November 8, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: It was an unusual weekend for cross racing in the Mid-Atlantic region: crisp and cold, but sunny and dry. This made for a very fast course at Maryland’s Fair Hill Natural Resource Area for First State Velo Sport’s annual Wayne Scott Memorial Xross, round seven of the 2009 MAC Series.
Swiss U23 rider Valentin Scherz has been tearing through MAC races since his arrival in the US. © dennisbike.com
A rare race without mud saw last week’s winner, Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles-Scott-Newwork) come out on top of the Elite men’s field, with Greg Wittwer of the Alan North American Cycling Team and Ryan Dewald of Battley Harley-Davidson filling the other podium positions. The sand-filled horse dressage ring did not slow down the elite men as they wound through the lines laid down by the earlier races of the day. With the change to standard time, things were barely wrapping up before dark. The win gives the young Swiss racer the MAC Points lead.
Last year’s race at Fair Hill saw a first-time MAC winner in the Elite Women’s race. This year, the feat was duplicated by Kristen Gavin of Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon, who edged out Dee Dee Winfield of C3-Athletes Serving Athletes for the win. Arley Kemmerer of Hub Racing rounded out the podium. The open nature of the Fair Hill course made for considerable amounts of flat out riding and drafting before diving into the switchbacks and 180s.
Perhaps the most exciting racing of the day however was offered up by the Elite Masters. A select group separated from the pack early on the in the race. Mike Yozell (VisitPA.com) essentially lead the entire race but there was lots of back and forth amongst the rest of the lead group which contained the regular cast of characters including Blair Saunders (Ben’s Performance Bikes/Ridley), Dave Weaver (Alan North America), Greg Ferguson (Beacon Cycling & Fitness) and Rob Collins (Secret Henry’s Racing Team) for the top-5 finishers.
The MAC Series travels to Long Island for the Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup Weekend on November 21 and 22. The two-day weekend will feature all MAC classes, and the Elite Classes will be UCI sanctioned and count toward the MAC standings as well as serve as the finals of the NACT. For more information, see BikeReg.com.
