Starcrossed Cyclocross 2007

Women Are Double-'crossed at Starcrossed by Portland Duo

Wendy Williams is Starcrossed Queen

By Sean Brandenburg
September 22, 2007

REDMOND, WA- The main events at Starcrossed kicked off with an exiting road-race-like Elite women's event that would feature a group of eight women battling it out for the prestigious victory and UCI points. From the gun, it was clear this group of women were the strongest of those who started. It would take the entire race to discover which of the leading group of eight would be crowned the Queen of 'Cross at Starcrossed.

The lead group featured Canadians Wendy Simms (Kona) and Kelly Jones (Sugoi/ Cannondale/ Bontrager), local 'cross speedster Kristi Berg (Redline Elite), Portland's triple-threat of Wendy Williams, Bridgette Stoick and Sue Butler (all of River City Bicycles) and Sarah Kerlin (HRS/Rocklobster). California's Rachael Lloyd (Proman) was also in the group but was forced to retire early with a mechanical failure.

The day's course featured long and flat sections through the parking lot south of the velodrome and few obstacles. This made it difficult for any of the women to get a gap and hold it. For most of the race, the lead group would work together to widen the gap between themselves and any would-be party crashers.

"Really there were too many flats to try and get away", Williams said after the race, "so everybody was kind of taking turns".

Despite an air of cooperation, these ladies would take their shots.

"Oh yeah, I tried", said Williams when asked if she had made any efforts to get away from the group. Her partner-in-crime, Sue Butler would also have a go at an escape attempt.

"I tried one attack to lead [Wendy W.] out", said Butler, "I thought the other girls might follow and [Wendy W.] could get a rest and then go by later, but we're not really road racers so we don't play tactics very well".

The River City Bicycles duo must have fooled their competition however. The initial group of eight was whittled down to six, as Jones and Stoick fell off the pace with two laps to go. As the sextet came through the start/finish for the last time, the spirit of cooperation would disappear with a blistering attack on the track from Redline's Kristi Berg.

The crowd went bonkers as Seattle-based Berg hurdled the barriers and rode off into the abyss of the parking lot ahead of her competition. But the remaining five would not give up as Berg was caught by the time she reached the run-up on outside of the velodrome. As the women reached the off-camber grass behind the back straight of the velodrome it became clear that this edition of Starcrossed would end in a sprint.

A group of three came around the final corner with Butler and Berg having been slightly gapped. That left the Canadian Wendy, the quiet Sarah Kerlin, and the American Wendy. They would begin their sprint in that order and when it was over, only the camera could sort it out. Although to see the high-fiving and smiling taking place among River City Bicycles riders, it was clear who won. Wendy Williams took the cake in an exciting finish with Kerlin and Simms following in second and third, respectively.

Sue Butler would pip Kristi Berg for fourth place, and close behind Jones and Stoick would finish in sixth and seventh places.

Swiss Champ takes on Kona's Twin Towers

The moment everyone had been waiting for began with a bang as northwest favorites and Kona riders Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks exploded out of the gate. Everything seemed to be going according to plan for the Twin Towers except for one thing: three-time Swiss national champion, Christian Huele, had decided to crash their Starcrossed party. It was clear after one lap that the winner would come from this select group of three, as the time gaps to the first chase group were already approaching 20 seconds. Wicks and Trebon would take their turns attacking the Swiss rider, but in the end Huele's agility would get the best of both of them.

"We were trying to take a couple shots at Christian and make him chase back" said Trebon, adding "Chrisian's just a little better bike handler, so on all the turns he can just get back easier."

It appeared evident that Huele would not be taken advantage of, and so Wicks and Trebon found themselves in a tough situation.

"Right away, Ryan opened up the gas and that kind of made the selection" said Wicks afterwards. "But [we] were stuck there with Christian and we know he's super strong."

That much was clear, as Huele seemed to have no trouble matching accellerations made by either Trebon, or Wicks. But even though the Swiss rider made sticking with the Twin Towers appear easy, Huele revealed the difficulty of taking on two of America's best cross racers.

"It was very hard to ride against these two guys from the same team," explained Huele. "I was watching to ride always in second position, and Ryan was very strong on the last lap."

The pair of Trebon and Huele would come into the second-to-last corner with Trebon in the lead. Wicks had lost contact and could do nothing but watch as Huele took Trebon on the inside of the penultimate turn. Huele had a small gap of just over a bike length and was able to hold off Trebon as the two charged towards the finish. The two crossed the line nearly neck-and-neck.

Trebon recalled the moment after the race, saying "I knew [Huele] was going to try something, I just didn't know he was going to try it in that last corner."

Huele on the other hand was just happy the race ended when it did, saying that he "just managed it in the second-to-last corner, and the race was finished at the right time."

The race for Fourth and Fifth

Behind the three leaders, an exciting battle for the final two podium spots took place between local hero, Nick Weighall (Rad Racing) and last year's Starcrossed winner, miracle man Andy Jaques-Maynes (California Giant Cycles). Jaques-Maynes was competing in his first race since a May crash that broke 15 bones in his body, including two vertebra.

"It was me and Russell [Stevensen]," said Jaques-Maynes "and we were charging on the front [of the course] and then Nick goes and attacks - he just came blazing by - and I was like 'I want to get on that wheel'. I just wanted to get out of the mayhem of the pack."

And that's exactly what Weighall and Jaques-Maynes did, leaving Stevenson in their wake. The two would work together for the rest of the race and it seemed as though Weighall would bring home the bacon with a top five placing.

"[Andy and I] were working together; he would pull and kinda shake the elbow and then I'd pull," said Weighall, and everything seemed to be going well for the youngster. That is until the last third of the last lap.

"I think Nick got a little antsy and maybe blew up just worrying too much, and was concerned that this big old pack was gonna come up [on him]." explained Jaques-Maynes. "I know from last year, I went all out for the last half lap with guys on my wheel and nobody could get by. And I had a fifty meter gap to the next guy, and I'm not going to be threatened by them unless they're on me."

In the end Weighall would fade from the top five but was happy to finish in the top ten. Jaques-Maynes was glad to finish fourth on the evening which was also his birthday, but he was even happier to be back racing his bike. Rounding out the top five was Durango, Colorado's Troy Wells (Clif Bar).

Other Race Highlights

Besides the races for podium positions, there were a couple unforgettable moments that took place during the night's action. With five laps to go, Barry Wicks put in a big attack as his lead trio entered the infield of the Marymoor Velodrome heading towards the beer garden barriers.

In the first turn in a set of zig-zags, Wicks went down and his teammate Trebon and their Swiss competitor briefly rode away. Wicks was able to quickly remount though, and as he entered the barrier section the beer garden crowd let out a defining cheer that echoed throughout the velodrome's high-banked turns.

"It was pretty awesome," said Wicks explaining how the crowd energized him. "I was like, 'well, I might as well give the crowd a show'. It's no fun to just watch us ride around so I tried to attack [Huele]. I just came out of that turn way too hot and I thought I could hold it but it just didn't work out."

It didn't not work out either though, as Wicks was able to close the gap and regain Trebon and Huele by the time they hit the run-up on the outside of the track.

The other, and perhaps best moment of the night came about due to unfortunate luck for Vancouver Island, B.C.'s Geoff Kabush. Halfway through the first lap, the Canadian rolled his front tubular tire. With his race nearly over before it began, Kabush shouldered his bike and walked the course to the beer garden with one thing in mind: drowning his sorrows.

Kabush put out his right hand as he leisurely approached the first barrier and eager fans obliged him with a full cup of beer. It was empty as he stepped over the barrier. He put his hand out again, and again was gratified. By the time he left the barrier section, Kabush had downed four beers, and by our count, it took him less than two minutes.

"It was pretty frustrating, but I made the most of it. I got four free beers in the beer garden" slurred Kabush after the race. He then added "Hopefully I'm not too blitzed to recover for tomorrow [at Steilacoom]."

Dig!

REDMOND, WA- Over 2,000 spectators came out to watch the madness and mayhem at Marymoor Park on Saturday. The day began at 2:00 p.m. with the lower category men's, women's and master's riders, followed by the main event at 7:00pm.

Point and Shoot: Reader-submitted Photo Galleries

Mother/son duo Derek Titus and Beki Titus Waisath share their photos from Starcrossed

By Sean Brandenburg & Beki Titus Waisath
Photos by Beki Titius Waisath & Derek Titus

Derek Titus and his mom Beki Titus Waisath are relatively new to the sport of competitive cycling, but both bring distinct talent to the table. Derek's results in just one season of road racing were impressive, to say the least. August 2006 saw him get lapped twice by the Cat 4/5 field at Seward Park, but after training with Team Zoka through the winter months, he burst onto the scene by taking 3rd at Mason Lake #2 as a Cat 5, and 4th at Tehuya-Seabeck-Tehuya as a Cat 4. It only got better from there, as he ended his first season as a Cat 3 before turning 17. His mom, Beki, got bored pretty quick as she watched Derek go around and around with the other cyclists.

With courage and a credit card, she plunged into the world of photography, buying her very first digital SLR camera, and began taking pictures of Derek during his races. While this gave her something to do, she soon grew tired of photographing just Derek (although we're certain she still loves him - Ed.). So, still learning the tricks of digital photography, she started to snap shots of other Zoka riders and found it to be quite fun and rewarding, as well as helping her feel a part of the team.  At Starcrossed, after 4 hours of pressing the shutter release button, and often times, the delete button (the learning process never ends) Beki handed the camera (somewhat reluctantly) over to Derek. With minimal instructions from mom, off he went to chase down the Cat 3 field and later events, in a totally new and different kind of race. The photography gene kicked into overdrive and he was able to capture numerous great shots despite a lack of experience and the quickly fading sunlight. Here are a few of the results from their combined efforts.

Results

Elite Men

1 Christian Heule (Swi) Stevens - 1.00.10
2 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona Yourkey.com - S.T.
3 Barry Wicks (USA) Kona Yourkey.com - 0.03
4 Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) California Giant Cycles - 0.50
5 Troy Wells (USA) Clif Bar - 1.04
6 Joachim Parbo (Den) CCV
7 Chris Sheppard (Can)
8 Jonathan Baker (USA) Primus Mootry
9 Bart Gillespie (USA) MonaVie/Cannondale
10 Nicholas Weighall (USA) Rad Racing NW
11 Russell Stevenson (USA) Benaroya Research Institute Cycling Team
12 Daniel Neyens (USA) Hagens Berman LLP
13 Ali Goulet (USA) Ridley Factory Team/Fishers Cyclery - 1.27
14 Shannon Skerritt (USA) Vanilla Bicycles-Stumptown Coffee - 2.01
15 Molly Cameron (USA) Vanilla Bicycles-Stumptown Coffee - 2.04
16 Rob Britton (Can) - 2.26
17 Kris Sneddon (Can) Kona Les Gets
18 Donald Reeb (USA) CMG Racing
19 Jason Sager (USA) MonaVie/Cannondale - 2.49
20 Cody Peterson (USA) Scott Bicycles
21 Michael Gallagher (USA) U S Armed Forces
22 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Priority Health
23 Kevin Hulick (USA) Vanilla Bicycles-Stumptown Coffee
24 Loren Hanson (USA) Benaroya Research Institute Cycling Team
25 Matt Pacocha (USA) Velo News - 3.13
26 Sean Worsech (USA) Rad Racing NW - 3.37
27 Ryan Iddings (USA) Lapierre USA - 3.47
28 Toby Swanson (USA)
29 Matthew Hewitt (Can) - 3.53
30 Logan Wetzel (USA) First Rate Mortgage - 3.58
31 Mark Hanson (USA) Benaroya Research Institute Cycling Team - 3.59
32 Jonathan Gormick (Can) Masi-Adobe - 4.00
33 Carson Miller (USA) Fred Meyer/Northwest Adventure - 4.02
34 Craig Richey (Can) Aviawest - Rocky Mountain Bicycles - 4.04
35 Kevin Noiles (Can) Norco - 4.12
36 Luke Brechwald (USA) Rad Racing NW - 4.14
37 Kristopher Holden (USA) Vertical Earth - 4.44
38 Douglas Shryock (USA) Northern Rockies Orthopedic - 5.00
39 Matthew Slaven (USA) Kona Les Gets
40 John-Christian Flack (USA) The Valley Athletic Club - 5.44
41 Duncan McGovern (USA) Whitman College Cycling - 5.49
42 Drew MacKenzie (Can) - 6.38
43 Phil Grove (USA) Hagens Berman LLP - 6.40

Elite Women

1 Wendy Williams (USA) River City Bicycles - 42.59
2 Sarah Kerlin (USA) HRS/ Rock Lobster - S.T.
3 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona - S.T.
4 Sue Butler (USA) River City Bicycles - 0.01
5 Kristi Berg (USA) Redline Bicycles - 0.10
6 Kelly Jones (Can) Sugoi/Cannondale/Bontrager
7 Brigette Stoick (USA) River City Bicycles - 1.29
8 Megan Elliott (USA)
9 Sarah Steward (Can) - 1.31
10 Josie Beggs (USA) - 1.35
11 Trish Sinclair (Can) - 2.07
12 Rachel Lloyd (USA) Proman/Paradigm - 2.09
13 Shannon Holden (USA) Velo Bella- Kona - 2.26
14 Beth Lyndon-Griffith (USA) ByrneInvent - 2.44
15 Tela Crane (USA) Rad Racing NW - 3.04
16 Dani Dance (USA) - 3.23
17 Nicola Mann (Can) Ti Cycles/Avanti Racing - 3.28
18 Allison Beall (USA) Vanderkitten - 4.19
19 Hannah Kirshner (USA) Circle A Cylocross/the Hub - 5.19
20 Kari Studley (USA) Velo Bella/Kona - 5.21
21 Jadine Riley (GBr) Team Group Health - 6.03
22 Jaymie McGowan (Can) Oak Bay Bikes - 6.32

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