Wicks and Pennington win Cross Crusade #5

PHOTO: Alice Pennington (Veloforma) crashed twice on the first lap but bounced back for the win.

ASTORIA -- Kona pro Barry Wicks came to town Saturday and put the hurt on the Cross Crusade field of regulars on an extremely slippery course in Astoria, while Veloforma’s Alice Pennington fought back from several hard crashes to take her first win in women’s A race after finishing second three times.

Intermittent showers and sun breaks kept the temperatures warm and the course sloppy as the Cross Crusade invaded the northern-most tip of Oregon’s coast for a Halloween weekend doubleheader at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds.

The women’s race proved to be a battle of attrition of sorts as riders fought back from crashes and flats before Pennington finally dug deep and sealed the deal. The Veloforma rider crashed hard within the first few hundred meters of the start after hitting some deep mud at the bottom of a long, fast descent.

“I was really trying to go for it,” she said. “And then I crashed and ended up behind everybody.”

Pennington rolled out of it and quickly remounted the chase, catching three-race winner and series leader Wendy Williams (Hudz-Subaru), Serena Bishop (Sunnyside Sports) and Megan Faris (River City Bicycles) at the front . But Pennington’s bad luck wasn’t over. She crashed again on the first lap and was forced to mount another chase. She soon caught Williams, who’d flatted at an inopportune time and was forced to run with her bike for nearly half a lap, which left Bishop and Faris at the front.

“The other two I just reeled in as they got tired,” Pennington said of her effort to take the lead. “Then I just tried to stay upright. Serena (Bishop) starts really fast, and I can’t hang with her in the start. But (the race is) long enough that if you have some endurance you can reel people in. I was due for a win.”

Bishop finished second, one lap down on Pennington, while Faris held on for third. Gentle Lovers’ Erin Playman crossed the line fourth, ahead of Cyclepath’s Julie Browning in fifth.

Williams, who finished seventh on the day, said the flat tire and the long run to the pit pretty much put an end to her chances for a fourth series win.

“It was over,” she said. “And then my pit bike wasn’t shifting so I had to go back in. Luckily Sue (Butler) had put a new wheel on my other bike by then so I just rode out the course. You gotta keep going; in the name of ‘cross.”



WICKS LIGHTS IT UP EARLY IN MEN'S RACE

Wicks wasted little time pinning the gas pedal to the floor and quickly rode off the front of the men’s A race with Portland pro Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio) in tow and Vanilla Workshop riders Shannon Skerritt and Kevin Hulick joining Brett Luelling (Capitol Subaru Cycling) in the chase not too far behind.

“I just wanted to go hard at the start and string it out,” said Wicks, who finished second to teammate Ryan Trebon during the Cross Crusade opener at Alpenrose. “I was able to open a little gap, and then I just decided to keep on going with it.”

Cameron, who’d won two Crusade races in a row, eventually fell off Wicks’ winning pace but continued to build a lead on the rest of the field. The order of the chasers behind continued to shuffle as riders buried themselves trying to catch the two leaders, who were by now well off the front. Skerritt eventually emerged in third with Hulick bringing up fourth.

Wicks kept it upright and built a 42-second lead on Cameron with two laps to go, with the rest of the field lagging far behind.

“It’s nice to get out in the lead, “Wicks said “And then you can just kind of relax a little bit, especially on the mud.”

The Kona rider earned a comfortable win, with Cameron finishing second. Skerritt and Hulick hung onto third and fourth, respectively. Luelling crossed the line in fifth. Team S&M’s Sean Babcock, the winner in Rainier and a rider who’s normally at the front of the Cross Crusade races, had a tough, crash-filled day and finished well off the winning pace in ninth.

“It’s helpful to have Barry come out,” Babcock said. “Because he kind of sets the pace like Erik (Tonkin) does sometimes. But unfortunately, I crashed too many times to keep up with him. The course is hilly with a lot of greasy corners. It was a super fun course, but it got the best of me today.”



For more photos check out VeloNews.com HERE.

RESULTS
Cross Crusade #5
Astoria, Oregon
Saturday, Oct. 31

Senior Men A
1. Wicks, Barry (Kona)
1. Cameron, Molly (Portland Bicycle Studio)
3. Skerritt, Shannon (Vanilla Workshop)
4. Hulick, Kevin (Vanilla Workshop)
5. Luelling, Brett (Capitol Subaru Cycling) 9
Senior Women A
1. Pennington, Alice (Veloforma) 8
2. Bishop, Serena (Sunnyside Sports) 7
3. Faris, Megan (River City Bicycles) 7
4. Playman, Erin (Gentle Lovers) 7
5. Browning, Julie (Cyclepath Racing) 7
Singlespeed
1. Fabrizius, Erik (Veloshop)6
2. Patla, Seth (River City Bicycles)6
3. Redden, Andy (NoLimitz/ICE)6
4. DeMoe, Luke (HTFU)6
5. Rollert,John (WebCyclery.com)6
Masters Women A
1. Burns, Beth (Veloce/Felt)5
2. Rueter, Kim (Sorella Forte)5
3. Scott, Renee (Sunnyside Sports)5
4. Morin,Rhonda (Sorella Forte)5
5. McClenahan,Colleen (Sorella Forte)5
Masters Men A
1. Schulz, Eirik (Specialized River City)8
2. Butler, Tim (River City Bicycles)8
3. Schindler, Mike (Sunnyside Sports)8
4. Snyder, Chris (bicycleattorney.com)8
5. Mitchem, John (Guinness Cycling Team)8

Complete OBRA results for this race are HERE.

Rathe, Pennington Win Banana Belt Finale

Jacob Rathe (Hammer/CMG) won the Men's Pro/1/2 event and Alice Pennington (Veloforma) claimed top prize in the Women's 1/2/3 at Sunday's Banana Belt #4 around Henry Hagg Lake. Contested under relatively mild weather, the men’s race covered 77 miles and the women tackled 44.

WOMEN PRO/1/2/3

Veloforma’s Alice Pennington celebrated her first complete race with the 2009 Banana Belt women’s field by winning a bunch sprint for the top prize ahead of Team Group Health’s Jen Akeroyd and Therapeutic Associates’ Jill Howe.

Pennington, a Hood River racer who earlier this season finished second at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar’s Mas O Menos in Terlingua, Texas, has been testing her road racing legs in the Senior Men’s Cat. 3 field and crashed out of last weekend's women's race, but it didn’t take long for her to put that behind her. With a contingent of Veloforma teammates controlling the front of the race, several short-lived break attempts served only as preamble to the all-out rush to the line on the last of four laps.

Pennington’s experience paid off with a win on the line just ahead of early season powerhouses Akeroyd and Howe.

MEN PRO/1/2/3

The Hammer/CMG Racing Team pulled off a hat trick Sunday by picking off the top three spots in the Pro/1/2 field’s mad dash for the line.

Jacob Rathe crossed the line first, ahead of an obviously pleased Marcel deLisser and third-placed teammate Austin Arguello, whose aggressive riding throughout the 77-mile day allowed his teammates to reserve their top effort for the fast, slightly downhill bunch sprint after the race came back together on the final lap.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and try and get in some breakaways,” said Arguello (pictured), who literally did not miss a chance to go down the road and was off the front for 5 ½ laps of the seven-lap race.

Arguello’s adventures didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, who were obliged to let others expend energy chasing back Arguello and his changing cast of breakaway comrades.

“He was gone the whole race,” Rathe said. “Every time a group went he was with them.”

When the main bunch caught the last serious escape attempt on the closing lap, Arguello saved his final move to ignite the free-for-all to the finish line.

“I went on the bridge,” He said. “Marcel moved on my wheel and Jacob went though a little gap and won.”

Rathe said the final dash was chaotic.

“I was just trying to work my way up the right,” he said. “There were a lot of people moving around and doing stuff. I just kind of poked through a few holes and all of a sudden I was out in front. That’s a good feeling.”

Cyclepath’s Aaron Sanders, who fought his way back to the front of the field after getting gapped off on Lee Hill nearing the finish, crossed the line in fourth.

The Hammer/CMG Racing Team will collect its laurels and head to Rochester, Washington, for the Independence Valley Road Race on Saturday, March 28, and the Piece of Cake Road Race the next day in Woodland, Washington.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Men pro/1/2/3
1. Jacob Rathe (Hammer/CMG)
2. Marcel deLisser (Hammer/CMG)
3. Austin Arguello (Hammer/CMG)
4. Aaron Sander (CyclePath)
5. David Root (Therapeutic Associates Inc.)

Women pro/1/2/3
1. Alice Pennington (Veloforma)
2. Jen Akeroyd (Team group Health)
3. Jill Howe (Therapeutic Associates Inc.)
4. Joanna Mensher (Gentle Lovers)
5. Heather Gunderson (Veloforma)

Pennington Ranked Third On Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar

Hood River's Alice Pennignton is currently tied for third on the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar.

After two of eight events, Pennington (Team S&M/Desalvo Cycles) follows leader Rita Borelli of Tallahasee, Fla., and Rebeccea Rusch (Specialized/Red Bull) of Ketchum, Iadaho.

Pennington finished second to Rusch at the calendar-opening Mas O Menos Feb. 15 in Terlingua, Texas, covering the 100k event in 5:7:26.00. Pennington did not compete at the series' second event, the 12 Hours of Santos Feb. 21 in Ocala, Fla.

The next event on the calendar will be the marathon race at the Spa City Extreme in Hot Springs, Arkansas March 7-8.

Women's Standings
1. Rita Borelli (Tallahassee, Fla.) 60 points
1. Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, Idaho/Specialized-Red Bull) 60
2. Alice Pennington (Hood River, Ore./S&M-Desalvo) 40
2. Sandra Tomlinson (Jacksonville, Fla.) 40
3. Claire McKenna (Austin, Texas/Team Hammerhead) 30
3. Tracey Wallace (Lakeland, Fla./Team Florida) 30


Men's Standings
1. Bryan Fawley (Austin, Texas/Park Place Lexus) 60 points
1. Harlan Price (Philadelphia, Pa.) 60
2. Robert Lichtenwalner (Nazareth, Pa.) 40
2. J.T. Cody (San Antonio, Texas/Solar Eclipse) 40
3. Ernesto Marenchin (Stowe, Ohio) 30
3. Sean Sindt (Austin, Texas/Austin Flyers-Bicycle Sport Shop) 30