November 11/08 9:10 am - Fort Langley Cyclocross Classic

Posted by Editoress on 11/11/08
 

McKirdy Returns with a Victory
Courtesy Local Ride Bike Shop

After an 8 week lay-off with a broken collar bone, Local Ride Racing's Jean Ann McKirdy returned Sunday to win the Women's A BC Cup Kona Adobe cyclocross at Alder Acres, Fort Langley. McKirdy, runner up in last years cross series and the 2008 Canada Cup Mountain Bike champion, convincingly won the season opener only to break her collar bone a week later on a team training ride.

On Sunday, under a torrential downpour, McKirdy took the lead from the start and convincingly held off the field to secure her second win of the year. "It was just good to be back and playing in the mud," commented McKirdy.

With still 3 races to go in the series, McKirdy can still have a chance of a top 3 overall placing in the series. Next race will be Cross (Port) Coquitlam on November 15th.


KONA-ADOBE Riders Storm the Fort Langley Cyclocross Classic November 9th, Fort Langley BC
Courtesy KONA-ADOBE

Brian Gold's race images

Round seven of the BC Cup of Cyclocross did not disappoint! The long standing course at Aldor Acres has hosted many a cyclocross battle over the years and the rainy west coast weather once again prevailed to create a mud filled day of racing. Race Director Basse Clement pulled out all the stops to ensure that the racers had a great course including chain sawing a fallen tree on race day morning. Over 100 racers braved the weather to fight for series points and compete for great prizes from event supporters Mavic, Kona, KINeSYS and Pedal.

The racing started with the Beginner class hotly contested with Kevin MacDonald (BSP) edging out Morgan Taylor (East Van CX) and Matt Kennedy coming in third. Heather King (Activelife Multisport) won the Women's Masters ahead of Kathleen Negraeff (Team Wedgewood) and Barb Zimich (Zimich Coaching). In the Women's B race Kelsey Millar (Team Wedgewood) pedaled in ahead of Louise Oram and Debbie Low. The Men's B race had John Markez (Team Race BC), ahead of Andrew Lea (Team Coastal) and Ben Jackson (Escape Velocity). The Men's Masters race was once again the largest category with Sean Howie (Reps West Racing) and Clayton Sansbury (Kona-Adobe) doing battle from the gun. Sean increased his overall series lead with the win over Clayton and Rick Rodland (Team Alliance) completed the podium. Jean Ann McKirdy (Local Ride) rode away in the Women's A race, finishing ahead of Melanie Vanghan (Steed Cycles) and Karen Todd (Different Bikes).

The Men's A race shaped up to be a tough battle with current BC Cyclocross Cup leader Kevin Noiles (Trek-Red Truck) put to the test as Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain Different Bikes) put the power to the pedals and challenged the field to keep pace. Feeling the pressure of being on the event poster, Kona-Adobe's Zack Garland dug deep to hang on, "Sitting on his wheel was blinding, like riding with my eyes closed". Kevin Noiles and his team mate Sven Strum (Trek-Red Truck) were in hot pursuit with Dan MacDonald (Kona-Adobe). As the race and mud progressed, Zack recovered from Kevin's blistering opening pace and put in his own attack to build a twelve second lead. The Trek-Red Truck duo of Noiles and Strum worked well together but could not close the gap. In the end Zack Garland impressed on his Kona Jake to get his first Cyclocross win of the season. Kevin Calhoun powered in for second place and Kevin Noiles finished third to maintain his BC Cup series lead with Strum and MacDonald completing the podium. Unofficially, with two races left in the BC Cup Series Noiles holds a twelve point lead over Calhoun with Garland one point back in third. Now that Kona-Adobe's Garland is getting the hang of cyclocross racing, it is bound to be a very close battle to the end of the Series.

Special thanks to all the event supporter and racers for coming out to compete and help us raise funds for the MS Society. Also, thanks to Vince Lee and Contact Printing for once again providing spectacular event posters.

Good luck with the rest of your Cyclocross season!