ACJR-- The Boulder Chapter

Hey AC athletes & supporters,

Just like the AC Elite Team has Chris Johnson as its sole east coast representative, the AC Junior squad has Michael Dessau, who is battling it out and doing well in the Boulder-area 'cross circuit. Michael is what anyone would call a pretty well-rounded and -accomplished bike racer. Among his recent palmares:

• 2009 US National 13-14 Road Champion
  
• 2009 US National 13-14 TT Champion
• 2009 US National 500M TT Champion (velodrome)
• 4 top-5 finishes in CX this season
• And a bunch of others...

Outside of the CX season, he sports the kit of Team Felt 5280. Here he is racing in Boulder recently (wearing a better looking kit!). Looks like good form to me!



Say hello to Michael and we look forward to racing with him at the CX Nats in Bend next week!

Good Riding,
Blair

BASP #4 - Golden Gate Park Cyclocross - Spence Wins It!

Warm weather in November (almost December)? Once again, it was an unseasonably warm and sunny day for Cyclocross, but the boys (and men) persevered through the heat and dust, to put down some pretty remarkable results:

Blair Peterson did another “double header” – racing in Men’s A’s first, then coming back for more fun with the Men’s B Singlespeed race.

Blair's first race - the Men's A's (a very tough crowd)

Blair on his second race of the day - Singlespeed B Men

He did well in both, and may be close to keeping his 6th place hold on the series. Not sure how he finds the energy, as I could barely drag myself to the race in the first place!

While they were getting ready to race, the Juniors did a PROPER warmup, following Craig Upton's guidelines - the boys all reported feeling a lot better at the beginning of the race.

Alex and Jack, on the trainers, warming up for their race

Then the Main Event – Men’s B race.

Spence and Alex charge up the front straight at the start of Men's B race

This one was packed with excitement over the full 45 minutes – starting with a strong hole shot with Isaiah and Spence getting to the corner with the first 2 or 3 other guys, then Bob, Alex, Skyler and Jack threading their way through the course (and other racers).

Over the 6 laps they raced, Spence, Isaiah and a Taleo racer all battled it out for 1st place, trading the lead, and overtaking each other at key points in the race. With lots of technical challenges, including roots, a ride-down + run-up, and plenty of tricky places to pass, the battle waged on for lap after lap.

Spence has overtaken Isaiah and is hammering up the front straight

Finally, in the last lap, Spence blasted by both Isaiah and the Taleo guy, and never looked back – he put down his First Place over a field of 82 racers – and with a strong finish to stamp it all his.

Bob heading up the front straight ready for his next pass

Bob produced his strongest result to date – a 7th place, after having pushed hard past a number of other fast riders. He showed great determination and looked as strong as in any race this year.


Just behind Bob was Scott Harrington, who overcame a couple of incidents in the race to claw his way back into the top 10 at 9th place.

Scott Harrington looked super strong today - solid Top 10 finish

Skyler Taylor started strong, and really held onto his position throughout the race, despite a potentially nasty crash on the ride-down. He kept his cool, and pushed his way into a 20th place finish.

Skyler is heads down, and digging hard to keep them behind him

Alex Howard showed his drive and concentration after he flatted with a HUGE staple through his tire.

The staple that probably cost Alex a Top 10 finish

After getting a new wheel, he powered through the field, chewing up and spitting out riders 3 and 4 at a time. He passed his way from near the back of the field to a finish in 26th place - certainly one of the strongest rides of the day!

Alex reeling in more riders on his move back up through the field

Jack Keane did a great job of cutting through the middle of the field, and continued to show great promise with a 46th place finish – solid mid-pack finish!

Blair hammered the course on his single-speed, trying to keep up with the higher-geared racers, and rode home with a strong finish – he has a solid lock on a Top 10 series finish at this point!

The Payoff - Spence Peterson - First Place - Men's B

The afternoon was dominated by the announcer constantly referring to the battle between Spence and Isaiah, and then the mention of the other AC riders, one after the other – we clearly had the biggest team out there, and everywhere you looked was black and white AC kit.

Team AC - Alex, Blair, Scott, Jack, Bob, Spence and Skyler

Special thanks also to Jack French for his photography – can’t wait to see the next round of pictures. Thanks also go out to Above Category and Chad Nordwall for the great Edge wheels and Focus race bikes - a resounding success according to the boys. And also to Meg, Julia, Nicole and Hillary for the great food to keep everyone up and at it.

My Photos are HERE, but there are MANY others to come from the other photographers.

Next Race: The FINALE – BASP #5 – Sunday, December 6th at Coyote Point – See HERE

And REMEMBER – this one will PAY OUT – there is $750 in prizes, 8 deep, in the Men’s B Series

Pound for Pound - AC Juniors Rule Cyclocross! BASP #3 - Sierra Point

Team AC - Alex, Skyler, Jack, Chad, Bob, Spence, and Scott

Sunday was another big success story for the ACJR and Master racers - three First Place finishes and strong performances by all the riders. More AC uniforms out there than almost any other team, major attention over the PA system, and two dozen family and friends out there supporting the team big time.

Sierra Point is the third in the BASP series, and more importantly, the night race - fantastic spectator event with great visibility of the entire course, all under the lights.

The afternoon started off well - Skyler Taylor and Jack Keane raced the Junior 15-18 race, with Skyler taking a strong First Place and Jack coming in a solid Fourth Place. Skyler put on a really strong performance, holding the lead the whole way, and taking the win after a long hard battle with Cody (?) from the Davis team. Jack continues to hone his 'cross skills, over a tough, bumpy and technical course, and it was just the first of two races for him!

Matthew Valencia was the picture of grit and determination - he took the Under 14 race from the start, but in the first lap managed to cut his knee on the stairs - very badly, as it turned out. But he stayed on his race the whole, way, won the race decisively, and then his parents took him first to the medic, and then to the ER to stitch up a giant hole in his knee. When asked how many stitches he got, Matt could only answer "I stopped counting" - he came back to watch and root for the rest of the team and stayed till very late. I'm sure he felt it the next day, and will be off the bike for awhile, but he definitely has the spirit of cyclocross - press on, regardless!

Matthew returned from the ER to get his podium picture

Next up was the big race of the day - about 150 Men B racers, including the ACJR's - Spence, Bob, Alex, and Jack, plus Scott Harrington, fresh off his recent victory in Santa Rosa, threw down against the men, and against Isaiah Rapko, who was gunning for his third victory in the series.

After a huge start, a number of crashes on the course, and lots of moving up through the pack, the race settled down for 45 minutes of excitement - Isaiah and Spence took control from the first turn, and held the race the whole time.

From the start, the lead was all about Spence and Isaiah

Alex and Bob were running strong, passing people right and left, with bike handling skills fine tuned over the past years of mountain biking. Spence and Bob were really enjoying the great Edge wheels provided by Chad at Above Category, and Alex was on the deluxe Focus Mares Expert - so equipment was not holding them back!

Alex chasing down another "old guy" in the Men's B's

Bob pushing hard - passing throughout the race

Jack held his own in his second race of the day - in the big field of B's

Blair mixing it up with the other Singlespeed B's

Scott continued to build his cyclocross record - really strong performance!

Lap after lap, the announcer was describing the ongoing progress of the two racers whose age didn't exceed 30 years old - he was as excited as the rest of us, I think! Finally, on the last lap, Isaiah and Spence hammered down the back straight, through the U-turn and up the finish straight. Just a couple of feet separated them, but Isaiah managed to pull away and take the win with Spence right behind - one of the most exciting finishes of the entire day (maybe the season) of racing.

Isaiah (1st), Spence (2nd) after a grueling 45 minutes of dicing with Spence

Spence and Isaiah on the hardest fought podium of the night

Alex, Scott, Bob and Jack all kept the pressure on and took a good chunk out of the top third of the finish roster. Final results were a bit muddled, so we're not sure of exact finish standings yet.

Blair did a double-header, with back-to-back races first in the Men's B singlespeed race, then in the Men's 45+ A race, and did amazingly well given the high level of competition. Some great passes and charging through the pass gave him solid finishes in both races, and he seemed as strong in the second race as during the first. Amazing endurance in these intense full-bore sprint races!

Blair continuing on his second race of the day - in Men's A's no less!

Meanwhile, Alex, Spence and Bob raced in the Singlespeed A's race

All in all, it was a super solid day of racing, spectating, eating and drinking - thanks to Meg and Julia for the great sausages, desserts, and drinks (regular and with alcohol), to our great friend Jack French for his incredible photography - these are truly pro-level shots, to Chad for the loan of the top-tier wheels and bikes, which clearly made a difference, and to all the parents, friends and other AC supporters who came out to cheer the team - we probably had one of the largest and loudest groups of supporters of any team!



Photos of the race are here but the best ones are Jack French's photos on Facebook - better make him your friend soon!

Next Races:
Saturday, November 21 - Cross Palace - indoor cyclocross at the Cow Palace!

Sunday, November 22 - Discovery Park - Sacramento CX #3

Sunday, November 29 - Golden Gate Park NCNCA Finals - BASP #4