Haunted Cross NACT #7 Race Report

What a day in Longmont, Colorado! NACT racing resumed with round number seven here on the front range in what turned out to be perfect conditions for cyclocross racing. The 20 inches of snow that fell earlier this week made for a challenging course of boggy straight aways and slick off camber turns. With the sun out and not a cloud in the sky, it doesn't get much better!

The women rolled off the line first and straight to the front was Katie Compton. What followed can barley be described as a race, as Compton continued to grow her gap exponentially through to the finish. Behind, the gaps were large as solo rider after solo rider competed in their own individual time trials. Goergia Gould was second best ahead of her own teammate Alison Dunlap in third. Meredith Miller had an outstanding ride, climbing her way up to fourth, just ahead of Kelli Emmett in fifth. Sixth place was a dissipated Amy Dombroski who struggled to find her legs in front of the hometown crowd. Racing resumes for the women tomorrow with round #8 at the Boulder reservoir. With Compton on the starting line, the rest f the field is no doubt racing for second place once again. 

The men's race got underway with a furious holeshot by the Danish champion, Joachim Parbo. He would hold the lead through the first half of lap one before the Cannondale/ Cyclocross World team started to roll. Johnson and Powers seperated themselves from the pack before the first run up and never looked back. Tim Johnson would soon drop Powers who found company from his other teammate Jamey Driscoll in second and third. Behind, riders came and went one after another. First if was Troy Wells and Chris Jones charging hard from behind. Then Jones disappeared and Jesse Anthony joined Wells in the fight for fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, a pair of mountain bikers were closing fast on the front of the race. Adam Craig would ride his way up to Powers and Driscoll before settling into fourth for the remainder of the race. Wells sat comfortably in 5th until the finish. In the fight for 6-10, Jesse Anthony just held on to sixth ahead of a hard charging Danny Summerhill. Mounatin bike national champion Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski held on for eighth. He was riding as high as fifth before two flat tires ruined his chances of a podium ride. Boulder Cyclesprt owner Brandon Dwight played the hometown hero finishing ninth and first year U23 Zach McDonald made his first big appearance of the year finishing 10th. 

 See full coverage page here.