S.C.X. #4 - Sprinker Park @ Spanaway

Jablonski comes in for the win!

  On Sunday the 28th, the team headed way South to Spanaway for the 4th round of the S.C.X. Series at the Sprinker Park outdoor recreation facility.

  The Cycle U-PopCap men started things out with Jason Jablonski taking the big win today in a solo finish with enough time to celebrate a bit as he came through the finish!  Sean Kelsey was battling head to head the entire race with Mafia's Jeff Beltramini, eventually it would come down to a sprint.  As Kelsey tried to come around Beltramini as the they entered the short finishing straight, there just wasn't enough room to come around and Kelsey finished with the Silver.  Another fantastic ride for Sean as he continues to hold his lead for the overall in the Series.  Chad Berg, finished the race the best he could with a 13th for the day.



"Papa" Berg grinds up a short incline.

   In the women's race, Melanie Lewis and Kristy Kelsey took off in a strong women's feild once again.  The girls were riding well in the top five, when another rider made a poor move on remounting after the double barrier and short run up section, and took out Lewis to include breaking her front rim.  Kelsey took off solo to chase down 3rd, as Lewis had to run to the pits for a bike change.  Eventually Kelsey caught Moto Fish's Jenni Gaertner and with a lap to go, pulled clear to claim a well deserved 3rd place.  Due to the ill-timed mechanical suffered by Lewis following the error of one of the other competitors, Mel had to settle for 8th, dissapointed with what had transpired during the race.

Mel Lewis works over the sand moments before being taken out by another rider.

RESULTS:

Jason Jablonski - 1st
Sean Kelsey - 2nd
Chad Berg - 13th

Kristy Kelsey - 3rd
Melanie Lewis - 8th



Kelsey powering up smoothly.

  Next week the team will head to what may becoming the crown jewel of the SCX Series....Enumclaw!  This race is held at the King County Fairgrounds in Enumclaw and includes a huge steep and wide run up, technical trails and descent, and lots of field mud and off-camber greasy sections which tend to favor the Cycle U-PopCap riders.  Last year, teammate Sean Kelsey earned a commanding win on this course, and we look forward to more success next weekend as well.

M.F.G. #5 - Marymoor Park

  On Saturday, the 27 the Cycle U-PopCap Cyclocross Team braved the rain and greasy mud conditions to take on Marymoor Park in the 5th round of the M.F.G. Series.

  RESULTS:

Sean Kelsey - 4th
Chad Berg - DNF (2 mechanicals)

Melanie Lewis - 3rd
Kristy Kelsey - 4th

M.F.G. #4 - Magnuson Park

RESULTS:

Jason Jablonski - 5th
Sean Kelsey - 21st
Chad Berg - 27th
Evan Renwick - 15th
Melanie Lewis - 5th
Kristy Kelsey - 6th

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

Woolley Cross - Sedro Woolley, WA

I made my way today up to Sedro Woolley for the classic "Woolley Cross", part of the Cascade Cyclocross Series.  I always love this course, for the way it flows, great run ups, wet/spongy ground, and the fact that its on the property of the old Northern State Mental Institution, specifically - the said farm that was operated by the Institution back in the day.
  With much smaller crowds than an SCX or MFG race, the race has an old school feeling that can be summed up as "quality over quantity" specifically in the competition.  Within the first half lap I found myself racing alone as the three guys in front faded out of sight.  I ended up finishing up in 4th place having a fun race and enjoying the day in cold, and wet true Northwest 'Cross conditions.
  Now its time to clean up the bikes and prepare for tomorrows MFG race at Magnuson Park in Seattle.  Ya gotta love double duty.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

S.C.X. #3/Silver Lake - Everett, WA

  On Sunday, October 14th, the Northwest Cyclocross scene convirged on the shores of Silver Lake in South Everett.  The course is one of the most difficult on the Northwest circuit is its layed out on the sides of half of a large bowl of a hill side down the shores of the lake.  The course takes riders either up steep punchy climbs, down white knuckle technical decents, or along the fine thick beach sand along the water.  Love it, or hate it....its a brutal one.

  The Men got things off to a start for the Cycle U-PopCap team with Jason Jablsonki, Sean Kelsey, Chad Berg, and Evan Renwick.  Jablonski had another consistant ride and finished in 4th, with Kelsey having a fantastic ride yet again coming in 2nd place.  Berg had another rough day in the saddle, and had to settle for 20th, while Renwick suffered a couple of ill timely crashes and had to pull out of the race.


Sean Kelsey negotiates the sand

   The Women took off fast from the gun and made it through the sand section unscathed as the field began to spread out.  Kelsey quickly settled into 2nd place chasing down the leading woman, Redline's Kari Studley, and the two pulled farther from the chasers every lap.  Lewis was riding in the chase group behind conservatively so as not to assist in pulling other riders up to her teammate as well as not being on her "A" game, still coming off illness.  Eventually, Kelsey was unable to keep Studley in her sights, yet still scored a very vital 2nd place.  This moved her from fourth to second overall in the series.  Lewis came in 6th, and content with her ride knowing she was slowly getting healthier, and that the courses ahead will be more challenging for her and Kelsey's riding style.


Kristy Kelsey rolls through the cedars.



RESULTS:

Sean Kelsey - 2nd
Jason Jablonski - 4th
Chad Berg - 20th
Evan Renwick - DNF

Kristy Kelsey - 2nd
Melanie Lewis - 6th

  Next Saturday, Chad Berg will be the sole team rider heading up to Sedro Woolley for "Woolley Cross", and then the entire team will reconverge on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle for round #4 of the M.F.G. Series and Magnuson Park.

Jason Jablonski coming out of the barriers.

  


 

Star-Crossed/M.F.G. #3

 On Saturday, the Cycle U-PopCap Cyclo-cross team had the small luxury of sleeping in on the day of a race.  Star-Crossed starts the race in the afternoon, and various classes/fields race well into the dark hours of night under the lights of the Velodrome at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington.  With warm temperatures and an extremely dry course, dust....I mean dust, like the finest, nastiest, eye clouding, throat choking dust you could imagine.  Black flem, and dirt boogers for a few days to say the least!

  Melanie Lewis, and teammate Kristy Kelsey were forced to take the course under not the best of physical circumstances.  Lewis was in the middle of a cold, and definitely under the weather, and Kelsey was still bruised and banged up from a couple hard "body check" crashes in last weekends race in Arlington including one with a 3" steel pole to the shoulder, which ended her race.  This night would be a night of survival for overall points in the M.F.G. Series.  With a very strong field of Elite women traveling from several states to race in this classic, the Cycle U-PopCap girls were in for a battle.  Both girls had a decent start and Kelsey worked hard to stay with the first chase group, but began to fade a bit, still suffering from last weekends mishaps.  At the same time, Lewis began to find some sort of legs, that eventually her lungs just couldn't support.  Kelsey and Lewis raced much of the race together, helping to salvage what they could with Lewis coming in 12th, and Kelsey right behind in 13th.  Way to tough out a brutal night!



Mel Lewis grinds up the steep power climb on the back side.



Kristy Kelsey soars over the barriers with teammate Lewis in tow.

   The Elite Mens race started off with a "Bang" at 6:30pm, when approximately 30 meters after the start, several riders tangled up and went down hard onto the pavement!  Fortunately, Cycle U-PopCap's Evan Renwick, narrowly avoided the pile up and was off with the rest.  Within a couple of minutes the Master Men were off in the second wave to include Sean Kelsey, and Chad Berg.  Both got off to a good start and found themselves in the top ten after the first couple of turns and into the crowd of spectators.  After the first lap, Kelsey found himself in a chase group of nearly 10 riders, who where keeping the two breakaway guys in check.  Berg continued to fade back, finishing well off of the pace, but enjoying the night and the support of the crowd, and eventually was able to ride the final lap with teammate Evan Renwick.  Kelsey finished in 7th respecfully.



Sean Kelsey doing a little course re-con before the start.

     Next weekend, the Cycle U-PopCap team will be taking on the sandy beach and slopes of Silver Lake in Everett.  That course is nothing short of HARD!  It's either up, down, or sand!  Finally some courses that offer some technical challenges that the team excels at, and looks forward to.  So until then, enjoy the sun while it lasts, we are doing a rain dance!

MFG #3/Star-Crossed Results:

Melanie Lewis  - 12th
Kristy Kelsey   - 13th
Sean Kelsey     - 7th
Chad Berg        - 22nd
Evan Renwick   - 31st

S.C.X. #2/ Arlington

  On Sunday, September 30th, the Seattle Cyclocross Series visited the Arlington Airport for the second stop in the States biggest series.  The race was at the same venue as the 2011 Washington State Championships course, just off of 172nd Street in Smokey Point, at the South end of the runway.

Elite Men
Evan Renwick  15th

Master Men
Sean Kelsey   2nd
Jason Jablonski   3rd
Chad Berg

Elite Women
Melanie Lewis   5th
Kristy Kelsey   DNF


  This Saturday, the Cycle U-PopCap Cyclocross Team will head to Redmond for Star-Crossed, under the lights of the Marymoor Velodrome as the 3rd stop in the M.F.G. Series.