Props

Now that the race report is done, it's time to give mad props to a few people that went absolutely above and beyond with the races this year.

First, my lovely wife, who for reasons unknown puts up with 2 weeks of hell each year so I can get out there and take care of business. Despite running 2 businesses, being pregnant and a mom, she still takes care of a lot of loose ends so I can run amok.

Next up........

Parks and Recreation of Southampton, for again loaning us the venue grounds. THANKS!
SYS inc for loaning us the building, lockers, showers, chairs, parking lot, bathrooms....
Southampton Town Department of Public Works for loaning us traffic barricades!!!

For believing Southampton needs a real, honest to goodness, bike race..
TK, DM/JR, BP, DB, SF, RL, AS/SM. Thank you. When you wonder why we can provide the best prize list for women in North America, travel money, barrier primes, these people's financial contributions are why.

Anyone that loaned me a house, couch, bed, room, apartment, fold out mattress, inflatable bed, guest house, pool house, RV, trailer, or other amenity so we could host a deserving racer. THANKS!

For making it a super cool bike race- Any elite rider that took the time to show up. Yeah, it's a bit of a haul... but we make it worthwhile!

For doing registration duties, and providing lots of infrastructure- Alan Atwood. Holla!


For providing cool merchandise prizes...
IF, JK, RL/Rotations, NYCvelo, RC of SBA, RedBull. THANKS!!! if you got cool schwag, it came from one of these guys!

Excellent Nuetral Support and mechanical love- Mark Voisocki. Mark has done this for us for 2 years now, and provides good, honest, fast top notch service. Seek him out if you are running some cross in the NE/MA region and need a wrench.

Marco Quesada of marcoquesada.com and nyvelocity.com . Took the best pictures of the best bike race ever!

Results and placings.. Jd Bilodeau. Word up. Pioneer event registration rocks. Doing a major event? don't be daft.. Rent JD for a day. Money well spent.

Pre Registraion- Bikereg.com. Thanks for bending rules slightly for us Steve!

Officiating- The Millers, Mrs. Dorsey, Mr Taus, and Mr Lamm. Top Notch cool understanding people! Thanks again guys.

All the people at Hampton Velo that came out and busted their butts helping me set up. Thanks!!!

The staff of wildthyme restaurant and bar.. for covering my butt the last 2 weeks. Word up!

Aftermath.........

Yup.. Ryan Trebon really is that fast. He was actually doing a track stand when marco snapped that pick, I think the grass was running away from HIM it was so scared of being beat down..

Day one pretty much unfolded like this..
Lyne Bessete whupped up on everyone. Other girls were in fact somewhere out there, but it was all Lyne all the time... Uci c1 victory, and over a grand in her pocket for winning the richest ladies cross race in north american. Holla!


Men... Little bit different. Most participants were only feeling mildly threatened by the presence of Mark the Shark, Jesse the kid, and Timmy J in the first warm up. Not to say that the Fiordifruitta boys are chopped liver, or Matthieu Toulouse from maxxis... THEN mysteriously the sun just went away.. Nope, not an eclipse, Trebon and Wicks really are that tall... Suddenly it seemed the smackdown was upon us.. After the gun that feeling was confirmed. Immediately a group formed. Containing McCormack, Wicks, Trebon, Anthony, Johnson, and White... yeah.. that's an owie.. Somehow they split the group, I thought it was Johnson drilling it on the hill. Trebon marked him, McCormack gave chase, towing Wicks.. Bad scene for Timmy J.. Trebon won't pull through cause Wicks is sitting on a flying McCormack intent on extending his 3 time Whitmore's winning streak... 8 laps later, Trebon moves past Johnson in the sprint. Props to Tim, he still made it interesting after pulling treefarm around for more than a few laps. McCormack somehow dumped Wicks, I heard rumors he whacked a tree..More likely Mark pulled him to death.. Shark took third, Wicks dragged it home for fourth.

I think these two actually went home arguing about who is the bigger 'cross bad as$...

nah...
Day two was a bit more interesting. In an effort to actually encourage the smackdowns, we moved to the short course.. 2.5k well over 125 feet of elevation gain per lap. Not change.. Gain. Womens field was bolstered y the appearance of a Vegas'd out Georgia Gould. Despite a rough week, the representative from the 'Chix still hung tough. Right behind Lyne on the first lap (1oo$ cash barrier prime went to the Cannuck). Faded out a bit on the second lap, but hung close enough to keep her honest. I had been wondering if Lyne would have it this year not racing road and all. Yeah... Lyne Bessette being out of shape.. as if.

Mens race.. Definitely had a different feel. What with the rock garden being "out" on the short course, the truce on the start was over and bloodlust came out in everyones eyes. The 180 at the end of the second straight is always the scene of some bumpin and grinding.. I think Taus had his back to the field on the first lap. Yours truly was able to use his inherent huskiness to his advantage, whupping some dudes in the corner, and rounding the hill glued to Toulouse's wheel. After working 20 hrs the day before and scoring zero sleep you just KNEW that wasn't going to last.. Similar groups as yesterday.. looked like Wicks was hot early, fading out a bit after 3 laps.. With times like around 5 minutes, that freaking hill takes a toll. Apparently TJ was able to use it to his advantage, and broke free of Trebon on the 4th time up. Trebon chased like a man possesed, and brought him back, but it was Timothy J on all channels Sunday, scoring the big win. Trebon got second. The big chase group was Jesse the kid, Wicks, and McCormack.. Jess was in the drivers seat the whole race, towing the other two around. Shark didn't look good, meaning he was still way above average, but slightly less than his sharkey self. Jesse inflicted major damage on the other two, using the Clif bar vs Kona 2 on 1 to his advanatge, and just sheer speed. I can't believe he's like 21.... scary fast. Gapped the other two, leaving Mark to drop Wicks, and rally for 4th. Big story was Toulouse, who motored into the top 5. Almost caught McCormack on the last lap, but looked like he over did it on the asphault, and blew on the hill a bit. Still a great ride.

Overall, this was without question our best race ever. We had great pro turnout, a super woman's prize list, great masters fields, b fields, and good weather for cross. I can't wait until next year.......