Granogue Cyclocross Race Report

October 17, 2009; Wilmington, DE, USA:  Georgia Gould (Luna) and Ryan Trebon (Kona) both rode away with heavy-duty wins at the UCI C2 Granogue Cyclocross at Granogue Estate, near Wilmington Delaware, today.  “Feel my bike!” said Gould to a friend shortly after crossing the finish line.  With the accumulation of mud, most estimated that it weighed in the vicinity of thirty pounds. 

“It’s the heaviest this race has ever been,” said Men’s runner-up Barry Wicks of Kona.  “You could still ride through Devou last week, but with the grass and the clay soil here, it just grabbed your wheel.”  Had it not been for the weather, one of the big stories may have been the first major course revision for the venerable race in over five years.  But an early Nor’easter brought near-record low temperatures and saturated the region, even dropping snow in some locales less than two hours from the race.  The resultant muddy mess turned even the smallest incline (and even some flat portions), into a run-up.  Though Georgia Gould said afterward of the slippery conditions, “the run-ups were more like hike-briskly-up-the-hills, and sometimes it wasn’t even briskly.”

Georgia Gould dominated the Women’s UCI C2 race from the start.  But it was not a care-free ride as the former MAC Champion did not have a pit bike, a source of concern considering the parade of broken derailleurs in the earlier amateur classes.  Following a long mountain bike season, Interbike, Cross Vegas and the Planet Bike Cup, Gould was giving her body a well-deserved rest.  “But I got tired of sitting in Colorado while my husband (Dusty, team mechanic for Kona’s Trebon and Wicks) had fun with cyclocross out east.  So I booked a ticked Tuesday for a flight Thursday, but I could only bring one bike.”

Behind Gould, noted mudder Mo Bruno-Roy (M&M Racing/Seven Cycles) ran a smooth race to finish second.  Amanda Carey (Kenda) continued her year of strong performances with a race long battle with current MAC champion Laura Van Gilder.  Early in the race, Carey held the advantage over C3 Athletes Serving Athletes teammates Van Gilder and Dee Dee Winfield.  Winfield never looked settled on the day and dropped back, while Van Gilder clawed her way up to Carey. The tables were turned during the second half of the race as Van Gilder held the position and Carey dragged her way up on the last lap to make contact and then attack prior to the final corners.  Unfortunately for Carey, the long, paved uphill finish at Granogue perfectly suited Van Gilder, one of the greatest women road sprinters of all time.  Van Gilder took the sprint for third, but to Carey’s credit, she made Van Gilder work hard for it, as Van Gilder was shattered following her anaerobic effort to finish on the podium.

The Men’s race was more of the same, but it took most of the first lap for National Champion Ryan Trebon to establish his lead.  Early protagonists included Adam Myerson (Cycle Smart), Wicks and Swiss U23 racer Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles Scott Newwork).  By the end of the first lap, Myerson had dropped back and Trebon was off the front.  Wicks and Sherz battled before stabilizing with Wicks in the second position.  The main action was for fourth.  Davide Frattini (Fuji) flatted a rear and elected to change a wheel.  That moved up the battle of Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix) and Adam McGrath (Thule/Van Dessel).  Frattini mounted a pursuit and eventually finished fourth. McGrath faded in the last quarter of the race and finished in seventh, behind the Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix duo of Dan Timmerman and Will Dugan.  “On a day like this,” said Barry Wicks after the race, “you throw the tactics out and it’s just who’s the strongest and makes the least mistakes.  Today it was Ryan, again.”

The MAC Powered by SRAM Series continues tomorrow with the Wissahickon Cyclocross at the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair grounds in Glenmore Pennsylvania.

Partial Results:

Men:

1. Ryan Trebon (Kona)
2. Barry Wicks (Kona)
3. Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles Scott Newwork)
4. Davide Frattini (Fuji)
5. Dan Timmerman (RGM Watches - Richard Sachs - Radix)
6. Will Dugan (RGM Watches - Richard Sachs - Radix)
7. Adam McGrath (Thule/Van Dessel)
8. Josh Dillon (RGM Watches - Richard Sachs - Radix)
9. Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart)
10. Greg Wittwer (Alan North America Cycling Team)

Women:

1. Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team)
2. Maureen Bruno Roy (MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles)
3. Laura Van Gilder (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes)
4. Amanda Carey (Kenda/Trainwitheric.com)
5. Deidre Winfield (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes)
6. Barbara Howe (Vanderkitten)
7. Rebecca Wellons (Team Plan C)
8. Sally Annis (Hub Racing)
9. Nikki Thiemann (Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon)
10. Arley Kemmerer (Hub Racing)

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#1	Colt From Cyclingdirt   October 17, 2009 at 9:05pm Report by Ken Getchell! reply