River Valley cyclocross racers are lucky enough to have local race options on many of the fall weekends, but this weekend had NCC on the road. Several riders raced at the Bolton Fairgrounds in Lancaster, MA at the Midnight Ride of Cyclocross on Sunday. Others opted to rest up for next weekend, when the River Valley Cyclocross Series returns with Race #3, Kilowatt Cross in Northfield, MA. The JAM Fund/NCC racers traveled all the way to Roanoke, VA to start their campaign for a different series: the USCX Cyclocross Series.
Midnight Ride of Cyclocross, presented by New England Devo
First, at the Midnight Ride (not at midnight), Wendy “Queen of the QOMs”* King continued the trend of experienced NCC cyclists trying ‘cross for the first time. After doing the introductory clinic offered in the morning, Wendy raced in the Women’s Cat 4/5 race, finishing a strong 7th. She reported having no crashes, no mechanicals, and a good time! We hope to see Wendy out there again, bolstering the ranks of NCC’s racing women.
Mark Hewitt of the JAM Fund/NCC placed 7th in the Men’s Cat. 1/2/3 field. In the masters men race, Daryl Beck finished 15th among the 50+ and David Goodwin was 8th in the 60+.. Lastly, Gunther Breismeister, also of the JAM Fund/NCC, is listed as having placed 20th in the Men’s 40+ Cat. 4/5 field. Gunther has a little ways to go before hitting the masters ranks, so I’m not sure what’s up with that!
Full results are on Eleven11 Timing (and will probably be up on crossresults.com soon).
*Wendy literally has 747 QOMs. I checked.
GO Cross
Virginia’s Blue Ridge GO Cross is the first of four UCI races on the East Coast that make up the USCX series. JAM Fund/NCC coach Alec Donahue and mechanic Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin traveled in support of JAM Fund/NCC athletes Talia Loiter, Patrick Frank, and Keith Mullaly, who each raced two days in a row. Talia placed 8th in the Women’s Cat. 3 field on Saturday, and then improved upon that with a 4th place finish on Sunday! Keith and Patrick competed in the hyper-competitive UCI Elite fields. Keith had top-20 finishes both days (20th and 19th, respectively), while Patrick finished 23rd both days. Jeremy competed in the Men’s Cat. 2 field, earning two podium finishes: 3rd and then 2nd. Look for the JAM Fund athletes at the next USCX race this coming weekend in Rochester, NY.
Here are full results from GO Cross Day 1 and full results from GO Cross Day 2.
While you’re at it, check out For the Love of Cross, a short documentary about Curtis White, last year’s USCX champion and cyclocross national champion. The video was shot and edited by former JAM Fund/NCC athlete Chris Norvold.
