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Results

Mud, snow and more mud

By Christian Johnson

Epic conditions usually produce an epic race, and it certainly did on Saturday. The forecasters called for wet and wintry conditions and for once they didn’t disappoint us. The temperature was hovering at around 40 degrees and the wind was blowing out of the southwest at 15 to 20 mph. It had already been raining and snowing for much of the previous night and left the 70% dirt trail course at Trailside Park a slippery mess.

The first group of racers consisting of categories B, C, and Jr. Men, and Women A’s, left the start line and the snow started to let up. The trail turned into a muddy bobsled track with grooves worn here and there and making for a treacherous descent. The riders and bikes quickly became unrecognizable with all the mud accumulating, and it was very clear that the riders with a pit crew would definitely have an advantage today.

The A flite lined up next with 32 riders anxiously waiting for the start of the race. The group was kept waiting an extra couple of minutes while Bart Gillespie fixed a flat he had got warming up. Bart is 2 time defending champion, has won every race in the Utah ‘Cross series this year, and placed 12th at the Tacoma round of the Redline Cup of Cyclocross, a UCI category 3 event. The last time we had conditions like this was three years ago at Wheeler Farm when Bart wasn’t on a good day and Dangerboy, Joel Kath, beat Art O’Connor on a last lap attack to win the Championship.

So the A's were off and Bart led the charge bunny-hopping the first set of barriers to open a quick lead, while Art had a slower than usual start and had to pick his way through the field while Bart continued to open the gap. The only rider able to keep Bart in sight was Bryson Perry and as he plugged along through the slop, Art had a crash while chasing Bryson. After 4 or 5 laps Bart had a comfortable lead when he had a crash of his own. This must have set him back quite a bit and hurt his form because within 1 more lap Bryson had bridged the gap and passed Bart. It was shortly after this that Bart decided to end his race and dropped out. Now Bryson was leading alone with Art chasing 20 seconds behind. Aaron Jordin had battled his way past Aaron Phillips to be riding for the final podium spot and conditions continued to deteriorate. It was now snowing hard enough that it would cover the trail in between groups of racers, and the wind continued to howl. At the front of the race Bryson was starting to tire and Art was slowly bringing him back. With 2 laps to go it looked as though Art would catch him on the final lap but it would definitely be close. On the last lap Art put in a huge effort to close it down and Bryson entered the final 75 meters with a 3 second lead, when all the sudden his rear wheel slid out while making the bend on the roundabout and Art passed him to win the 2002 Utah State ‘Cross Championship.

Congratulations to all who competed in such treacherous conditions, I’m sure it’s a day you won’t soon forget.

Photos

Images by Christian Johnson

• And away they go
• Bryson Perry getting covered in muck
• Perry looking amazingly clean
• Art O'Connor battles the mud and snow
• O'Connor does some barrier hopping
• Dirk Cowley looks happy with the weather
• Tanner Putt, one of four juniors who braved the elements
• David Harward, winner of Men's B grade
• Series leader Bart Gillespie
• Womens A Champ Cynthia Loddings

Results

Men A+ 

1. Art O'Connor
2. Bryson Perry
3. Aaron Jordin
4. Aaron Phillips
5. Cary Smith
6. Racer Gibson
7. Darrell Davis
8. Christian Johnson
9. Brent Peacock
10. Brandon Firth
DNF Bart Gillespie
DNF Leo O'Connor
DNF Kelly Ryan

Men A 

1. Todd Smith
2. David Wood
3. Ali Goulet
4. Jim Fearick
5. Dirk Cowley
6. Gary Fuller
7. Jon Gallagher
8. John Iltis
9. Jesse Hoffman
10. Tom Horrocks
11. Darren Cottle
12. Denny Kalar
13. Jack Dainton
14. Rob Weseman
15. Ron Prue
16. Ron Peeleman
17. Jimmy Tart
18. Steven Lewis
19. Steve Addicott

Men 35+ 

1. Art O'Connor
2. David Wood
3. Darrell Davis
4. Brent Peacock
5. Gary Fuller
6. John Iltis
7. Tom Horrocks
8. Jack Dainton
9. Rob Weseman
10. Steven Lewis
11. Steve Addicott

Men 45+ 

1. Dirk Cowley
2. Ron Peeleman

Men B

1. David Harward
2. Stuart Beling
3. Charles Heaton
4. Eddie Hill
5. Bret Johnson
6. Asa Kelly
7. Ken Chord
8. Scott Ford
9. Jeff Clawson
10. Phillip Pattison
11. Tracy Nielson
12. Jason Jones
DNF Andy Yentsch

Men C

1. Ryan Harward
2. Mitchell Peterson
3. Thomas Spannring
4. Alan Greenburg
5. Alex Whitney
6. Greg Adams
7. Patrick Putt
8. Ryan Harrison
9. Jason Fawcett
10. Coy McAffee
11. Mike Rossberg
DNF Jim Speer

Women A

1. Cynthia Loddings
2. Lisa Peck
DNF Sally Warner

Women B

1. Judy Allen
2. Anne Donohue

Juniors

1. Kaleb Legore
2. Chris Peterson
3. Kevin Perry
4. Tanner Putt