NORBA NCS #3 - E1

USA, May 21-23, 2004

Main Page Results Previous Day Next Day

Stage 2 - May 22: Cross Country

Vanlandingham, Brown rake Big Bear XC wins

By Andy Lee, USA Cyling

So often in the sport of mountain biking, luck plays a major role in the outcome of the race which is exactly what happened today in the men's cross country race at round three of the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series in Big Bear Lake, Calif. Ryan Trebon (Ventura, Calif.) fell victim to lady luck this afternoon after clearly defining himself as the strongest rider in today's race. After amounting a 1:45 lead on his nearest competitor midway though the 29.3 mile race, a flat tire on the final descent obliterated his chances for his first ever NORBA cross country win. The benefactor of Trebon's bad luck, with an impressive ride of his own, was Travis Brown (Durango, Colo.) who claimed his first NORBA National win since 1999.

In a race that included 5400 feet of climbing, Trebon separated himself from the rest of the field early in the race and by the time be had completed the first lap and a half of the 11 mile circuit, he had a commanding lead and looked as though he could easily cruise to a victory. As the race disappeared from sight, the spectators fully expected to see Trebon solo in to the finish, but to their surprise the first rider to round the final corner was Brown with Australian Trent Lowe on his wheel. In the final acceleration to the line, Brown took the win from Lowe by a few bike lengths leaving the crowd to assume either a crash or mechanical failure dashed the hopes of Trebon. Chris Sheppard (CAN) then crossed the line in third place before Trebon emerged, minus a rear tire, to finish fourth.

On the final descent, Trebon clipped a rock and punctured. After a futile attempt to repair the flat he realized his only chance to maintain a podium finish was to ride in with the flat. In the end, it was his aggressive style that cost him the race. "Even with a lead of 1:45 with one lap to go, I didn't feel comfortable with (Paul) Rowney chasing me. I just tried too hard and went too fast down the final descent and clipped a rock. I had some foam sealant, but the puncture was just too big to repair."

An elated Brown was happy with the win, but none to pleased with the way it came about. "I'm totally stoked," he said afterwards in quintessential mountain bike fashion. "It wasn't until the last ten minutes that I thought I had a chance to win. Once everybody was split up and by themselves I knew we were all at high risk for a flat. One you're that tired it's hard to stay focused and I was even more distracted with Trent breathing down my neck. Once I saw Ryan I felt really bad for him."

In the women's race, a bit of bad luck earlier in the week contributed to the chance win by Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colo.). After a terrifying return flight home after last weekend's NORBA race in Sonoma, Calif. that included an emergency landing after her plane lost an engine and hydraulics, Vanlandingham figured she'd drive to California from her home in Durango and contest the NORBA instead of flying across the Atlantic to compete in Sunday's World Cup race in Madrid. Her decision paid off as she rode to her second career NORBA National cross country win.

After a conservative first lap, Vanlandingham punched it up the initial climb that began each lap and slowly distanced herself from the remainder of the field. Not far behind, Gretchen Reeves (Boulder, Colo.), Jimena Florit (ARG), and Dara Marks-Marino (Flagstaff, Ariz.) held Vanlandingham's lead to a respectable gap, but just couldn't regain contact throughout the remainder of the 22 mile race.

Vanlandingham gave her Luna Chix team its third consecutive NORBA National cross country win this season after her teammate, Alison Dunlap, swept the first two.

Entering tomorrow's final stage, the short track event, today's winners, Brown and Vanlandingham lead the overall classification.

Results

Men
 
1 Travis Brown (USA) 
2 Trent Lowe (Aus) 
3 Chris Sheppard (CAN) 
4 Ryan Trebon (USA) 
5 Jay Henry (USA)
 
Women
 
1 Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 
2 Jimena Florit (Arg) 
3 Gretchen Reeves (USA) 
4 Dara Marks-Marino (USA) 
5 Jamie Whitmore-Cardenas (USA)