October 29/06 11:29 am - Terrascape Racing ˆ Knobby Gobbler Cyclo-Cross (Alberta)

Posted by Editor on 10/29/06
 

Terrascape Racing - Knobby Gobbler Cyclo-Cross
Courtesy Andy Holmwood, ABA

Shaganappi Park - Calgary, Alberta

79 competitors took part in the first race organized by Terrascape Racing, which went off without a hitch on Saturday, October 28th. In partnership with the City of Calgary, Terrascape was able to secure a city park in central Calgary to host one of the last races in the Alberta Bicycle Association's 2006 Alberta Cyclo-Cross Cup Series. The course conditions on the day were slicker than predicted, as the anticipated 15 degrees Celsius never arrived. Frost on the course actually got heavier and heavier as the day went on until the open men's division started at 1:30pm.

The sport men's category saw a real back and forth battle from the gun with Trevor Pombert (United Cycles) and Antonio Bilotta (Pedalhead Roadworks) constantly changing places and opening gaps between themselves through their race. For the last lap it all came back together with the final selection made at the last set of barriers, where Antonio managed to gap Trevor. With the last barriers only 200m from the finish Antonio then cruised to victory. Behind them a battle for the final podium spot waged between Chuck Gibney (Pedalhead Racing) and Lance Adamson (Juventus), with Lance breaking clear of Chuck about halfway through the race and sailing in to third place without contest.

The crash-filled expert race saw lots of thrills and spills in the first set of off-camber frost-coated chicanes, including in the "stadium" area, where some tight racing conditions resulted in some minor contact and eventual loss of rider balance. The hole-shot award went to the super-tall Clayton Paradis (Pedalhead Racing) as Clayton wisely used the leverage his long legs could afford to launch off the start and stay away from some of frost induced carnage on the course. It looked as though Clayton was going to stay away the whole race until the foot of the first run-up where Uncle John Tim Brezsnyak (Deadgoat Racing) managed to bridge up to Clayton, taking the whole pack with him. For the next few laps the race started to take shape with Chris Stipdonk (United Cycle), Tracy Shearer (Juventus) and Scott Anderson (CBTL) joined up with Clayton at the front. Chris eventually dropped the other three combatants and looked to be heading for the win. However, in the last lap and a half Clayton stepped on the accelerator, caught Chris and never looked back - eventually putting half a minute into him at the finish. Behind them a battle for third was going on between Scott and Tracy, with Tracy motoring clear of Scott toward the end of the contest and on to a satisfying podium spot.

The excitement in the women's race was mostly due to the costumes and wigs worn by some of the more jovial competitors. With 11 entrants of all capabilities entered in the category there was not much racing to be done after the first couple of laps. Mical Dyck (Terrascape Racing) led from start to finish, lapping all but second place rider Susan Copeland (Juventus). Third place was well earned by Martha Handford (Independent Fabrication/Different Bikes) who rode a solid steady race from start to finish. Race Note: the costumed riders from the women's race were rewarded for their extra efforts with special treatment in the beer gardens later that afternoon.

The sun came out just in time for the open men's race, which was won by United Cycle's Tim Heemskerk. Tim led from start to finish in a race where strategy was not a key element on the twisty and very hilly course. Although early in the race many pockets of riders stayed close to each other, by the end most of the 26 racers were very spread out, and only the battle for seventh place was contested in a sprint finish. Second place was hotly contested for most of the hour with Per Strom (Bicisport) and Nick Friesen (Pedalhead Roadworks) battling back and forth for some time until Nick finally gapped Per and rode into the finish with an easy 30 second gap. The demanding course certainly inflicted some damage to many of the open class riders on the day. Some of the suffer stories from the this category include numerous face plants on the wet slimy leaf covered run-up, two riders rolling their rear tires off on their last laps and one DNF'ed rider 'losing his lunch' as he put it, on his second lap.

Many thanks must go out to the several volunteers who endured the cold for most of the race. As well thanks to our race sponsors: Calgary Cycle, Talisman Centre, Gunther's Fine Baking, Coffee Cats Café and Sleemans Brewery for their support and donation of food, drink and copious draw prizes. A final, big big thank you goes out to Keith Bayly (Deadgoat Racing) who jumped into the role chief course designer. With a small park area to work with (and my being out of town on business for most of the month) Terrascape Racing had to outsource much of the course design to the creative genius of Keith. Judging from the smiles, grimaces and vomit splatter on the faces of all of the racers Keith succeeded in creating a super-fun, super-twisty and super-challenging 'Cross course for us all.