Sunday Release

Cable, Wis. – For immediate release
Contact: Gary Crandall, cheqfat@cheqnet.net 

    Bjorn Selander (Livestrong) and Kyia Anderson (Cannondale/Hidden Bay) won the inaugural men’s and women’s Cable CritCross on Sept. 20.  Both riders had to come from behind, working their way through the field, to win the handicap race.

   Riders qualified for the event through a two-lap time trial.  The times were then reverse, with the slowest rider starting first, in a reverse order pursuit.  Jack Hinckens (Nature Valley) won the qualifier, edging out Selander, but the U-23 national team rider prevailed in the final.   Hinckens jumped the final uphill barrier 100 meters from the finish, passing Ezra Taylor.  David Meyer (Freewheel) placed fourth, and Jake Richards (Maplelag) was fifth.  Taylor rode a 29er singlespeed and Meyer pedaled a singlespeed cyclocross bike. 

   Anderson won both the two-lap qualifier and the six-lap final in the women’s division.  After grabbing the lead, she was never seriously challenged, despite a slip on the bell lap.
Rebecca Sauber, Apple Valley, Minn. placed second and SyRae Weikle Denver, Colo. took home third.

   The Rough Stuff Rendezvous, the traditional Sunday orienteering race, also featured a new format.  Riders could not only compete for time in finding the seven checkpoints, but they could also enter the poker ride, drawing cards for each checkpoint found.  In the timed event, Aaron Kadera, White Bear Lake, Minn. blitzed the course in 40:44.7, putting over eleven minutes on Mike Haag of Seeley, Wis.  Jerry Wright of Hayward, Wis. placed third.  Michelle Flanagan-Haag captured the women’s title in 52:16.8, nearly a minute ahead of Susan Parman, Wausau, Wis.  Three-time Rough Stuff champion Paula Waite was another minute off the pace in third.   

   The new CritCross race combined the elements of cyclocross and short track, featuring several dismounts and runs.  It replaced the Cable Criterium, a Fat Tire Festival stable for 26 years.

Cable CritCross champ Bjorn Selander:
http://www.skinnyski.com/special/IMG_8264.JPG


Cable CritCross riders hit the barriers:
http://www.skinnyski.com/special/IMG_8276.JPG

Photo credit:
Bruce Adelsman / skinnyski.com

For full results: http://itiming.com/raceresults/549-cftf-crit-all09.pdf

Saturday Release

Cable, Wis. – For immediate release
Contact: Gary Crandall, cheqfat@cheqnet.net 

  Brian Matter (Gear Grinder/Trek) captured up his second Chequamegon 40 win with a vicious attack two miles to go in the 40-mile race, setting a course record of 2:02:55.7 in the process.  His attack dropped Cole House (BMC), who taking risks on the final downhill corner, nearly caught Matter at the line and finished less than a second behind Matter.  Steve Tilford of Topeka, Kan., who initially went with Matter's final move, finished third.

   In the women's Chequamegon 40, Jenna Rinehart (Specialized) also won her second race in 2:19:31.3.  Her time was five seconds slower than Lea Davison's record time in 2008.  Rinehart won in 2007 and finished second last year.  She beat former champions Kyia Anderson (Hidden Bay/Cannondale) and Catherine Walberg (Team Kenda). 

   House of Oneida, Wis. initially blew the race wide open in the early stages of the race, whittling a lead group of 40 riders down to eight 16 miles into the race.  These eight were later joined by another seven riders pulled along by Mark and Jesse Lalonde.  Mark eventually placed fourth, over a minute down on Matter.  Matter made his first move when the course entered the rolling Birkie hills with nine miles to go, and only House and Tilford could respond. 

"I got on the gas with two miles to go in the last section of singletrack," said Matter of Sheboygan, Wis.  House, whose legs were cramping, stayed in the saddle and tried to maintain Matter's pace up the final climb.  "I took a big chance on the last corner and railed it as hard as I could," House said, but it wasn’t enough to catch Matter, who was a member of last year’s US World Championship cyclocross team. 

   Rinehart won the women's race teaming up with the men racing around her.  "I got in a good group of guys and just focused on their rear wheels," she said.  "The scariest part of the race was on the pavement.  If you can survive that …."  Rinehart rode the last few miles of the race alone, but by then she had established a comfortable seven minute lead on second-place Anderson.

   Jake Richards of Calloway, Minn. won the 16-mile Short and Fat race in 51:57.4, beating Tom Meyer of Seeley, Wis. by six seconds.  Meyer was riding a singlespeed.  Former Chequamegon 40 champion Cindy Bijold grabbed the women’s Short and Fat title.  Brian and Kim Eppen (Mercy/Specialized) of Iowa City, Iowa, won the tandem race, placing 38th overall in 2:12:51.1 despite breaking a chain.

Full results at: http://www.itiming.com/html/raceresults.php?year=2009&EventId=549&eventype=0Che