Early Efforts Lead Reyes and Beatty to Elite Wins at the Chicago Cyclocross Cup’s PSI-clocross For Life

by Kelly Clarke

PSI-clocross For Life at Emricson Park in Woodstock, IL was the seventh stop of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup (CCC) powered by SRAM. Rob Curtis and the crew from PSIMET reversed the direction of the course from previous years and changed many features to keep racers on their toes. The deeply rutted sandpit had a 90 degree turn. A fast descent into the forest led to a crunching, rooted climb. ‘Belgian stairs’ - planks with speed scrubbing sand behind them - were a completely new feature that reminded racers of a similar feature at CrossVegas. A cruel and steep barrier-forced run up remained in the course design. These features were all separated with long climbs and off camber turns that offered no rest.

Alijah Beatty Wins The Elite Women’s Race With A First Lap Attack

Alijah Beatty (Washington, IA) put in a blistering attack early on and rode solo to her first CCC victory of the season in the Women's Pro 1/2/3. © Snowymountain Photography

In the Elite Women’s race, sixteen year old Alijah Beatty (NorthStar Development Cycling) got pushed to the outside in the first corners of the race. She didn’t like losing spots being stuck behind other racers, so as the course straightened she took off as fast as she could. Beatty got to the lead and kept riding "as hard as she could for as long as she could." Kate Powlison (Evol Elite Racing) lost about twenty seconds to Beatty in the first few laps, but matched Beatty’s subsequent lap times (provided by One2Go Event Services). Heidi Beck (Twin Six) chased Powlison, losing seconds each lap. In the end, these three women time trialed their way to the podium with Alijah Beatty, from Washington, IA in first place, Kate Powlison in second and Heidi Beck from Delafield, WI in third.

Alijah Beatty carries impressive palmares in both road and in cyclocross. She raced at the UCI level the previous weekend at Kings Cross in Cincinnati, OH and the Pan Am Championships in Covington, KY. She’s planning to race a few more CCC races, as well as UCI races to prep for USAC Nationals Asheville, NC in January.

David Reyes Follows Alexander Martin’s Early Attack to Victory

After 60 minutes of riding, racing, and attacking one another, it still came down to a sprint at the line for Martin and Reyes. © Snowymountain Photography

Alexander Martin (Revolution Cycles Club) set a blazing pace to start the Elite Men’s race. David Reyes (Heritage Race Club) clung to his wheel in the first four laps of the race, unsure he could stick with the pace. A sizable gap formed between the duo and a chase group of five behind. Halfway through the race, Brandon Feehery (Unattached), made an attempt to bridge up to the leaders. Feehery single handedly cut the lead in half before a flat tire took him out of contention.

Michael Dutczak (EGO p/b Sammy's Bikes) was upset he was stuck in the chase group with Mike Phillips (Heritage Race Club), Jordan Roessingh (ISCorp Cycling p/b SmartChoice MRI) and James Cochran (Atlas/Other Films). In recent races Dutczak had been able to stick with the lead group to fight for the win. Martin’s devastating early attack thwarted his chance to be in the lead, so Dutczak worked with the chase group while trying to conserve his energy for a possible final sprint.

The final laps of the race had Martin hanging on Reyes’ wheel, with the chase group of four behind them. Reyes was waiting for Martin to make a move, but he never came to the front. Reyes pushed the pace wherever he thought he could make it tough for Martin and continued to lead. Despite Martin’s late conservation, series leader David Reyes maintained the lead in a tight final sprint for the win. Alexander Martin’s early hard efforts were rewarded with a second place finish. The chase group stuck together until the end as well, and Michael Dutczak earned the final podium spot.

Next weekend the Chicago Cyclocross Cup powered by SRAM has a double race weekend at the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort hosted by the South Chicago Wheelmen. Read more about this race and the CCC series at chicrosscup.com.

Chicago Cyclocross Cup PSI-clocross For Life Photo Gallery