by Rob Karman
Despite low spectator and athlete turnouts, there was fierce competition at the Boulderracing.com UCI Cyclo-Cross on November 3. Held under clear sunny skies with temperatures hovering in the low 70's, both the men's and women's races came down to 2 rider duels.
The women's race shook out after only a lap and a half as local rider Melissa Thomas (Rocky Mounts/THF Realty) broke away with national mtn bike star Gina Hall (Kona/Voicestream). The duo quickly built up a lead of 40 seconds by the end of lap three and were never seen by the chasers again. The attacks came hard and often as neither could shake the other off their wheel until Hall got a small gap at the top of the steepest run up on lap 6. Thomas quickly caught back on, but the effort showed clearly on her face and by the time they came around for lap 7, Hall had an 8 second gap that would grow to the finish. Behind them, there was a heated battle for the final podium spot with local pro Heather Szabo (Rocky Mounts/THF Realty) taking the honors.
The men's podium had a decidedly local flavor as defending SuperCup Champion Marc "Gully" Gullickson (Mongoose) traded jabs with fellow hometown hero Travis Brown (Trek VW) off the front while the best of the rest battled for third. After numerous attacks and counter-attacks, Gullickson would take the race by only a few feet after being first through the final corner and holding Brown off in the sprint. The podium was filled out by Frank Mapel (Yeti/Pearl Izumi), another Boulder resident while Seattelite Jonny Sundt (K2 Bike) took 4th as the top non-Boulder rider with Todd Wells (Mongoose) placing 5th.
The men's race started out with Sundt taking the lead into the first dirt section, but he was passed by Gullickson who opted for the shorter, but much looser, inside line through the first right hand hairpin. After half a lap Mapel tried his hand at the front but was quickly brought back into the fold of the pack. It continued this way through the first 4 laps as one after another of the leading riders tried to escape off the front to no avail. Finally on the 5th lap, Gully made his move and Brown soon bridged up to make the winning break complete. With a lap and a half to go in the 14 lap race they started to play cat and mouse, each knowing that whoever led through the final corner would likely take the win. With half a lap to go Gully made his move and held on to the finish.
"I tried twice really hard to gap him [Brown] and he closed it down both times," Marc Gullickson told Cyclingnews afterwards. "Then he tried with 2 to go really hard to gap me and he did and I was able to reel him in. With a lap and a half we just cat and moused it and I attacked with about a half lap to go. It was basically whoever went into those last few corners first and I was able to do it."
CN: At any point did you know you would win it?
"No, not until I saw his shadow drift away from me right on that last straight away because he was on my wheel going through that last turn and he was hitting those turns a little better than me the whole race. I thought he might square me off or something. You never know what is going to happen."
Second placed Travis Brown told Cyclingnews, "This is the first big race I've done [this year]. I've done two other locals races here in Colorado. I was really happy to be with Marc and all the other guys racing here. I'm going to do the Chicago race [SuperCup] and Nationals. So I'm stoked about it. I'm really happy."
"I went across right at the right time when the gap happened and I got with Marc and that was pretty much it. We worked together and just gradually stretched it out."
"On the last lap I was trying to set him up on the corner before the double barrier because I knew whoever went through that first, there was really no place else to pass. He took the inside line that I'd been taking all day. He totally did exactly what he needed to do. I still tried to go inside and we bumped a little bit but I couldn't get around him clean. I think the race was really right there."
Frank Mapel, in third place, was slightly philosophical about his performance, as he related: "I lucked out when Wells crashed on one of the barriers [on the last lap] and slowed Jonny up enough to let me ride in a bit easier than I was thinking about. I wanted to catch up to Gully and Travis, but they were working too well together. They were goin' after it!"
Rob Karman also took these glorious pictures.
These photos courtsey of Brian Hludzinski
Even more photos, these kindly supplied by Beth Seliga
Pro 1,2 1 Marc Gullickson (Mongoose) 2 Travis Brown (Trek/VW) 3 Frank Mapel (Yeti) 4 Jonny Sundt (K2 Bikes) 5 Todd Wells (Mongoose) 6 Will Black (Lonestar) 7 Alex Candelario (THF Reality) 8 Brandon Dwight (Trek) 9 Steven Zdawczynski (Ellsworth) 10 Christian McCarthy (FRCC) 11 Jesse Riel 12 Scott Daubert (Fisher) 13 Joe Depaemelaere (GSCDH) 14 Richard Feldman (Durance) 15 Brent Prenzlow (Unattached) 16 Todd Berger (THF Reality) 17 Brian Hludzinski (Jamba Juice) 18 Ben Turner (7 -UP) 19 Matt Pacocha (Red Rocks Velo) 20 Craig Wohischlaecen (Big Shark) 21 Scott Forrest (Rudy Project) 22 Alex Andel (KHSNM.com) 23 Joe Taddeuci (Vita Cottage) 24 Jeff Wardell (Louisville Velo) 25 Mark Roebke (Specialized) 26 Patrick J. Gallegos (Pedalhome.com) 27 Kurt Rees (ABC) 28 Jon Alegranti (Pro Peloton) 29 Josh Johnson (Veloforce) 30 Chuck Coyle (THF Reality) Cat 3 Men 1 Jon Cariveau (MOOTS) 2 Grant Berry (Specialized) 3 Jesse Swift (Dean) 4 Todd Carver 5 Glen Light (Red Rocks Velo) 6 Clay Harris (Red Rocks Velo) 8 Ryan Vaslet (The Baj) 9 Trevor Graham 10 Chance Cook (Rocky Mounts) 12 Kris Arnott (Rainbow Racing) 13 Russell Harding 13 Russell Harding 14 Ben Seltzer (GSBMCT) 15 Tom Hunter (Vitamin Cottage) 16 Greg Muller 17 John Henry 18 Mathew Glick (Red Hook Brewery) 19 Aaron Gallardo (Juice Juice) 20 Ryan Artale (Team Pure Atitude) 21 Kirk Olson (Roguewave / Frontier GMAC) 22 Jeremiah Boobar (Rock Shox / IF) 23 Rob Schow (Pedalhome/RogueWave) 24 Bobby Dahlstrom (FRCA ) Men Cat 4 1 Ed Oliver (LRT) 2 Parker Macy (Dynatek) 3 Ben O'Brien (Village Idiots) 4 Cameron Chambers (River City Racing) 5 Kurt Achtenhaggen 7 Daniel Macfarlane 8 Bret Hunter (Red Rocks Velo) 10 Craig Russel 11 Michael Burch (Red Rocks Velo) 12 Seth Murray (CU Cycling) 13 Scott Hayashi 14 Jamie Ryan-White (khsmn.com) 15 Steve Luckey (Wonderboy) 15 Steven Slenker 17 John T. Smith 18 Walt Lee 19 Mark Bunker (Skyline Bike Club) 20 Marcos Brady 21 Don Ash 23 Jeffery Olson (Single Speed Rulz) 24 Brice Stivers DNF Matthew Alford 35+ Men 1 Dennis Farrell (Red Rocks) 2 Frank Hibbits (Rainbow Racing) 3 Pat Zeller (CRT) 4 Kevin Vincent (Lone Star Racing Team) 5 Andrew Fox 7 Jon McClurg (Majic) 8 Robert Balgley (Vitamin Cottage) 9 Shannon Fox (Cody Racing) 10 Lane Dennis (Red Rocks) 11 Bruce Hitchcock (Vitamin Cottage) 12 Circ Toepel (Team Cornerstone) 13 Brian Frost 14 Bruce Schwab 15 Chris Macbeth (FCRC) 16 John Talley (GSBMCT) 17 Michael Spak (Lakewood Racing) DNF Christopher Carey 45+ Men 1 Bob Bieterman (Simple Green) 2 Circ Toepel 3 Doug Squires (Moots) 4 Brook Watts (CRT) 5 Kevin Healy (Rainbow Racing) 7 Lee Waldman (Boulder Chaos) 8 Gary French 9 Bryan Helstad (Active.com) 10 Tim Downing (LVC) Juniors (17-18) 1 James Scotto (Snow Valley) Juniors (15-16) 1 Zak Grabowski (Red Rocks) 2 Daniel McKinnon (Boulder Denver Couriers) 3 Peter Hibl (New Vista High School) 4 Alex Lieber (New Vista High School) 5 David Balgley (Vitamin Cottage) Juniors (13-14) 1 Peter Stetina (Y Riders) 2 JT Toepel (Team Cornerstone) 3 Alex Howes (CRT) DNF Adam McGrath (Gary Fisher) Juniors (10-12) 1 Alex Coelho (FCRC) 2 Kyle Helstad Women 1-3 1 Gina Hall (Kona/VoiceStream) 2 Melissa Thomas (Rocky Mounts) 3 Heather Szabo (Rocky Mounts) 4 Kerry Barnholt (Sobe) 5 Lisa Matlock 6 Kelli Emmett (Clif Bar) 7 Anne Lannan (Veritas) 8 Margell Abel (Veritas) 9 Lora Heckman (Laurel Street) 10 Leslie Lowery - Abate (BWCT) 11 Leah Reeve (PPVelo) 12 Megan Harrod (Spot / HB&G) 13 Cristina Begy (Independent Fabrication) 14 Cameron Elmendorf (Dean) Women 4 1 Amy Jameson (Just Married) 2 Michele Pirozzi (Kind Cyclist) 3 Sarah Peterson 4 Kristina Beebe Women 4/35+ 1 Annie Fox 2 Jaime Murray 3 Allison O'Brian