For full coverage, schedules and information on the 2012 Cyclocross National Championships at Badger Prairie County Park in Madison, Wisconsin, visit our 2012 Cyclocross National Championships homepage.

In the 50-54 race, Kris Walker (The Contender Club) defended her 2010 title, although the victory was not without drama. After establishing a thirty-second gap, Walker tangled with the field in front of her (at one point she was in fifth place in the 45-49 field). “There was a girl in the next field who kept riding in front of me, and you just can’t do that when Cathy [Walberg] is chasing you.” Walberg (Topeka, Kansas) caught Walker with only half a lap remaining, erasing a twelve second deficit at the bell. “Ironically,” Walker said, “Cathy got tangled up in that same rider, and I was able to get away on the pavement, although I knew she was close because I could hear her supporters telling her to sprint. I just put my head down and charged.”

The Pocatello, Idaho rider is a family doctor and “swim mom” when she’s not winning multiple cyclocross championships. “It helps that the season is so short, so I can do most of my work during the summer months.”

ICE would also like to congratulate Mitch White for his good showing in the Men’s 55-59 year old class.

Click Here for full story and results

Men 35-39 (25 Kilometers)
1. Michael Olheiser (Huntsville, AL/Team juwi solar/First Solar) 33:17
2. Matthew Carinio (San Luis Obispo, CA/Rock Solid Cycling/ArtsCyclery.com/Wild Horse Wines) 34:24
3. Sam Krieg (Pocatello, ID/Utah Premier-Ski Utah Cycling Team/Ski Utah Cycling Team) 34:44
4. Benjamin Thompson (Bend, OR/Step Down Racing) 35:16
5. Jason Grefrath (Sacramento, CA/Lamorinda Cycling Club/Taleo Racing) 35:22

Women 35-39 (25 Kilometers)
1. Mindy Caruso (Albuquerque, NM/Olev Rapido/Olev Rapido / The Kickstand) 39:34
2. Karen Appleby-Krieg (Pocatello, ID/Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts (ICE)) 41:16
3. Cheryl Fuller-Muller (Cumming, GA/Reality Bikes) 41:55

Gran Fondo New York starts with a bang by crossing the iconic George Washington Bridge towards the Jersey side of Hudson River. Enjoy magnificent views of Manhattan during this once in a lifetime car free stint. Following Hudson upstream on rural roads and through scenic towns, riders will compete against each other and themselves on two timed climbs which will count towards the King and Queen of Mountain competition. The featured climb of the event and Cima Coppi (highest point of the ride) is the nearly four mile climb up to Bear Mountain in Harriman State Park. After descending, the course will wind its way back, hitting another short but steep timed climb. You will finish in Palisades Interstate Park at Carpenter’s Circle with amazing views of the George Washington Bridge with the Manhattan skyline in the back. The famous blue UCI World Championship-style podium backdrop will be the setting for the competition awards and your finisher photos

Check out the Gallery Page for more images of the event.

Click here to read the USAC story of the event.

Bob and I arrived in Bend on Tuesday, December 7. Bob had to do the seeding time trial on Wednesday, so he wanted to pre-ride the course. We went out to pre-ride and it was treacherous! Slippery, slushy snow covering some frozen ruts. We rode a couple of laps with no major incidents or injuries. We then went over to get our numbers and check out the main course.

Wednesday, Bob did the time trial. He rode great, placing 8th. I got to watch some of my competition ride the time trial in some seriously sketchy conditions. Kathy Savary was particularly impressive, and I was somewhat intimidated. Normally, going up an age group is a positive thing, but I was now in a category with Kathy, a multiple time national and world champion, AND Marilyn Ruseckas, last year’s defending national and world champion. After the TT, we went over to ride the main course. The puddles were HUGE! It had a bit of everything—icy ruts in the trees, muddy turns, giant lakes of puddles. Most of the course was covered in snow with just one narrow singletrack to ride in. I liked it!

Thursday was the big race. I pre-rode the course and felt good. Then I went to the starting line. Man, I was nervous. Kathy asked me if there were any parts of the course that I was concerned about, but I honestly couldn’t think of any. I got called up to the front row and then the whistle went off. I got the hole shot, but then a few gals passed me before the first corner. I got safely through that, passed a couple of them, and then only 2 people were in front of me. I put the gas pedal down and passed both of them through the 8 inch deep puddles and got a gap. I just kept riding and when I came around, I was getting reports of a 20 second gap. It was super fun and I was enjoying the course and was passing a lot of the 45-49 age group that started a minute in front of us. One more lap and my gap was 40 seconds. Then, coming off the flyover ramp, my bike slipped and my handlebars got caught on a course marking post.

My bike stopped and I went over the bars, landing right on my forehead. My helmet was smashed down over my eyes and I was a bit dazed. I quickly got up and had to run uphill for a bit until I could remount my bike and then kept riding. My gap was down to 20 seconds then and Marilyn was chasing hard. That lap, I could not seem to keep my bike on the course—it veered off the singletrack into the snow on a little chicane and I had to hop off and run and then I fell down on the muddy run-up and basically army-crawled up that. My gap was fading and was down to 10 seconds.

By the end of the lap, I only had a 2 second gap and I was really panicking. Was I going to fall apart and lose this race? Somehow, I had to pull it off. I was able to remember that I was stronger on the straight sections and so I hammered a couple of those: gap back up to 5 seconds. I was riding the technical sections cautiously, since my bike was so unruly, and killing the power sections. I ran into some lapped traffic at the end of the last lap but was able to get around them quickly. I came around the last corner onto the pavement and sprinted it in to the finish with only 8 seconds to spare!

Whew, what a race! I was so happy to pull this one off and then to pull on the stars and stripes jersey.

First, Sam Krieg took first place overall in the Men Pro/1/2 division at the Tour del Sol Stage (http://utahcycling.com/Results.aspx) race in southern Utah in a field over 30 deep. He won the time trial by over a minute and took 4th in the road race. Matt Tyrrell and Colin Joyce competed in the Men Cat 4 division and Matt took second overall while Colin placed 13th in a field with over 30 racers. Individual events had Matt with a 3rd place finish in the time trial and a 6th place finish in the road race while Colin placed 4th in the time trial and 19th in the road race….

Rob Van Kirk came all the way up from California to race at the Slammer Road Race in Boise (see attached PDF)….and despite the time trial being cancelled on Saturday because of wind, Sunday turned out to be a stellar day for racing with temps in the 40s with little wind. Rob finished 12th in the Pro/1/2 field which was dominated by a couple teams finishing just 40 seconds off the winner. Dave Hachey placed 9th in a bunch sprint in the Master’s 35+B field with over 50 Cat 3, 4 and 5 races. Baylor Blessing finished 12th in a 40 deep field in his first road race as a Cat 5…excellent job!

If there are other members competing on a weekly basis or results that I left out from last weekend, please email me the results or post them to the club so we can continue to show how ICE/IKI/SEIG is performing!