September 10, 2012 (Rosaryville State Park, Upper Marlboro, MD) –Men’s National Champion Jeremy Powers visited the Mid Atlantic’s BikeReg.com Super 8 Series over the weekend to put on a skills clinic.  While he was there he won the Men’s Elite race, stole the Verge Leader’s Jersey, and won a lot of new fans. 

photo credit: Darrell Parks
 

Powers’ original plans only included running his Jeremy Powers Washington DC Cyclocross Camp, presented by Fulcrum Coaching & JBV Coaching.  As part of the clinic, Powers moved around the course coaching students through tough features on the balanced but technical Bikereg.com Super 8 Series opener, The Tacchino Cyclocross.

 

Powers decided during the Saturday portion of the clinic that he’d jump into the Freshbikes 1-2-3 race.  With funk music playing in the background and fans enjoying beers from sponsor Duvel/Ommegang, Powers showed why he currently wears the Rapha-Focus stars and stripes jersey.     

 

From the whistle, local powerhouse SEAVS/Haymarket Bicycles’ strategy was to put Powers under pressure.  Super 8 series champion Wes Schempf grabbed the holeshot, but was passed by Ben Frederick (Kelly Benefit Systems / Lateral Stress Velo).  Frederick promptly endo’ed at the uphill log barriers, allowing a group of 4 to bunny hop the logs and gap the field. 

 

The group that got away included Schempf, Powers, Jared Nieters and Ryan Dewald (SEAVS-Haymarket Bicycles) and after a short, hard chase, Ben Frederick.   

 

Midway through the second lap, Dewald had to pit for a new bike, which cut the group to four.  Frederick went to the front and floored it on the next long power climb. 

 

Crossing into the powerline section of the course, Powers sensed an opportunity and suddenly poured on the gas, dragging Nieters along while passing Frederick and leaving Schempf to fend for himself, stuck behind Frederick.  

 

Nieters and J-Pow then worked together to put on the second clinic of the weekend.  Nieters, who rides pretty fast for a guy whose day job is owning a bike shop, led for much of the middle of the race.  He would put a slight gap into Powers coming into the crowded pavilion area, only to see Powers close up the gap by flowing smoothly over the barriers. 

 

Meanwhile, Schempf hung in with Frederick and the two worked around the course together.  With three laps left Schempf saw an aggressive DeWald catching up fast.  DeWald was riding his bike like he stole it, and his teammate Schempf knew he had to make a move. The next time up the long, twisting climb to the pit, Schempf put in a dig and put 6-10 seconds on Frederick, and never looked back.   

 

Up front, Nieters and Powers were still dicing, but Powers started to pull away with around one lap left.  Powers rode in for the victory with Nieters in second, Schempf in third, DeWald in fourth and Frederick in fifth, with Mike Yozell down a minute in sixth.

In the Women’s 1-2-3 race, Laura Murray (Race Pace/Trek MTB Team) rode a strong race, rebounding from a poor start, going at it hard with Erica Yozell (South Mountain Cycles), and eventually pulling away for a strong win. 

 

The race began with an evenly matched field closely packed in on itself, and riders fighting for space and positions.  Kristin Gavin (Team Cystic Fibrosis) took the lead early and held it for most of one lap, until she dropped her chain on the fast “Back 40” side of the course.  She recovered well and held on to second briefly, but Murray moved past her decisively, dragging Yozell along for the ride.  They passed one more rider and the two pulled away from the field together. 

 

Murray managed to establish a gap on Yozell, but on the second-to-last lap, had to slow for a lapped rider, allowing the opportunistic Yozell to catch up and blow past her on a tricky set of off-camber turns just before the finish line.  Murray chased hard, closed the gap on Yozell during the last lap, and then out-muscled her on a long grinding section on the back third of the course, gapping her by 10 seconds to take the win.  Yozell finished in second, Gavin finished third, Allyson Tufano (Sportif Coaching Group/BPB) was fourth, and Avanell Shmitz (BikeBeat/VaAssetGroup) rounded out the top five. 

 

There was a festival atmosphere and a strong undercard at the event.

 

Dave Weaver (Alan North America Cycling Team) bested Paul Rades (The November Bicycles CX Experience) in the Duvel Men’s 35+ 1/2/3 field, and Jerzy Wozniak (Winchester Wheelmen) crushed the field in the Ommegang Men’s 45+ 1/2/3. 

 

In the Freshbikes Men’s 3/4 race, Christopher Rabadi (Crosshairs Cycling p/b Spy Optic) topped Dan Wolf (Race Pace/Trek MTB Team) by six tenths of a second, in a tight uphill sprint finish.  The two beat 90 other racers in a crowded field.  Rabadi was also impressive later on in the Wrongway Race, launching a BMX bike over a set of barriers, doing a 180 and sticking it, before pedaling off.

 

In the Freshbikes/Sticky Fingers Women’s 3/4, Rebecca Lowe (Unattached) beat Mary Tyson (The Bike Lane). 

 

Sean O’Donnell of Crosshairs Cycling p/b Spy Optic took the Family Bikes Singlespeed 1/2/3/4 class, besting the aptly named Luther “Luke” Swift of National Capitol Velo Club (NCVC).  The field rode, and thanks to an impressive group display of facial hair looked, like Vikings.

 

In a huge Ommegang Men’s 3/4 35+ field, John McGreevey (Crosshairs Cycling p/b Spy Optic) bested Jeff Chun (BIKE DOCTOR p/b DigiSource) and David Kirkpatrick (The November Bikes CX Experience). 

 

Total race attendance was 604, with total registration of approximately 690.

ELITE MEN

1 Jeremy Powers RAPHA-FOCUS 52:30.2

2 Jared Nieters SEAVS/haymarket 53:07.4

3 Weston Schempf SEAVS/haymarket 53:38.6

4 Ryan Dewald Battley Harley-Davidson 54:25.3

5 Ben Frederick Kelly Benefit Strategies/Lateral St 55:02.3

6 Michael Yozell Kapelmuur Independent 55:58.4

7 Collin Becker Race Pace Bike Shop 56:37.5

8 Jameson Ribbens C3 - Athletes Serving Athletes 56:55.3

9 Nicholas Taylor BIKE DOCTOR p/b DigiSource 56:58.9

10 Jake Sitler NAG 57:08.6