Hidden Valley Ranch location has hosted many races over the years but this was its last show as land developers have future plans for the area.

- With this in mind, race promoter Dorothy Wong wanted to make the Spooky Cross event historic and put together the best night race this venue has seen. The course held a mixture of everything. From the start riders began through long fast turns, into a hair pin barrier section, then back on the gas and out of the main in-field to the back of the park for the long deep sand pit that troubled riders all night. On the way back in the course was fast until the tricky off-camber right turn that threw riders into the hay literally. Then it was onto the flyover and back into the main venue for a few more twisty turns, stairs, and more.

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