Battle for the ages in the Men's Open field 
Sunday in Boulder brought out the best in CX spirit and racing as all classes lined up for a shot at the coveted Colorado State CX Championship jerseys. The competition was fierce and furious. The course was well worthy of a State title course, and the crowd enjoyed some killer racing on an unusually warm global warming day with temps pushing near 70 degrees for a portion of the afternoon's racing. The course, which just days before had several inches of snow covering it, was now tacky and fast as two days of freaky warm weather combined with downslope winds dried the course like a bone, it's a shame, as we are now expecting a big dump of snow on the front range of Colorado, but two days too late for classic CX conditions.
Karl Kiester was victorious in the 45+ race, as expected. Brian Hutchison dominated the SS field and took home his Champ jersey, he rode hard and fast from the back and steadily gapped all the other SS racers, pretty much dominating by race end. Must be the Chartruese bike and white rims dude. 
Barnholt ran away from the women's field at the mid point
The Women's open field held together for a brief time before Kerry Barnholt put her foot down half way through her race and ran away with the jersey effort.
Burnsy Charging the Barriers
The face of suffering
Sunday in Boulder brought out the best in CX spirit and racing as all classes lined up for a shot at the coveted Colorado State CX Championship jerseys. The competition was fierce and furious. The course was well worthy of a State title course, and the crowd enjoyed some killer racing on an unusually warm global warming day with temps pushing near 70 degrees for a portion of the afternoon's racing. The course, which just days before had several inches of snow covering it, was now tacky and fast as two days of freaky warm weather combined with downslope winds dried the course like a bone, it's a shame, as we are now expecting a big dump of snow on the front range of Colorado, but two days too late for classic CX conditions.Karl Kiester was victorious in the 45+ race, as expected. Brian Hutchison dominated the SS field and took home his Champ jersey, he rode hard and fast from the back and steadily gapped all the other SS racers, pretty much dominating by race end. Must be the Chartruese bike and white rims dude. Barnholt ran away from the women's field at the mid point The Women's open field held together for a brief time before Kerry Barnholt put her foot down half way through her race and ran away with the jersey effort. The Elite group seperated on lap two
MEN'S OPEN
This was clearly the race of the day, reminiscent of an Ali/Frazier bout of the 1970's. The field was large, and things kept together and fairly tight until halfway through lap two when the elite group seperated. Brandon Dwight, Matt Pacocha, Jake Wells and Yannick Eckman, yeah Eckman, 14 years young had made the elite group. Where was Jonothan Baker, probably the biggest pre-race favorite? He had a bad start, but slowly was bridging to the elite group. Early on Eckman attacked and Wells marked his move holding the lead group together and as they seperated and got into cruise mode, Baker jumped on the chance and was able to join the lead group, not what they probably wanted to see mid race. Baker eventually blew a sidewall and was eliminated. Eckman, all though valiant and gaining some big experience points was dropped and it was Dwight, Wells and Pacocha left to battle for the jersey. JDubs went to the front and took a substantial pull, Pacocha attacked on the back stretch of the course only to be reeled back in. The critical point of the race for Dwight (which I caught on vij, I'll post it later today) came when he remounted after the first barriers and his saddle slipped. Wells and Pacocha acquired a ten second gap at that point. It took Dwight two laps to bridge back up, but this may have been the effort that cost him in the end. He launched several viscious attacks with a lap and a half to go and got a gap but was quickly caught by the chasers. Pacocha looked the strongest of the three and he sat on Wells wheel waiting for the critical moment. Dwight led out the sprint on the last asphalt section. When Jake Wells started his charge for the Championship Jersey roughly three hundred meters from the line Pacocha went with him and jumped at about 200 meters taking the victory over Wells by just a second or so...an amazing and exciting race, don't sweat it Jake, you are still a champ.
MEN'S OPENThis was clearly the race of the day, reminiscent of an Ali/Frazier bout of the 1970's. The field was large, and things kept together and fairly tight until halfway through lap two when the elite group seperated. Brandon Dwight, Matt Pacocha, Jake Wells and Yannick Eckman, yeah Eckman, 14 years young had made the elite group. Where was Jonothan Baker, probably the biggest pre-race favorite? He had a bad start, but slowly was bridging to the elite group. Early on Eckman attacked and Wells marked his move holding the lead group together and as they seperated and got into cruise mode, Baker jumped on the chance and was able to join the lead group, not what they probably wanted to see mid race. Baker eventually blew a sidewall and was eliminated. Eckman, all though valiant and gaining some big experience points was dropped and it was Dwight, Wells and Pacocha left to battle for the jersey. JDubs went to the front and took a substantial pull, Pacocha attacked on the back stretch of the course only to be reeled back in. The critical point of the race for Dwight (which I caught on vij, I'll post it later today) came when he remounted after the first barriers and his saddle slipped. Wells and Pacocha acquired a ten second gap at that point. It took Dwight two laps to bridge back up, but this may have been the effort that cost him in the end. He launched several viscious attacks with a lap and a half to go and got a gap but was quickly caught by the chasers. Pacocha looked the strongest of the three and he sat on Wells wheel waiting for the critical moment. Dwight led out the sprint on the last asphalt section. When Jake Wells started his charge for the Championship Jersey roughly three hundred meters from the line Pacocha went with him and jumped at about 200 meters taking the victory over Wells by just a second or so...an amazing and exciting race, don't sweat it Jake, you are still a champ.
J DUBS gets the Velo News interview from Neal Rodgers
Burnsy Charging the Barriers
The face of suffering 4's get rollin at the State CX Champ race ...
3's and SS hittin the dirt...
35+ 4's at the first barrier section...
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