MARILLA PARK CYCLOCROSS
Carrera De Los Muertos • Final Race Recap and Results
by gary rodosta
Carrera De Los Muertos started before daybreak for the two promoters. I met Marc at the park at 6am, and we started marking the race course. While wearing many layers of clothing, and headlamps, we taped about 70% of the course – just enough to make the race course obvious. It wasn't much past 8am when Gunnar S. and Chris B. took over the course marking, and REALLY finished it off. By the time they were done, there was NO WAY anyone was getting lost or going off course. And considering the pain that was to come during the race, it was nice to just be on "cruise control" in terms of which way to go. A zombie could have followed this race course and not strayed. At the start/finish, Jimmy D was helping Marc erect the finish line banner and the extra stout barriers (they held up to the 'jumpers' all day long). Meanwhile, Dan C was walking the course with his new blower. What a primo course this was shaping up to be. As I literally ran from one side of the venue to the other, several times, things were starting to come together. The parking lot was filling up, folks were walking around with race numbers and enjoying provided coffee and hot chocolate, and familiar faces from the local cycling community were popping up everywhere just to help things go smoothly. Racer turnout was great, ranging from semi-pro national champions all the way to first-time racers. So many great volunteers were milling about, just waiting to be given an assignment... if I started naming all of you, this page would go on and on and on. Suffice to say we appreciate your help more than you can imagine. No way this race happens without the volunteers.
Just after 10am, we got the "B" race going. 23 racers started the event, and things started stretching out fairly early. One minute later, the 5 women raced off from the start. Running over to the "Hill Of Death", I was anxious to see how things would play out. The front guys hit the hill at a pretty good speed, but dismounted about halfway up and ran the rest. The rest of the group was dismounting and running, and I could see early on that this was going to be a great place to watch the races. Excitement was already building. Over at the gravel pit, aka "Devil's Playground", the challenge was starting to cause some frustration for the racers. Very few riders were making it all the way across this 30 foot stretch of deep gravel. Most were finding the faster route to be dismounting and running it. Similarly, the womens field broke up fairly early, and after establishing a lead from the start, Betsy S. started working her way through the Men's B field on her singlespeed.
In the end, several local riders made strong finishing surges to take back some placings. Todd Schoeni won the race convincingly, having led from the first lap. Josh Fezzel took a solid 2nd, with Kean Bird, Matt Kettering, Steve Green, and Don "Big Daddy Birdman" Dickerson taking the 3rd thru 6th spots!
Betsy Shogren was continuing to absolutely fly around the course, and finished with a time that would have placed her 2nd in the men's B race. Did I mention she was on a singlespeed? Kelly Ann Green took 2nd, with Lee Ann Beatty, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Atha rounding out the top 5.
With all of the great volunteers that were on hand, plus the several just-finished-racing B racers that hopped off their bikes and went right back into volunteer mode, I decided that things were going smoothly enough that I could race the "A" race. Marc decided the same. No warmup time, but I was just happy to be racing an event that has been in the planning and workings for about 3 months. So, the race goes off a little late, but all of the racers were cool about that, and I didn't hear any complaining. We were lucky in the fact that we had some serious regional/national talent show up for our race. Add the horsepower of the local studs, and this was going to be a real sufferfest. Hey, that's what 'cross is all about, right? By the end of the first lap, the real contenders were starting to pull away. Wes Schemph, Gerry Phlug, Gunnar Shogren, and Steven Cummings were flying away with a little gap. When we hit the bumpy downhill approach to the Hill Of Death we were really moving! Hitting the hill at a high speed, just about the whole A pack rode up it. I found that if I stuck to the right side of the hill, I could make it up pretty far, and then just have to grunt up the last few feet that seemed to bog me down. The Hill Of Death really took on the atmosphere of 'cross. Lots of cheering, heckling, cowbell ringing, horn blowing... it was really a great scene, and helped get us up the hill – check out Phil's video at approx. minute 5 when the As hit the Hill for the first time – link below. It was pretty impressive to see the pack of A riders skillfully negotiate the hill, and also just to see the efficiently applied power of the top guys, rolling over the bumpy, twisty, and often off-camber surfaces like they were on smooth pavement. By the end, Wes S had pulled away from his original breakaway partners, and soloed in for the win. 2nd and 3rd looked to be coming down to a sprint finish for Steve C and Gerry P, but apparently they got tangled up going through the barriers with one lap to go. Gerry's tire blew out from the impact of the resulting crash, and Steve C took 2nd place. Gerry finished 3rd, with Gunnar S coming in 4th ... again, after a solid 3 hours of course work and setup before his race! Justin P and Jeremy Rowand ended up taking 5th and 6th. Ironically, the two race promoters ended up DNF'ing with mechanicals.
After the race, most folks hung around for awards. And they were happy they did when we brought out the awesome pasta that Traci and Jenna had prepared for post race festivities. Everyone raved about the food... I heard "that's the best race food I've ever had", more than once. A few people brought and shared beer, so the awards ceremony turned into a fun post race get-together. Before we knew it, WVMBA head superman J.R. had whipped out the results sheets, and we were ready to start awards. In addition to cash purse for all categories, the winner of each class received a huge Carrera De Los Muertos cowbell "trophy". Cannondale and Pathfinder supplied us with 3 $50 gift certificates which we awarded randomly to racers who stuck around. Plus we had two nice Timex Expedition watches, which were donated by a generous but anonymous local cyclist. We gave those to the guy and gal who had driven the farthest distance to come and race. (Thanks T.N.!!!)
This event turned out better than any of us expected. Thanks to all of the racers that came and made it such a great time. Volunteers: Both race-day, and the volunteers that have helped with advice, and lots of race course consulting, for basically the last month. It's always great to have folks around who have raced the big stuff, and are willing to share their experiences. Our Race-day volunteers... well, again, this couldn't have happened without them. Who knew putting on a "low-key" race in a local park would be so much work?!?! You even cleaned up the course post race!! Finally, we have our awesome list of sponsors. Without their generous support, we wouldn't have gotten past the "wouldn't it be cool to put on a race..." stage. Please support them in return for supporting local racing. And of course, thanks to Boparc for the great venue.
Big thanks to: Copies Copies Copies, Edward Jones (Matt Kettering/Fairmont), Wamsley Cycles, Pathfinder Outdoors Sports, Cira and Associates, Rob V. at Cannondale, Gary Fisher, Shear Creations Salon and Spa, Keith Allen Salon, Eddie's Tire, Bubba's garage, and Crescent Frame Shoppe, as well as iplayoutside.com and WVMBA. Oh yeah, don't forget Casdorph Piano and Team Bi-atch Consulting.
So, on to next year's theme...
__________________________
More great race photos from:
Siera Talbott
Jason Jeffries
Phil Anderson
Race Course Profile/GPS
(courtesy of Gunnar Shogren)
Ride the course video – A race, 1st lap
(warning- a bit shaky)
Barrier Video from Ryan Post
(check out your form... or lack of)
Another lap of the course – A race, 1st lap – seatpost perspective
from Nathan Annon
Final Results
(sorry about the formatting – I'll fix that asap)
Men B
Rank Bib. Name Category Time Laps
1 49 Schoeni Todd Men B 49:14.7 9
3 45 Fezzel Josh Men B 51:06.8 9
3 38 Kean Bird Men B 51:08.9 9
4 37 Matt Kettering Men B 52:08.9 9
5 44 Steve Green Men B 53:23.7 9
6 42 Dickerson Don Men B 52:23.6 9
7 35 Melnyk James Men B 54:40.8 9
8 34 Kessler Fritz Men B 54:57.2 9
9 39 Hower Keith Men B 55:11.7 9
10 54 Neff Rick Men B 55:14.7 9
11 32 McCune Jonathan Men B 49:27.8 9
13 55 Arbogust Dusty Men B 52:55.7 8
14 50 Roskos Eric Men B 54:15.1 8
15 53 H Steve Men B 55:22.2 8
16 47 Reighard Aaron Men B 55:41.8 8
16 36 Bennent Darren Men B 56:05.6 8
17 57 Yanni Matt Men B 56:35.6 8
18 46 Howkinberry Eric Men B 50:01.0 8
19 40 Petsko JR Men B 51:17.0 7
20 56 Weimer Craig Men B 52:30.1 7
21 51 Roskos George Men B 52:36.1 7
22 33 Knotts Thomas Men B 52:51.9 7
23 41 Kean Mike Men B 53:59.7 7
Women
1 3 Shogren Betsy Women 50:44.1 01:29.4 9
2 43 Green Kelly Ann Women 53:47.2 04:32.4 8
3 48 Beatty Lee Ann Women 58:34.7 09:19.9 8
5 52 Johnson Laurie Women 50:47.1 01:32.4 7
4 31 Atha Kate Women 55:45.9 55:13.2 7
Men A
Rank Bib. Name Category Time Gap
1 13 Schemph Weston Men A 1h01:34.798 12
2 14 Cummings Steven Men A 1h03:05.862 01:31.1 12
3 20 Pflung Gerry Men A 1h04:03.620 02:28.8 12
4 4 Shogren Gunnar Men A 1h05:08.296 03:33.5 12
5 16 Pokrivivk Justin Men A 1h02:43.488 01:08.7 11
6 6 Rowand Jeremy Men A 1h02:57.695 01:22.9 11
7 26 Cyr Jason Men A 1h03:44.960 02:10.2 11
8 5 Schmalzer Brad Men A 1h04:14.552 02:39.8 11
9 11 Powers Donald Men A 1h04:23.668 02:48.9 11
10 2 Wahila Kevin Men A 1h04:35.599 03:00.8 11
11 25 Jon Martin Men A 1h04:50.185 03:15.4 11
12 24 Shriver Darin Men A 1h05:55.141 04:20.3 11
13 12 Tinky Matt Men A 1h07:00.417 05:25.6 11
14 23 Aron Yevnta Men A 1h02:37.019 01:02.2 10
15 7 Annon Nathan Men A 1h02:46.404 01:11.6 10
16 17 Merritts Craig Men A 1h02:48.790 01:14.0 10
17 15 Baker Chris Men A 1h04:26.074 02:51.3 10
18 1 Rowand Stephen Men A 1h06:08.879 04:34.1 10
19 58 Wright Jim Men A 1h07:31.916 05:57.1 10
20 22 Ells Greg Men A 1h08:03.226 06:28.4 10
21 9 Loehr Robort Men A 1h03:03.656 01:28.9 9
22 19 Westover William Men A 1h06:31.493 04:56.7 9
23 8 Talbott Brian Men A 1h01:59.489 24.691 6
