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Jingle 'Cross Rock - NE
Iowa City, IA, USA, November 25-26, 2006
Horner & Swanson Battle at Jingle Cross
With a prize list of over $13,000, including nearly $5000 for the Men's Elite races alone, the 2006 Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock weekend in Iowa City, IA, brought out many of the nation's top racers for the two-day event.
Elite Men
In Saturday’s race, UCI ProTour rider Chris Horner (Specialized/Predictor-Lotto)
showed a roadie can excel at ’cross by powering through the Christmas
themed course at a blistering pace. Doug Swanson (Grandstay), Steve Tilford
(Verge-Shimano), Nathan Rice (Big Shark Racing), and Bjorn Selander (Alan Factory
Team) found themselves unable to match Horner's pace and would have to set
their sights on Sunday. "The course was fast and pretty dry so that was
good for me," said Horner. "I loved the speed of the descent off of
Mount Krumpit and that carried me through the flat sections."
In Sunday's event, however, the tables were turned and no one was ready to go down without a fight for their share of the $3000 payout. Another blistering pace was set early on by Horner, Swanson, Tilford, and Selander, with Sam Krieg (ICE Rocky Mountain Surgery Center) finding his legs to stay within striking distance. The pace also meant that whoever cracked first or suffered a mishap would have their work cut out if they wanted to keep their winning hopes alive. This was a reality Tilford faced when he flatted midway through the race, forcing him to change bikes and ending hopes for a repeat of his 2005 win.
Up front, Horner, Swanson, and Selander would continue to battle it out for 40 of the 60 minute event before Swanson put in a ferocious attack to get away from Horner and Selander. Repeated attempts to pull Swanson back were unsuccessful, and Swanson would come out on top with Selander finishing second ahead of a tired but happy Horner. “Yesterday, I didn’t have my legs but today I found them and really tried to hammer as hard as I could on those last two laps,” grinned an elated Swanson. “Horner, Bjorn, and Tilly [Tilford] were coming and I just had to find a way to hold them off.” Swanson later called his victory: “the biggest cross win of my season.”
Elite Women
Not to be outdone by the men, the Casey’s/Handimart Women's Elite races attracted many top names as well, with Megan Elliott (Specialized), Catherine Walberg (Kenda Tire), and Sydney Brown (Lincoln Plating) all making appearances. Three reigning U.S. National Champions were also in the women’s Elite field including Kaitlin Antonneau (13-14), Samantha Schneider (15-16), and Patti Kaufman (45-49). Schneider’s Sunday race was ruined early on as she suffered an unfortunate mechanical failure with a broken handlebar and had to run nearly half the course until she made it to the wheel pit for a bike change. But the race soon turned into the Catherine Walberg show, with Walberg sweeping both Saturday and Sunday's events including taking Sunday’s $400 top prize in commanding fashion.
Men’s Masters 35+
In the Men’s Masters 35+, Brian Conant (Training Bible) proved to be too much for the competition as won Sunday's race. But in the spirit of the holidays, Brian turned around and donated Sunday’s Masters top prize back to the Children’s Hospital of Iowa.
All proceeds from The Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock went directly to the Children’s Hospital , raising nearly $20,000. Race Director John Meehan credited the success of the event to finding great sponsors, volunteers, and the ideal venue for the 23 races and registration count of 500 riders. For the first time, the Jingle Cross was held at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Iowa City. The facility is traditionally used for agricultural shows and fairs. But the race organisers used the grounds with some clever twists turning the barns and fairgrounds into an exciting cyclo-cross course with a Christmas flair.
A livestock scale house was turned into a sand pit and appropriately called the Grinch’s Lair with the Grinch theme song playing in the background. Another barn had been turned into an indoor Christmas light show. And behind the barns, a large steep hill became Mount Krumpit, with an 80 metre run-up that rivaled even the famed Kona-Knapp run-up in the Pacific Northwest. For the spectators, the venue was a treat as cycling fans could stand atop Mount Krumpit and see the entire race unfold from a bird’s eye view. To top things off, the Grinch made a surprise visit for the kid’s fun race and awarded teddy bears to all of the participants who, coincidently, all tied for first. The Grinch placed last.
Results
Saturday - Elite Men 1 Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto / Specialized) 2 Doug Swanson (Grandstat) 3 Steve Tilford (Verge/Shimano) 4 Nathan Rice (Big Shark Racing/Ridley) 5 Bjorn Selander (Alan Factory Team) 6 Sam Krieg (I.C.E Rocky Mountain Surg ctr) 7 Joshua Johnson (Big Shark Racing) 8 Kurt Refsnider (All9Yards.com Cylcing Team) 9 Paul Ellis (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 10 Brian Conant (TrainingBible) 11 Brian Eppen (ICCC) 12 Bill Stolte 13 Harry Anderson (SkiHut - Duluth) 14 Kyle Jacobson (Beans and Barley) 15 David Sachs (Vision Quest / Sg-2) 16 Adam Mills (MRRC/ Trek/ Volkswagon) 17 Anthony Wilhelm (Trek/VW Midwest) 18 James Holmes (All9Yards.com Cycling Team) 19 Sean Noonan (Team 14/Pedro's) 20 Chris Hall (Team X Cycling) 21 Dag Selander (Alan Factory Team) 22 JJ Bailey (Tritan Hames/MSM) 23 Troy Krause (Trek of KC) 24 Chris Strout (The Pony Shop) 25 John Olney (ICCC) 26 Mark Studwicki (Cowtown Cycling) 27 Poole Aaron (Lincoln Plating) 28 Paul Deninger (Mercy Specialized) 29 Tige Lamb (Cowtown Cycling) 30 Lou Kuhn (Pony Shop) 31 Sean Walker (Atlas-Core Fitness) 32 Thaddeus Neil (Team 14 Productions Cycling) 33 Bill Marshall (Team X Cycling) 34 Robert Downs (Planet Bike) 35 Mark Nagy (Dogfish Racing Team) 36 John Meehan (Mercy-Specialized) 37 Chris Hansen (team 14 productions/pedros) 38 Hollywood Henderson (Hollywood Cycles) DNF Kevin Attkisson (Texas Roadhouse Cycling) DNF Nathan Moenck DNF Tony Nichols (Triton Homes/MSM) Saturday - Elite Women 1 Catherine Walberg (Team Kenda Tire) 2 Megan Elliot (Specialized) 3 Sydney Brown (Lincoln Plating/Lemond) 4 Kristin Wentworth (Nova IS Corp) 5 Linda Cooper (Great Plains Cycling Club) 6 Linda Sone (Hollywood Racing/Silver Cycling) 7 Sam Schneider (Endeavour) 8 Karla Kingsley (Velo Bella - Kona) 9 Pattti Kaufmann (Team Wisconsin) 10 Jennifer Herrell (KCOI) 11 Michele Ericsson (Capitol Velo Club) 12 Casey Cessna (Endeavour) 13 Tammy Meehan (Mercy-Specialized) 14 Robin Goforth (University of Iowa) 15 Jami Hartwig (Team Skin) 16 Shannon Holmes (All9Yards.com Cycling Team) 17 Jane Riessen (Mercy Specialized) 18 Sandy Kessler (Team Skin) DNF Lindsay Hatfield (Texas Roadhouse Cycling)
Sunday - Elite Men 1 Doug Swanson (Grandstay) 2 Bjorn Selander (Alan Factory Team) 3 Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto / Specialized) 4 Steve Tilford (Verge/Shimano) 5 Sam Krieg (I.C.E Rocky Mountain Surgery Center) 6 Nathan Rice (Big Shark Racing/Ridley) 7 Joshua Johnson (Big Shark Racing) 8 Brian Eppen (ICCC) 9 Kurt Refsnider (All9Yards.com Cylcing Team) 10 Bill Stolte (Trek/VW-MRRC) 11 Kyle Jacobson (Beans and Barley) 12 Paul Ellis (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 13 Shadd Smith (Trek/Volkswagen-Midwest) 14 Dewey Dickey (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 15 Adam Mills (MRRC/ Trek/ Volkswagon) 16 Brian Conant (TrainingBible) 17 Harry Anderson (SkiHut - Duluth) 18 Anthony Wilhelm (Trek/VW Midwest) 19 Sean Noonan (Team 14/Pedro's) 20 Troy Krause (Trek of KC) 21 John Olney (ICCC) 22 Chris Hall (Team X Cycling) 23 Tony Nichols (Triton Homes/MSM) 24 James Holmes (All9Yards.com Cycling Team) 25 Dag Selander (Alan Factory Team) 26 JJ Bailey 27 Lou Kuhn 28 Mark Studick (Cowtown Cycles) 29 Bill Marshall (Team X Cycling) 30 Eric Thompson (Penn Cycle) 31 Sean Walker (Atlas-Core Fitness) 32 Derek Laan (Purdue University Cycling Club) 33 Aaron Pool (Lincoln Plating) 34 Scott Rendell 35 John Meehan (mercy-specialized) 36 Christopher Maharry (Team 14 Productions) 37 John Thompson ( ) 38 Nathan Cline 39 Peter Boyd (Trek) 40 Thaddeus Neil (Team 14 Productions Cycling Team) DNF Kevin Attkisson (Texas Roadhouse Cycling) DNF Ethan Froese (Labor Power) DNF David Sachs (Vision Quest / Sg-2) DNF Chris Strout (The Pony Shop) DNF Lou Kuhn (Pony Shop) DNF John Eppen (Rick Hopson) DNS Paul Deninger (Mercy Specialized) DNS Nathan Moenck DNS Hollywood Henderson (Hollywood Cyckes) Sunday - Elite Women 1 Catherine Walberg (Team Kenda Tire) 2 Sydney Brown (Lincoln Plating/Lemond) 3 Linda Sone (Hollywood Racing/Silver Cycling) 4 Kristin Wentworth (Nova IS Corp) 5 Megan Elliot (Specialized) 6 Linda Cooper (Great Plains Cycling Club) 7 Karla Kingsley (Velo Bella - Kona) 8 Jennifer Harrell (KCOI) 9 Casey Cessna (Endeavour) 10 Patti Kaufmann (Team Wisconsin) 11 Amanda Miller (Atlas/Core) 12 Pam Hinton (Columbia Bike Club) 13 Michele Ericsson (Capitol Velo Club) 14 Jami Hartwig (Team Skin) 15 Shannon Holmes (All9Yards.com Cycling Team) 16 Stacy LaPresta (Route 66) 17 Sandy Kessler (Team Skin) 18 Kaitlin Antonneau (Nova-IsCorp) 19 Robin Goforth (University of Iowa) 20 Samantha Schenider (Endeavour) 21 Jane Riessen (Mercy Specialized) DNS Lindsay Hatfield (Texas Roadhouse Cycling) DNS Tammy Meehan (mercy-specialized)
