Steveo is all smiles as he takes the win at Hyattsville. © Keith Hower
by Keith Hower
Finally, it happened. The Cyclocross Gods graced cool temps, changing leaves and wet weather upon the 500+ racers and spectators this past weekend at the Hyattsville CX. By no means was the event a complete romp in the mud, but was more of a rehearsal for the undoubtedly mud soaked races to come as the season progresses. Speaking of progressing, the Bikereg.com Super 8 Series continues to take shape and by the end of the day Sunday, the Women’s Elite field appeared to be turning into a one-woman runaway, while the men’s field will have had its third series leader in as many races.
The Women’s Elite race took place in almost perfect cyclocross conditions, the course had some nice lines in it from the day’s earlier races and a slight cool mist started to roll into Magruder Park as the whistle sounded. The women dealt with the changing conditions as the course slickened, but when all the cards had been played, it was Laura Murray taking her second win of the series and a commanding 57 point lead. Kelly Fisher-Goodwin just edged out Allyson Tufano for second place. Traci Rodosta, newcomer to the 2012 series, came home in fourth place while Jennifer Tillman landed the last podium spot and at the same time, catapulted herself into the top 5 overall in the series.
The Men’s Elite field was, as always, the final event of the day. As the men took to the starting grid it was apparent that the Vergesport Leader’s Jersey would be up for grabs as the-then series leader, Weston Schempf was not in attendance. From the whistle it was Stephen Cummings jumping into the lead and taking sole position of first place within the first 15 seconds of action. By the end of the first lap, Cummings had already begun to stretch out his lead over the field, but it was Colin Becker who was turning the fastest lap times early. By the 15 minute mark, Becker closed the gap on Cummings and even began to dictate the pace. Which Cummings even mentioned post-race
“Colin was riding really strong. He took a few pulls on the flats that I had to get out of the saddle to respond,” Cummings said. But just after the halfway mark of the race, Cummings saw his opportunity to open a gap over Becker going into the technical woods section.
“I went hard up the hill and smooth through the woods, and stayed on the gas for a few straights out of the woods. It really put the pressure on him,” said Cummings of his move on Becker.
Not long after the pass for the outright lead, another series contender, Ben Fawley, joined the party, but just briefly. With a few laps to go, Fawley moved into a solid 2nd place and began to knock on the door of first. As the gap between first and second dwindled, it became obvious that Fawley was now the fastest rider on course and had his eyes set on obtaining the lead. Cummings could for sure sense this and was able to respond. As the bell rang to signal the last lap, the gap has started to reverse and go in favor of the race leader and that’s how they would finish. Stephen Cummings crossed the line 1st taking the race and the series leader’s jersey, Ben Fawley second, Colin Becker third, Jacob Sitler fourth, and Nicholas Taylor (doing his best “Giro Air Attack” impersonation) came home in fifth.
Not only did the event organizers put on a well-run and challenging event, they also for the fourth straight year, donated proceeds to the Prince George’s County Special Olympics. Hats off to the guys and gals of the Route 1 Velo and Crosshairs Cycling groups for doing this!
Up next in the Bikereg.com Super 8 Series is the Queen event, the ever popular DCCX on October 21, 2012 held on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement home in Washington DC.
And to Quote Steveo: “I am doing DCCX for sure. It is a fantastic race. It is such a great event. My wife generally attends one race per year and I think DCCX will be it this year.”
Elite Women:
- Laura Murray -Race Pace/Trek MTb
- Kelly Fisher-Goodwin -CAWES/iFractal
- Allyson Tufano -Western Howard County Cycling
- Traci Rodosta -Breakaway Velo
- Jennifer Tillman -C3-Athletes Serving Athletes
- Emily Mcdonald -Bicycle Outfitters
- Marni Harker -Van Dessel Factory Team
- Laurel Larsen -Syn-Fit
Elite Men:
- Stephen Cummings -C3-Athlethes Serving Athletes
- Ryan Fawley -Pro Tested Gear
- Collin Becker
- Jacob Sitler -Nuts About Granola
- Nicholas Taylor -Bayside Velo/Bike Docter
- Garrett Olsen -Battley Harley Davidson/XO
- Christopher Rabadi
- Eric Lundgren -JBV Coaching
- Andrey Doroshenko -Charm City Cycling
- Jeffrey Dickey
