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Des Moines Doublecross #2
October 6, 2002
By Donny Quixote
Summing up cyclo-cross racing in one sentence: What doesn't kill you will probably make you want to die!
After a great performance last week on the cyclo-cross rig I aimed for an even better finish this week in the second race of the Double Cross Series here in Des Moines. The course this time was almost entirely flat with three sections of barriers over a 1-mile loop. It was a barrier tester! The person with the most fluidity over the barriers had a great shot at a top finish.
A lot of the same guys from last week were back. Cully Todd, John Olney, and every member of the Cannondale team north of the Mason-Dixie. Also in the field was Jacob Stienbech, a Cat-2 rider from Minnesota. Jacob was one of those guys who forced other people to sigh in servility as he walked by. He shot down several hopes of glory just by showing up.
At the start line Jacob lined up next to me and that was the last time I saw his face until after the race! As soon as the official told us to start Jacob was gone like a fart in a hurricane with Cully, John, and I making the majority of the initial chase group. Jacob stayed in our sights for the first third of the race and wasn't gaining huge amounts of distance.
Cully, John, and I were desperately trying to get on terms with him but lost any chance we had when I took a brief spill on the gravel roads, a lap later Cully face-planted his way through a barrier, and two laps later John did a reenactment of Cully's mishap. Jacob was gone...out of sight, out of mind. Cully's misfortune continued when he got a flat tire, had to switch bikes, and was more or less dropped from the hunt. This left John and I in the running for second overall. Since Cully was the only guy in my category who had given me a challenge I was comfortable sitting in with John and letting him carry me to the finish.
Yet that didn't go as well as I had hoped either. The barriers were becoming increasingly problematic as fatigue started to settle in, John would bound across them like a gazelle on crack and I would muddle through having to sprint back up to him after each one. John easily dropped me.
I would later learn that John didn't leave me because he wanted to, he had to! Lee Venteicher, who is a Cat-2 like John, was coming up from behind with awesome speed. Lee had spent a good chunk of the race well behind us and was never really in sight.
In fact, I had never even considered him a threat. Though through the final 5-6 laps he started turning the screws and was quickly reeling me in. He caught me, looked at me, and left me behind like an ugly prom date. Lee then proceeded to do the same thing to John up the road. It wasn't pretty.
In the end Jacob easily took the win, Lee second, and John got third. I finished fourth overall and first in my category. I am very pleased with my finish and am getting more-n-more psyched about racing off-road through the winter to help keep me in shape. And speaking of, I am scheduled to do the Kendall Young MTB Race on the 20th of this month in Webster City, IA and possibly some more CX races in November, hope to see you there.
Many thanks again to Marc Hollander and Mike Hamilton. Ya'll so cute!
Results
Juniors 1 Nick "Damn you ugly barrier" Bishop (Midwest Rolling Thunder) 2 Rob West (Midwest Rolling Thunder) 3 Kolin Brighton 4 Jeremy V. 5 Dillon Baker Women 1 Andrea "maybe I will run that marathon tomorrow" Mugge (Cannondale Midwest) Senior 4/5 1 Matt "Silent But Deadly" Kleinmeyer (Cannondale Midwest) 2 Patrick "Patricia" Alvord (Midwest Rolling Thunder) 3 Rob "You really want to make this harder?" Versteegh (Midwest RT) 4 Tom " Tha man in black" Laughead 5 Jason Nielsen 6 Paul Jensen Senior 3 1 Donny "The Don of Cross" Quixote (Midwest Rolling Thunder) 1/2 Cully "Hmmm, run or faceplant" Todd (Cannondale Midwest) 3 Eric Nonnecke (Iowa State University) 4 Chris "GEEEEEEEK" Maharry 5 Brian "I'm glad I slept through the last one - I was having a good dream" Deutschendorf 6 Lane "MOTORHEAD" Anderson 7 Josh Lukins Senior 1/2 1 Jacob "Euro-dude" Stechmann (Flanders) 2 Lee "Hmm, I vote for an icestorm next weekend" Venteicher (C'dale Midwest) 3 John Olney (ICCC 4 Terry Beenken 5 Tone Coughlin 6 Scott Wall 7 Paul Denninger Single Speed 1/2 Cully "Hmmm, cross bike or singlespeed" Todd (Cannondale Midwest)
