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Coyote Point Cyclo-cross - NE
San Mateo CA, December 7, 2002
Frischknecht captures first Cyclo-cross @ Coyote Point
US Pros Attend Graduate Seminar
By Tom Simpson
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Herr Dr. Professor Thomas Frischknecht held open class Saturday at the first CycloCross @ Coyote Point on the shoreline with San Francisco Bay in the background. Attending the open book finals were the likes of current US National Champion Todd Wells, Saturn's Tim Johnson, the Northern California Clif Bar team of Jackson Stewart and Andy Jaques-Maynes, Andy's twin Ben and Justin Robinson, the Spokesmen/Bullion squad, northwest powers from Kona/Kenwood Barry Wicks, Bart Bowen and Eric Tonkin and from the far east Adam Craig, recently signed to a new Giant contract. All were prepared to counter any move from the MTB Cross Country icon.
For the first few laps on the circuit, a combination of flat, fast paved sections interspersed with tortuous chipped bark bogs and the signature element on the course - the 100 meter sandbox on the bay, Frischi, currently ranked 11th on the UCI standings, sat at the back of the opening drive and observed his students. Andy J-M led all comers in a group that included his brother, teammate Stewart, National Champ Wells, U-23 entrant Barry Wicks, and Robinson. Lap 2 of 10 saw the lead group shrink to Frischi, Wells, and Stewart and then on lap 4 Wells and Frischknecht simply lowered the boom. This duo, Swiss Champ and American Champ, slugged away while the balance of the field withered on the chipped bark and sand.
Finally, only Wells had the strength to match the Swiss professor until lap 8 - and Frischi was gone. Race Director Tom Simpson had earlier predicted few, if any athletes, could ride the Ritchey "Sand Box", especially with high tide creeping on the edges but the top riders quickly made that bet a no-brainer as Frischi and Wells entertained a sizeable crowd enjoying the acrobatics of successful aerial entries onto the soft landing. Ben Jacques-Maynes had a resurgence in the 2nd half of the race and challenged Wells for 2nd on the bell lap, falling a few seconds short as Wells garnered the runner-up spot. U-23 rider Barry Wicks had perhaps the best ride of his career, finishing ahead of many established stars while many were perhaps looking to Sunday's Redline Cup final up the road in Napa. 232 riders demonstrated the late fall season in Northern California is still the heartbeat of Cyclo-cross.
The Elite Women in Northern California had a Quebecois treat in store as Lyne Bessette gave a shot at racing in the sand and bark, earning a 2 minute victory margin over Sarah Kerlin (Another Bike Shop) and World Singlespeed champ Stella Carey (Kelly Bike Co.) The earlier start for the women's event provided a circuit that was in a better state of preservation, although the dropoff onto the beach was still a very adventurous portion that attracted a sizeable crowd throughout the day. After Jackson Stewart torqued his derailleur on a loose branch during warmups Friday, the Pilarcitos Cyclesports crew performed a "Foreign Object Inspection" on the 400 meter switchback eucalyptus descent and provided a cleaner run for the race proper. And the crew form Pilarcitos Cyclesports spent most of Sunday raking the affected portions of the park, spreading hay bales and in general mitigating the effects of enthusiastic 'cross racers and fans.
Photography
Images by Sabine Dukes/www.velobella.org
- Todd Wells (Mongoose-Hyundai) and Thomas Frishknecht (Swiss Power) chat at the start line
- Spokesman/Bullion's Ben Jacques-Maynes was the only rider to bunny-hop the uphill barrier
- The sand pit made for a unique course obstacle
- One of the many victims of the sand trap
- Just another day at the beach
- Wells and Frishy jumped to an early lead
- Ben Jacques-Maynes finished in a solid 3rd place
- Erik Tonkin (Kona/Kenwood) rides the beach
- Sycip's John Funke enjoys the view
- Some spectators paddled in to watch
- Frishi jumped away from Wells for the win
- The Elite Men's podium
Results
Elite Women 1 Lyne Bessette (Can) Cyclocrossworld.com 45.57 2 Sarah Kerlin (USA) Another Bike Shop 2.17 3 Stella Carey (USA) Kelly Bike Co. 2.29 4 Kathleen Lenno (USA) Ritchey/Palo Alto 2.42 5 Allison Baumhefner (USA) 3.37 6 Janie Dalton (USA) Missing Link 4.01 7 Lauren Costantini (USA) Sycip 5.58 8 Sheila Moon (USA) SallySpicer.com 7.56 Elite Men 1 Thomas Frishknecht (Swi) Swiss Power 1.01.55 2 Todd Wells (USA) Mongoose Hyundai 0.12 3 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Spokesman/Bullion 0.14 4 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona/Kenwood 1.44 5 Bart Bowen (USA) Kona/Kenwood 2.24 6 Jackson Stewart (USA) Clif Bar 3.21 7 Justin Robinson (USA) 3.28 8 Timothy Johnson (USA) Saturn 9 Brent Prenzlow (USA) Celo Pacific 3.38 10 Erik Tonkin (USA) Kona/Kenwood 3.52 11 Shannon Skerritt (USA) 4.00 12 Frank Mapel (USA) Specialized 5.17 13 Aaron Odell (USA) WWW.buycell.com 1 lap 14 John Funke (USA) Sycip 15 Mike Matthews (USA) Buy-cell.com 16 Simon Vickers (USA) Bicycle Trip 17 Cameron Falconer (USA) Hunter cycles 18 Robert Campbell (USA) Rad Racing 19 Tim Knudsen (USA) 20 Ryan Trebon (USA) 21 Anastasio Flores Jr (USA) ABS/ Rocklobster 22 Matt Young (USA) Sycip 23 Erik Paddleford (USA) 24 Jeffrey Hantman (USA) Clifbar 25 Tim Larkin (USA) Ofoto 26 Dean Poshard (USA) Kelly BIke Co. 27 Ben Dodge (USA) Ritchey PAB 28 Nicholas Llewellyn (USA) Santa Cruz Spokesman 29 Monty Worthington (USA) Tifosi Wines 30 David Widmark (USA) 3brt-cyfac 2 laps 31 Rob Evans (USA) WB 32 Mansur Nurullah (USA) Clifbar Master 35+(A) 1 Todd Hoefer 47.18 2 Lawrence Hibbard (USA) Family Cycling Cntr 0.05 3 Kenny Williams (USA) Saturn of Bellvue 0.52 4 Rich Maile (USA) Clifbar/Bianchi 0.57 5 James Coates (USA) Steelman/Velo Bella 6 Mark Howland (USA) Black Market 1.49 7 Thomas Hayles (USA) 3.17 8 Pat Schott (USA) Black Market 3.59 9 Brian Ort (USA) UC Santa Cruz 4.11 10 Rob Meighan (USA) Clif Bar 4.14
