October 22, 2005; Wilmington, Delaware, USA: When Tim Johnson announced that
he was leaving the European road racing peloton he shared with Lance Armstrong
to return to his American roots, American cyclocross fans shed tears of joy.
After all, Johnson has the distinction of being the first American to medal at
the World Cyclocross Championships when he won a bronze in the Under 23 category
in 1999. So, it was only appropriate when Johnson and his wife, Canadian
Superstar Lynn Bessette, finally returned to the Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross
Series, that Mother Nature would also shed tears of joy. Lots of tears. Too many
tears. So many tears that the luscious Granouge Estate, just outside of
Wilmington, Delaware, was turned into a slippery, muddy mess that made it
difficult for some of the world�s best bike racers to even stay upright. But,
what some would call appalling conditions, others would call classic cyclocross
weather. And those who braved the weather were treated to an epic, entertaining
battle that will be long remembered.
America�s fastest �cross racers assembled on Saturday, October 22, for the
first of two days of UCI sanctioned, internationally-ranked racing -- first at
Granouge Estate in Delaware, then to be followed by Sunday�s event at Ludwig�s
Corner Horse Show Grounds in Pennsylvania. And it was Canadian Lynn Bessette of
Team Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau and Ryan Trebon of Kona Bikes who fired
the first shots. Bessette, who has been dominant during the first part of the
2005 cyclocross season, did not get the holeshot at the start of the race -- but
it didn�t matter because she had powered into the lead by the end of the first
lap, accompanied only by Maureen Bruno-Roy of Independent Fabrications.
Meanwhile, last week�s winner, Idaho�s Georgia Gould (Kona Bikes) got a slow
start which was further compounded by a bobble on the treacherous off-camber
downhill sweeper that is the defining feature of this course. Already dragging
her inside foot like a motorcycle racer, Gould was s urprised when her other
foot accidentally unclipped causing her to daffy-duck her way to the bottom of
the hill. �In the past, something like that would have ruined my race,� said
Gould afterward. �But I�ve been working on that, and I just told myself that my
whole race wasn�t going to go like that.�
Gould made steady progress through the field, eventually passing for second
place before setting off after Bessette. As the last lap began, the light rain
that had come and gone all morning turned into a downpour. Gould appeared to be
the faster rider at the end of the race, but Bessette had already established a
huge margin that just couldn�t be erased and won easily. In comments afterward,
Bessette inadvertently gave insight into the inner workings of the mind of a
top-level competitive athlete, �I liked the course. It was fun, but not at
first. In training, I just didn�t like it. But in my mind, when you�re racing
and the whistle blows to start the race, I can just feel how the course
flows.�
Following the Women�s race, the Men�s half of Saturday�s Pro Double-Header
lined up to great anticipation. Among the favorites were Bessette�s husband and
teammate Tim Johnson, the bronze medallist in the Under 23 class in the 1999
World Championships. Other riders to watch were 2003 USPRO Road Race Champion
and cyclocross legend Mark McCormick (Team Cliff Shot) and last week�s winner
Ryan Trebon out of Oregon and representing Kona Bikes. At the start, it was
Trebon and teammate Barry Wicks controlling the field with Johnson coming from
the rear -- the penalty for having not scored any UCI cyclocross points for two
years while he was road racing in Europe. Soon into the race, however, it became
clear that it would that this year�s race would be a two-man battle, and a study
in contrasts. Ryan Trebon is 6�5� tall, compared to Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis
Garneau�s Tim Johnson who is all of 5�9�. And while there are many places where
being built like a giraffe is an advantage f or Trebon, this wasn�t one of them.
Trebon�s size made negotiating the grease-like mud awkward, while Johnson�s low
center of gravity and years of experience let him maintain his momentum in
places where other riders were coming to a near halt. Trebon, however, showed
that he was simply the most powerful rider in the race as he gained and
re-gained time in all of the straight sections of the course. Nowhere was this
more evident than when he tripped over the hurdles with just over two laps to go
and went from leading the race to being almost 200 yards behind Johnson. Once
back to the long, straight asphalt hill that forms the course�s start/finish
straight, Trebon sprinted and closed most of the gap before heading back onto
the mud. And so it went, Johnson the technician and Trebon the powerhouse in a
constant give and take depending on who�s strength suite the particular part of
the track they were on at any given time. In one half-mile stretch of serpentine
turns, they swa pped the lead four times. The final result looked like a script
from the old TV show �Home Improvement�. Ryan Trebon, like Tim �The Tool Man�
Taylor may have fallen down a lot, but �more power� won the day.
Afterwards, both Trebon and Johnson were smiling and laughing like a couple
of brothers after a water balloon fight. Said Trebon, laughing, �it was slick.
It would look like it was solid but it wasn�t. I crashed there, I crashed over
there. I tripped on the barricade. But it was really fun.�
Fifteen minutes later, second-placed Johnson was still pumped at his
successful return to the highest level of cyclocross racing. As he started to
change into dry clothes, he looked up, smiled a huge smile, and said, �That was
so much fun. That was a blast. That�s why I love �cross.�
Race Notes:
For the second week in a row, the Master�s race was decided in a sprint, with
Mike Yozell winning a thriller at the line. Yozell sprained his ankle Thursday
and had difficulty walking after the race.
In the B race, Ray Ignosh was unable to start due to a knee injury. Steve
Cummings of the University of Texas retained his Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross
Series leaders jersey with another convincing win.
The Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross Series continues later today, October 23,
with the Wissahickon Cyclocross, a UCI C2 race being held at Ludwig�s Corner
Horse Show Grounds.
