Race 3 – 2011 North Mecklenburg Cyclocross Series

ByMike Byrd

Originally Posted November 29 2011

Huntersville NC – By Jon Clark

Proper cyclocross weather finally came to the Carolinas for the last round of the North Meck Cyclocross Series on Tuesday night. Racers were challenged with a wet, windy course and temperatures in the high 30’s.  Afternoon rain tapered off before registration opened, but the course got slick and muddy as the night went on.  Promoter Neal Boyd setup a slightly less technical course for the conditions, and DeFeet provided some nice prizes for the final round podium finishers.

Mike Kelly (Carolina Bicycle Company) continued his winning ways in CX Masters 35+, getting off to a fast start with Bob Pugh (Fiets Mann) and John Koury close behind.  Bruce Stauffer (Cool Breeze Cyclery/Trek Bicycle Store) caught Pugh for third, but lost traction in a muddy corner on lap 2 costing him several positions. As Kelly eased away on the front, Koury picked up the pace and began to chase the leader down. Darren Fuller caught and passed Pugh as Jason Wilson was bunny-hopping the barriers on his mountain bike in fifth place.  Kelly held off the charging Koury to sweep the series with four wins, followed by Fuller, Pugh, and Wilson.

Erica Dillon of the Giordana-Clif Bar-Brica team was the only CX Women’s entry, running the 30 minute race along with CX4.

One of the largest CX4 fields of the series came out to brave the wet conditions, and two newcomers were off the front quickly. Chris Wieczorek and Tomas Kelemen opened a gap to a group of six chasers who were all battling for position through the opening laps.  Rodney Almeida (Try Sports) and Wes Walden (Live it Extreme) came out of the pack and began to bridge up to the leaders.  Kelemen began to fade as Walden got around Almeida to take up the chase.  With one lap to go, Walden passed Kelemen for second as Almeida tried to come with him.  Wieczorek soloed in to win ahead of Walden, and Kelemen held on for third with Almeida right on his wheel.

By the time the CX3/4 and CX Open races rolled off, the grassy corners were getting sloppy and the muddy spots started showing some ruts.  In CX3/4, Darren Fuller and Chris Sugar (Modry Evergreen Racing) rode together on the front for several laps with James Cole giving chase.  Fuller was leading when Sugar slipped and lost contact, but Cole could not catch Sugar for second.  Fuller rode alone for the balance of the 45 minute race and took the win over Sugar and Cole.

Teammates Robert Marion and Chase Dickens of the American Classic/Blue team had some competition this week as Jeremiah Dyer (SmartStop/MOB p/b Ridley) showed up to run CX Open. Entering his second race of the night, Bruce Stauffer held on to the trio for the first lap but eventually settled into fourth. After a few laps, a small gap started to open to Dickens in third, but he regrouped to attack Dyer while Marion covered him.  All three took turns on the front and often hit the barriers 3-wide, with Dyer and Dickens dismounting and Marion bunny-hopping over them. Dyer led the last 2 laps, but Marion attacked in sight of the finish and held on for the win.  Dickens beat Dyer back to the line for second.

Racers only have a few days to rest before the Crossroads Grand Prix cyclocross race in nearby Statesville on Sunday December 4th. Info for that event and final results for the North Meck Cyclocross Series.

The Bike Racer

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the Internet. My name is Mike Byrd and this is my website. I enjoy sports, being outside, new challenges, marketing and anything that comes my way. I am the author of the blog posts on thebikeracer.com. I enjoy writing about cycling, poiltics, coffee and anything else that fits in the "My World" category. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter to say up to date on anything new that gets posted to thebikeracer.com.

Similar Posts

  • Sea Otter Classic 2006

    ByMike Byrd

    I attended the Sea Otter Classic this past weekend and raced the Masters 30+ Cat 5 Circuit and Road Race. If you haven’t been to Sea Otter, I recommend going at least once. Riding the Laguna Seca Racetrack is great experience. It’s a tough circuit race that climbs 300 feet per lap in about a ¼ mile with the 2nd half of the climb being much steeper than the first half. Riding the corkscrew is like being on a roller coaster ride, you feel as though you are riding straight down a mountain. A fellow competitor’s computer said we were going 47mph by the time we hit the bottom of the corkscrew turn.

  • What is Keirin Racing

    ByMike Byrd

    A keirin race is a mass-start race with 6-9[citation needed] sprinters riders and a paced start. Riders draw lots to determine starting positions and start as the pacer (usually a motorcycle, a derny, or a tandem bicycle) approaches. The riders are required to remain behind the pacer, which starts at the deliberately slow speed of about 25 km/h, gradually increases in speed and leaves the track approximately 600–700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h. The first cyclist to finish the race is the winner (sometimes finishing at 70 km/h). Keirin races are about 2 kilometers in length (eight laps on a 250m track, six laps on a 333m track, and five laps on a 400m track).

  • Race 2 – 2011 North Mecklenburg Cyclocross Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Charlotte area racers were treated to a tight, technical course for round 2 of the North Meck Cyclocross Series on Tuesday night.  The race management crew from Charlotte Sports Cycling added a spiral section, several off-camber turns, and reversed the course direction from last week- providing a good challenge and a much different feel from last week’s course. 

  • Race 1 – 2011 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Hard to believe that the 2011 season has started. Even more scary is that I have no miles on my legs this year. I adopted a puppy (Ryder) in November and then the temps went south – WAY south. It’s been 10-15 degrees below normal here in Charlotte, NC. So needless to say, before Sunday’s mountain bike race, I had only two days on the road and a few cyclocross races in December for training.

  • Race 3 – 2012 Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series

    ByMike Byrd

    My second race of the Charlotte Summer Mountain Bike Series was at Renaissance Park in Charlotte, NC.  The course at Renni is a lot different from N. Meck.  It’s longer and more technical, a lot more technical.  It also uses most of the Winter Short Track Series Short Track Course.

    Andy and I took the Cool Breeze Cyclery van down to the race.  It was hot and we decided a warm up wasn’t necessary!

  • Race 1 – 2012 Charlotte Winter Short Track Series

    ByMike Byrd

    Sunday was the first race of the Charlotte Winter Short Track Series hosted by Charlotte Sports Cycling.  Everyone was fearing cold weather but somehow Neal ordered a beautiful January day.

    My race was at 12 but I arrived early to set up the Cool Breeze/Trek Bike Store Team tent with Sarah.  My first race of the day was the Sport 40+ class.  I lined up on the 2nd row feeling confident that I could get a good start.  I was joking with my buddy Wayne when the race started.  I usually don’t have a problem getting clicked in but missed my pedal but managed to keep my momentum and eventually get clicked in before the first turn.