Southern California Prestige Series #4 – Elbows and Bodies Flying

Langin storms off to win the Masters 45+ © Dot Wong

by Dave Sheek

Los Angeles, CA – Finally, the temperatures decreased in Southern California to make for the first comfortable weekend of racing. The intimate setting of O’Melveny Park was good for a course with tree coverage and a good mix of conditions. The start held a gradual road climb to a tricky left turn onto a dirt, which then climbed up only to weave back to the grassy fields for some winding turns and more punchy climbs. The two tricky barrier sections did bring some good highlights to spectators but it all added up to a perfect weekend of racing cyclocross in SoCal for all groups. The course seemed short and the deep grass seemed to keep the laps normal, but as it packed in it became considerably faster as the day went on. So, it should be noted that Men’s 45+ winner Bob Langin, Sr. was crushing it early on with a fastest lap time that would put him easily inside the top ten of the men’s Elite field.

Elite Women:
After the ladies were called up to the line there were some jokes about how there were going to be some elbows thrown because of overly narrow marked starting positions. And, it actually proved true along the first straightaway as the ladies bumped around for position. It was SDG Factory rider Amanda Schaper with the lead up the road, through the first scary left turn from the road to the dirt, and through the quick bumpy descent into a sweeping left hand turn. Unfortunately, a mistake in the bumpy turned allowed Allison Mann (Rock N’ Road Cyclery) and Megan Elliot (Black Mtn Bicycles) to jump ahead, but Schaper was back on it and able to catch back up, with Dot Wong (The Team SoCAL CX) and her teammate Christina Probert right behind. The four fought for positions over the first couple of laps, but the hilly course was very well suited to Mann’s strong climbing abilities, so she started pulling away from the group. Probert, Elliot, and Schaper were together for a while, until Probert started falling off of the pace. For about a lap, Elliot was glued to Schaper’s wheel, but when they hit the pavement with about four to go Schaper attacked putting in a strong effort through the entire straightaway. When she hit the dirt again, whe had put a descent gap on Elliot. It was close as Allison Mann continued to ride off the front; Schaper was second with Elliot close behind, and Probert not too far behind her. Eventually, Elliot started fading and Probert tried to bridge the gap up to schaper. But again the course suited Mann’s skills, as she consistently pulled away throughout the entire race, finishing in the top spot. Schaper managed to keep the gas on for second with Christina Probert third. And it was Nancy Klinger of the SoCal team who moved up for fourth with Wong rounding out the top five.

Elite Men:

Elite Men's podium © Tiffany Olmedo

The race started with Kyle Gritters (Rock N’ Road) leading up the road until an unfortunate crash in the first corner sent him sliding across the dirt. The crash almost took out Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air), but he was able to slow enough to avoid getting clipped from the inside. Mark Noble (Franco) then took off up the dirt climb and John Bailey (Bailey Bikes) also went down as the rest of the group closely came around to follow Noble up to the grassy fields. On the first lap it was Noble with Brent Prenzlow (Celo-Pacific/B&L), Brandon Gritters (Rock N’ Road), Jason Siegle (Bike Religion) and Taberlay who made a little break from all the commotion in the first turn. The first lap was interesting and fast as the group of five began to immediately attack each other to gap off the group. But, the only one that stuck was the effort of Taberlay as he led into the second set of barriers and used his hoping abilities to get off the front of the group. For two laps the group chased hard with Prenzlow and Siegle doing a majority of the work to reach back up to Taberlay. By the fourth lap, it was definite that Taberlay was going to ride away with the win. The real racing was then the battle for second. Prenzlow worked hard attacking the group with efforts to drop the chase group. It began to work as Noble and Siegle fell off the group but as Siegle moved back on he pulled Noble with him. In the final lap the four were back together. Gritters’ gears skipped after he came through the first set of barriers a few times, putting him to the back of the group. Prenzlow continued his charge into the final turns. When they hit the road for the final sprint, Prenzlow led it out, but Noble came around him to take second with Prenzlow in third, Siegle fourth, and Brandon Gritters to round out the top five.

After another great day in the park and cooler temperatures it is finally starting to feel like fall in CA. The rain is coming so get the warm clothing and costumes out for the upcoming week. It is the most exciting race of the season, SCPS 5: SPOOKY CROSS next Saturday night and then get up early and head north to San Luis Obispo for SCPS 6: Slo Cross. This is going to be the scariest week of racing ever as it is definite that the Spooky Cross costume race will bring a lot more pumpkin slamming wrestlers and men in dresses to the event than before.

For more information go to: www.socalcross.org

Photo Gallery

Results:

Elite Men

Elite Women