Killer B’s Swarm Nationals in Bend – UPDATED: Full Results

Shadd Smith negotiates tricky descent en route to B 30-39 win © Josh Liberles

There were four B races scattered throughout the day: three men’s and one women’s. The women got off to an early A.M. start and broke in the course for the slew of riders still to come. They definitely faced some firmly-packed but consistent course conditions and, relative to preceding days, a tolerable temperature hovering in the 20’s. The strong sun, dry air and hard efforts actually made the conditions tolerable by most riders’ reports.

The fields were a mix of honest-to-goodness B’s in the region who want in on the fun and atmosphere of the Nationals scene as well as Masters looking for a warm-up event before their shots at the title. There were definitely more Cat 2’s taking the start in these B events than a typical race.

Holly Klug took the win in front of Stephanie Thomson (HRS/Rock Lobster) and Courtney Shipman.

The Men’s Under-29 B race went off at 9:45 followed by the 30+ event. Nicholas Dale (Raleigh All Stars) took the U29 race in front of Cory Simpson and Joseph Welsh (Marx and Bensdorf).

Shadd Smith (KCCX Verge) took home the win in the 30-39 race, followed by Kevin Klug and Jesse Doll (Northern Rockies).

Conditions remained hard-packed in spots, frozen in others. Traction was good, except for the off-cambers, some of which became very icy. Slowing down for the corners and keeping the bike upright was a key. As Cyclocross Magazine’s own Andrew Yee reports, “A tire with side knobs is coveted!”

Yee had a great ride to take home a very respectable 17^th in the B Men 30-39 and had a camera on board for your viewing pleasure.

The 40+ B’s wrapped up the day after all of the Masters Championship events. The 3:30 start meant that the field would be battling fading sun, quickly plummeting temperatures. The ground had softened a bit under the bright sun but started freezing up quickly towards the end of the day. Two ambulances paid visits to the course to whisk would-be contenders away.

Early on, it was Jim Gentes of Santa Cruz going off the front. Gentes was the founder of Giro helmets and was the first ever Junior cyclocross champion back in 1975 in Tilden Park. He’d come full-circle to lead out this event for a couple of laps.

Gentes eventually faded back into the chase group, with Jeff Gaeckle taking charge. But it was Australian turned Boulder, Colorado resident Michael Robson and Scott McLaughlin (SRAM Factory) who lurked in the chase group and eventually turned on the jets. McLaughlin opened up the gap over the next several laps and held on for the win while Robson, in turn, distanced the rest of the contenders to take second. Thomas Price came in for third with Darron Cheek (Copper Mtn High Country Racing) and David Diviney (Cyclepath) hot on his heels.

Full Results: