Trebon coming home before Cross Worlds
Kona-Yourkey.com rider Ryan Trebon, the 2006 national champion and three-time Crank Brothers USGP of Cyclocross series winner, has withdrawn from this weekend’s world cyclocross championship in Treviso, Italy.
Kona team director Mark Peterson told VeloNews Tuesday that Trebon, who complained of back and leg pain throughout the 2007 cyclocross season, has not fully recovered from the spectacular crash that occurred at December’s national championship. The defending champion and heavy race favorite violently collided with an out-of-control rider on a section of course that doubled back on itself, ending his race. Read More...
Santa Cross - Photos
Photos taken by Kennedy Photo Works - WEB
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Pro 1 winner Mike Easter
Pro 1 - Mike Easter
Me
Me
Michael Ward, author of Mike and the Bike and
converted crosser!
Mark Noble - took at easy today in the Masters 45+
Local Specialized guy Bob Meeker
Jenn Easter in the Womens 3/4
CycloCross Nationals this weekend
Race Director Bill Marshall of KLM Marketing Solutions had a solid blueprint for the national championship course design, having staged several UCI races in the 360-acre park, which features rolling terrain in the scenic setting of hillside oak and lakeside sycamore trees. “We wanted to make the course very hard,” Marshall said. “Cyclocross is tough, no matter what. Our intention was to make this course both technical and fast.” The signature element is a pair of back-to-back stair sections, each 40-feet in length, that come about a quarter-mile from the finish line. “You’ll run up the first set of stairs, get back on your bike for a brief time, then dismount and run up the second set,” Marshall said. “This is going to be crucial as we found out in Providence last year at nationals. They had two run-ups close to the finish and it makes it very interesting if it is a tight race.”
Another crucial element of the course design was to make it as spectator-friendly as possible, Marshall said. Nearly the entire course is viewable from several vantage points. A barrier section, positioned between a pair of heated spectator tents, will also be a prime viewing spot. Special attention was given to the start area to ensure that competitors who do not have the most prime starting positions have the opportunity to move up quickly before the course narrows.
“That first grass section is extremely wide open and slightly uphill as it leads into the first sweeping right hand turn,” Marshall said. “We tried to make it as close as possible to the start you would see on a UCI course. Eventually, though, there are a few turns to slow it up and create opportunities to get away.”
Where the course doubles back on itself in several places could also prove particularly tricky, he said. “This course has some decent hills – not the steep ones like you saw in Providence for nationals last year – but ones that are going to be tough in all conditions,” Marshall said. “They’re long uphills so if it’s icy, they’ll be particularly treacherous. If it’s dry, the course will be rippin’ fast.”
Racers will also have to negotiate a section of the course that passes close to a pond – one that was covered in ice when four-time national cyclocross champion Steve Tilford crashed into it during a race last year. Incredibly, Tilford recovered from the frigid plunge to come back and win.