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K2/Widmer Star-Crossed Cyclo-cross (C3)
Redmond, WA, USA, September 27, 2003
2002 Results Results Past winners
'Cross season gets party start
By Andy Dahlstrom
Is this the best party in American cycling, or the only cyclocross event to pull ten times as many spectators as racers? America's top cyclocross racers may get fitter and faster through this fall season, but they aren't likely to see a bigger cycling show than Saturday night's Widmer/K2 Star-Crossed Cyclocross Race, until the World Championships in southern France. Saturday night was the first internationally sanctioned cyclocross race of the year. It was also a model for making a bicycle race as exciting to watch as to compete in. What was the recipe? Roughly 2,000 spectators, 12,000 feet of orange tape, a beer garden at the center of the course, and many of the finest riders in the country.
Men: Gullickson learns
The first time the elite men's field came through the tight infield turns at the Marymoor Velodrome, former National Cyclocross Champion Marc Gullickson dumped his bike and watched one rider slip past. That may have been the lesson he needed to win the K2/Widmer Star-Crossed Cyclocross Race. In the final minute of the race, Adam Craig (Giant/ Pearl Izumi) tried to squeeze past Gullickson (Redline) on another buttonhook turn. Craig dumped his bike, and Gullickson pounced. Even with Craig back on his bike and flying, Gullickson stretched a seven second gap to ten, and floated through to win.
If there had been a Most Aggressive Rider award, Adam Craig would have won it. On the third lap, Craig reeled in an early lead group, and rode away solo. He soon led Gullickson, event co-host Jonny Sundt (K2) and former National Champion Todd Wells (Mongoose/Hyundai) by eleven seconds. What looked like a coordinated chase by the trailing three did not begin to cut into Craig's breakaway for four more laps. Finally, Jonny Sundt took a huge pull that cut that lead in half. Then Craig dabbed his foot rounding the beer garden and the three pursuers closed in with eight laps to go.
Just as Gullickson took his first lead of the race, Craig counter-attacked his own breakaway; he leaped back into the lead almost as soon as he was caught. That was the move to split the race. Wells and Sundt rode together like adversaries, while Craig and Gullickson slipped further and further ahead. The Craig/Gullickson partnership was a contrast of styles: Gullickson in the saddle except to dismount for all the barriers, Craig standing on the pedals and bunny-hopping. Entering the final lap, Gullickson pushed Craig from the front, inviting the charge that led to Craig's crash.
Wells led Sundt throughout the final lap, until Sundt used the last few meters to throw his bike around for third place. Portland's Shannon Skeritt shed his chase group on the final lap to take fifth.
Women: New name, same speed
Anne Grande has married, but she is still the Queen of Cyclocross. Anne Knapp now, the reigning National Champion with the Kona/Kenwood team rode through a series of mishaps to win the K2/Widmer Star-Crossed Cyclocross Race. No-one had Knapp's speed, but she often had to use it to catch up from behind.
Josie Beggs (Redline/Ritchey) started fast, and led at the first barrier. Knapp closed in and the two grabbed an early gap, but by the second lap Beggs was riding alone, up eighteen seconds on Rhonda Mazza (Sellwood Cycles), with Knapp distant in fourth. Knapp had picked up a new bicycle; she said her rear skewer had dropped out. "It's my fault. It's what happens when I'm my own mechanic."
Knapp reeled in Mazza quickly. But Beggs rode strong, at the front while Knapp switched bikes again. But once Knapp was on a bike that would hold together, she took only two minutes to close Beggs' fifteen second lead. With all that power, Knapp blew into the lead, but dumped her bike on one of the tight turns through the infield of the Marymoor Velodrome. Beggs slipped to the front again, but Knapp's smoother technique through the beer garden barriers brought them together for the fourth lap. Knapp settled into a rhythm to pull away by five seconds after one lap, then fifteen, twenty and thirty seconds at the finish. Mazza rode in for third place, having held the fifteen second gap behind Beggs for the second half of the race.
Results
Pro men 1 Marc Gullickson (USA) Redline 1.03.54 2 Adam Craig (USA) Giant/Pearl Izumi 0.05 3 Jonny Sundt (USA) K2 0.33 4 Todd Wells (USA) Mongoose/Hyundai 5 Shannon Skyritt (USA) Bike Gallery/Trek/VW 0.49 6 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona Kenwood 0.54 7 Kryan Trebon (USA) Eastern/Kona/CCA 1.03 8 Dale Knapp (USA) Kona 1.37 9 Russell Stevenson (USA) Bianchi-Cliff Bar 2.17 10 Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) Cliff Bar CCX 2.26 11 Loren Hanson (USA) Bianchi-Cliff Bar 3.38 12 Erik Tanlan (USA) Kona Kenwood 3.31 13 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Family Cycling 4.23 14 Troy Heithecker (USA) Recycled Cycles 15 Jon Myers (USA) Bike Gallery/Trek/VW 4.30 16 Eric Atwood (USA) Ritchey 4.34 17 Carl Decker (USA) Giant/Pearl Izumi 4.22 18 John Flack (USA) Valley 4.34 19 Mark Hanson (USA) Bianchi-Cliff Bar 4.42 DNF David Fleischauer (USA) RAD Racing DNF Kent Johnston (USA) Fred Meyer DNF Derik Archibald (USA) Valley DNF Michael Gaertner (USA) Vertical Earth DNF Seth Davis (USA) Broadmark DNF Omer Kem (USA) Bianchi-Cliff Bar DNF Rob Cook (USA) DNF Dan Neyens (USA) EA Cross DNF Rob Campbell (USA) Broadmark DNF Peter Groblewski (USA) EA Cross DNF Jeff Bannink (USA) Bikefit DNF Steven Williams (USA) Recycled Cycles DNF Shawn Mcdonald (USA) Sunnyside DNF Mike Schindler (USA) Sunnyside DNF Jackson Stewart (USA) Cliff Bar CCX DNF Aaron Menenberg (USA) TI Cycles DNF Steven Crosier (USA) K2 DNF John Frey (USA) Fred Meyer DNF Richard Mcclung (USA) Broadmark DNF Mikkel Bossen (USA) Bike Gallery/Trek/VW DNF Ian Mackie (USA) EA Cross DNF Benjamin Thompson (USA) EA Cross Women A 1 Anne Knapp (USA) Kona/Kenwood 41.38 2 Josie Begg (USA) Redline 0.20 3 Rhonda Mazza (USA) Sellwood Cycle 0.29 4 Ingrid Spies (USA) Recycled Cycles 2.16 5 Kele Hulsor (USA) Bike Dr. 3.04 6 Emily Westbrook (USA) Goldys 3.34 7 Shanhan Uhitlatch (USA) Fred Meyer 9.14 Junior A 1 Andy Books (Cytomax/Kinder) 42.23 2 Tucker Thomas (RAD Racing) 3 Will Freeman (RAD Racing) 1.35 4 Tristan Skolrud (RAD Racing) 1.57 5 Tyler Given (ASC) 6 Tommy Magrath (Redline/Ritchey) 7 Luke Brechwald (RAD Racing) 3.42 8 Severin Skolrud (RAD Racing) 4.09 Men B 1 Greg Ulrich (Crow Cycles) 2 Matt Slaven (Spot Brand) 3 Matthew Roberg Mahoney (Bike Gallery/Trek/VW) 4 Nathen Hobson (Half Fast Velo) 5 Jimmy Lingwood (Recycled) 6 Matt Hayes (YVCC) 7 Marc Bendseon 8 Mark Young (GMAC) 9 Michael Henry (Recycled) 10 Aaron Sander (Half Fast Velo) 11 Mark Landsaat (K2) 12 Greg Carmichael 13 Kyle Felmley (Bicycle Center) 14 Pat Tongue 15 Lance Simanek (K2/Barefoot) 16 David Sullivan 17 Dan Wynn (Team Novara) 18 Paul Anderson (Half Fast Velo) 19 Chris Johns (RAD Racing) 20 Matt Carey (Second Ascent) 21 Tim Mason (KAOS) 22 Alan Wiley (Byrne Specialty Gas) 23 Adam Van Dyke 24 Brian Bspears (Half Fast Velo) 25 Andrew Lamb (Union Bay) Women B 1 Lisaq Given (BYRNE Specialty) 2 Danielle Crandall (Subway) 3 Tela Crane (Rad Racing) 4 Japine Riley (Subway) 5 Sharhan Whilatne (Fred Meyer) 6 Kristen Smith (REI) Masters 1 Kenny Williams (Redline) 32.09 2 Rich Maile (Clif Bar) 3 Alex Andel (LWV) 4 Dale Plant (Kona) 5 Matt Hill (TI Cycles) 6 Tim Ellis (Recycled) 7 Michael Gaertner (Vertical Earth) 8 Dan Norton (Redline) 9 Chad Berg (Bicycles Center Racing) 10 Randy Daniels (TI Cycles) 11 Andy Dahlstrom (GLSplash) 12 Troy Tucker (Bike Gallery) 13 Jeff Mccaneghy (Methow) 14 Phil Oppenheimer (Bicycle Center) 15 David Hull (2nd Ascent) 16 Chris Torgerson (Saturn) 17 Brad Lewis (Recycled) 18 Pablo Espinosa (S-3) 19 David Stonich (Rubicon) 20 Joe Sales (Rad Racing) 21 Todd Anderson 22 Ed Arthur (???) 23 Scott O'dell (Kona) 24 Dana Parnells (REI/Novara) 25 Jay Murray (Trek) 26 Pat Weiler (REI/Novara) 27 Jeff Spence (Team Soliton) 28 David Meubeck (Belly Velo) 29 Stephen Cork (Ashmead) 30 Tim Ogden (B-Mrc) 31 Grant Thacker (Excel) 32 Tim Ellis (Recycled) 33 David Henson (Spokes Sprocket) 34 Brad Collins (Sigoi) 35 Andy Ferguson (Team Soliton) 36 Todd Randy (Ashmead) 37 Glen Conley 38 Warren Atkey (Ashmead) 39 Troy Coleman (GA) 40 Mark Knokey (Elephant) 41 Brad Ross (Bike'n Hike/Giant) 42 Pat Bentson (Rad Racing) 43 Sean Witner 44 Andrew Malonkoff (Recycled) 45 Steven Wagner (Signle Track) 46 Jim Knapik 47 Greg Goad 48 Chris Brown (BSP) 49 Michael Thatcher (Seattle Velo) 50 Paul Thompson (Pazzo Velo) 51 Brad Jacobs (Perry Shoes) 52 Don Tyler 53 Mark Cleaver (Chinook Yakima) 54 Scott Anderson (Bellingham Velo) 55 Mark Lambic 56 Brad Oppedal (Perry Shoes) 57 Duke Anderson (Saturn) 58 Loren Bogard (ABC) 59 Tony Ogden (B Mark) Junior B 1 Grady Weiler (ASC Supersquadra) 2 Nathan Bannerman (Rad Racing) 3 Noah Buckley (Rad Racing) 4 Grant Boursaw (Gregg's Trek) 5 Evan Schmitt (Rad Racing) Beginner Men 1 Jeff Smith (Sprocket) 2 Bryce Given (Byrne Specialty) 3 James Birkenbuel (Aurora) 4 Dan Warner (Aurora) 5 Greg Valentin Beginner women 1 Holly Walker (Ashmead) 2 Amara Boursaw 3 Catherine Hardy (Fox) 4 Karen Kraus (EA Cycling) 5 Kelly Nitty (WOMADS) 6 Lesley Trivett (Crystal Decisions) 7 Annette Oppenheimer DNF Druska Salisbury-Milan (Aurora)
Past winners
2002 Jonny Sundt (K2)
