October 4/12 9:25 am - 2012 Vanier Park Cyclocross - Report and Results

Posted by Editoress on 10/4/12
 

The 2012 Vanier Park Cyclocross, held on Sunday September 30th in Vancouver, BC, was a roaring success. Vanier Park racing is known to have the blessing from above but this year the weather was crazy sunny - unlike anything we have seen before. And so was the turnout: the event had at times the flavor of an open air concert, with people sitting around on the grass eating and watching the race, kids laughing and riding around and lots of women and men with big sweaty smiles on track to a great result.

FINE day for a cyclocross race

The volunteer crew from WestCoast Racing and Trek RedTruck Racing created a course that revealed years of hands-on experience and made sure that legs and lungs would hurt. Less bumpy then in the past, but with tricky loose ground sections, the course demanded full attention through the high speed turns and over the challenging man-made obstacles.

Racing started at 10:30 with the citizen categories setting the mark, with a fast pace and a deep field of many now unlicensed former fast men and women mixing it up with the beginners, followed by Juniors. Taking the win was Hugo Van Hoogstraten (who is clearly from the Dutch tradition of cross), followed by David Stringer in second, while the Citizen Women was won by Carol Prince.

Sandra Walter

In the second start we saw the Open Women and Master Women battle for victory, with Local Ride sweeping the podium.  Sandra Walters took the top honors, Jean Ann Berkenpas was second and Steph Roorda finished third, while the Master Women on the podium were holding their little ones (with US mom Emily Sportman on top, followed by Karen Todd and Corinne Issel).

At the same time we had the Men 3/4 and Master Men 3/4 steamrolling across the course with a fierce battle for Alpha Male dominance. When the dust settled the winners emerged in form of Squamish all-rounder Kelly Servinski, Nigel Kinney and Ted Martin for the Cat 3/4 Men. Vincent Marcotte made winning look easy by beating out Jussi Jrakkola and Aaron Weiss for the Masters places.

The crowd was in a good mood after the Steed Cycles’ free Kids race, where around 70 (!) kids of all ages tried to copy their bike obsessed parents. They were totally excited and Distance Runningwear’s Dave Cressman had his hands more than full (and was glad to retire onto the Single Speed bike right after). A nice little course that was busy long after the kids event was over saw many giggles and cheers, but also true competition among the little ones.

While the Kids and parents were lining up for the BBQ it was getting quiet on the course; the calm before the storm. The last start of the day had three groups of men: the men without shifters (Single Speed), the men without age (Master), and the men without limits (Elite). Never before has Vancouver seen such a lineup of single-speed competition (watch out, Portland, here we come) with nine committed no shift warriors on the start. Nick Berry would take the cake, despite his efforts at the New Brighton race the day before, Nils Steiner finished second and co-race director Paul McClosky (also tired from lap counting on Saturday) rounded out the top three.

The ageless and eventual winner Master Bobby Welbourn had his work cut out to keep runner-up Chris McNeil at bay, with Martin Bojesen finishing in third.

And then there were only the elites left on the course ...

It was clear when five-time winner Tyler Trace didn’t show up that we would see a different race in Vanier Park. And, unlike last year, when Tyler rode away to a convincing solo win over Pinfold, this year team tactics played a big role. It was Team H&R Block (Andrew Pinner Pinfold and Aaron Schooler) against Team Kevin (Noiles and Calhoun), while in the background the battle for fifth was in full swing.

The H&R guys put up a smart fight when Kevin Calhoun suffered a mechanical, making Kevin Noiles do the bulk of the work in the later part of the race. But the winner takes it all: Pinner made it clear that despite being a daddy he still can let his legs to the talking. Vanier Park race director Sven Sturm didn’t find the shortcut he hoped for and got beaten on the line by a stronger riding Trevor Pearson. Matt Hornland was another race director (New Brighton) in the Elites and narrowly avoided being lapped.

Altogether racers came out yet again in record number (we counted 194 licensed racers) to one of BC’s top cyclocross events. While we will be talking about the never-ending summer of 2012 for a while, the memory of the 2012 Vanier Park will be a fond one. And, as usual, there would be no racing without our generous sponsors and supporters:

Patisserie Lebeau and Umbria Caffe, Mountain Equipment Coop, CLIF Bar, Giant Bicycles, Steed Cycles, The Vancouver Bike Gallery, Musette Caffe, Race Face Components, Schwalbe Tires, Cycles Lambert, Banditas Taqueria, Active Life Physio, Uprsing Breads, Island Farms, Whole Foods, Ryder Eyewear and, of course, City of Vancouver.

And who would be responsible for all that? WestCoast Racing and Trek RedTruck Racing, two of Vancouver’s finest bike clubs and racing teams, and their dedicated volunteers.

Courtesy Sven Sturm

Photo Gallery by Doug Brons 

MORE photos 


Open Women
1 Sandra Walter (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods)
2 Jean Ann Berkenpas (Secret Cycles)
3 Steph Roorda (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods)
4 Jenny Lehman (Trek Red Truck)
5 Lotterhos Hos (Independant)
6 Kristine Brynjolfson (Trek Red Truck)
6 Sarah Coney (Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods)
8 Karen Fedoruk (Independant)
- 1 lap Eva Kuzyk (Independant)
- 1 lap Justine Clift (Independant)
- 1 lap Heidi Manicke (Independant)
DNF Jennifer Gerth (Mighty riders)

Masters 30+ Women
1 Emily Sportsman (Republic Bicycles)
2 Karen Todd (Independant)
3 Corinne Issel (Independant)
4 Barb Morris (Performance coaching)

Citizen Women
1 Carol Prince (Independant)
2 Name  Name (Independant)
3 Bartel Donna (Independant)
4 Tara Conway (Independant)
- 1 lap Lara Spence (Independant)
- 1 lap Amy Saari (Independant)
- 1 lap Lynsey Huxham (Independant)
2nd?/DNF Becky Roberts (Independant)
DNF Rosemaary Gin (Independant)

Junior Women / U17
1 Maggie ColesLyster (Local Ride)
- 1 lap Margaret Ovenell (Independant)

Junior Men
1 Carsten Lapointe (RTC Vancouver)
2 Fergus Horrobin (Independant)
3 Joshua Hardwick (Independant)
4 Peter  Whalen (Local Ride)
- 3 laps Matt Hardwick (Independant)
DNF Kian Zandi (Independant)

Elite Men
1 Andrew Pinfold (The Old Man and The Bike)
2 Kevin Noiles (SBR)
3 Aaron  Schooler (Norco Bicycles - Sri Import)
4 Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain)
5 Trevor Pearson (Devo)
6 Sven Sturm (Trek Red Truck)
7 Sherwood Plant (The Bike Gallery)
8 Jonathan Benskin (Condo Group)
9 Mike  Berkenpas (Secret cycles)
10 Matt Schweiker (Independant)
11 Wai-Ben Wong (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
12 Matt Hornland (Mighty Riders / OTR)
- 1 lap Richard Machhein (Local Ride Racing)
- 1 lap Brett Wakefield (Local Ride Racing)

Master 1/2 Men
1 Bob Welbourn (Sunday Best Racing)
2 Chris McNeil (SOUL SPORTIF)
3 Martin Bojesen (Independant)
4 Kim Steed (Steed Cycles)
5 Shawn Pettersen (Independant)
6 Brad Issel (Independant)
7 Matthew Drown (Daryl-Evans Racing)
8 Jason Fluckiger (Daryl-Evans Racing)
9 Pete Holzhuter (Daryl-Evans Racing)
10 Keith Wilson (Independant)
11 Scott McGregor (Steed Cycles)
12 John Irvine (Independant)
13 Brad Collins (Independant)
14 Rick Rodland (Team Alliance/ Norco)
15 Kalle Karu (Independant)
16 David  Kvick (Rocky Mountain)
17 Ryan Newsome (maple Rye)
18 Colin Campbell (Escape Velocity)
19 Mike Murphy (Steed/Frontrunners)
20 Dale Ewanchook (Norco/Aliance)
21 Joshua Weiss (Daryl-Evans Racing)
22 Tyler Dumont (Physiomoves)
23 Nick Hani (USA Fusion Sport)
24 Brent Hambleton (Independant)
25 James Neil (Speed therory)
DNF Chris Saverj (Independant)

Masters 30+ Men 3 / 4
1 Vincent Marcotte (Independant)
2 Jussi Jrakkola (Independant)
3 Aaron Weiss (Daryl-Evans Racing)
4 Dan Gronross (Steed Cycles)
5 Christian Hansen (Independent)
6 Ray lachance (Independant)
7 Gavin Eaton (Independant)
8 Ryan Kazakoff (Independant)
9 Darrin Grund (Escape Velocity / dEVo)
10 Kurt Withers (Norco Bicycles)
11 Michael Goodman (Glotman Simpson)
12 Jason Bond (Bond Trainer)
13 John Tani (Cvc)
14 Patrick Beckstead (Mighty)
15 Jeff Hanninen (Daryl-Evans Racing)
16 Tobin Copley (Escape Velocity / dEVo)
17 Dave Collins (Independant)
18 Michael Mcarthur (Independant)
19 Chris Wilberg (Trek Red Truck)
20 Michael Dolling (Daryl-Evans Racing)
21 Brian Store (Escape Velocity / dEVo)
22 Brian Willock (Glotman Simpson)
23 Jay Loder (La bicicletta)
24 Andrew Lea (Independant)
25 Chris Cole (Independant)
26 Kevin Kondra (Independant)
27 Chiron Kantakis (Independant)
28 Jon Taylor (Daryl-Evans Racing)
29 Piers Cunnington (Fulgas)
30 Matt Kennedy (West Coast racing)
31 John Forstrom (Trek Red Truck)
32 Benjamin Low-beer (CVc)
33 Scott Wilton (Independant)
34 Brian Greening (Independant)
35 Paul Craig (Local Ride)
- 1 lap Peter Wuerr (Independant)
- 1 lap Robert Airey (Independant)
- 1 lap John Wong (Team Whistler)
- 1 lap Brian Gunn (Daryl-Evans Racing)
- 1 lap Bill Riley (Vancouver Velo Vets)
- 1 lap Chris Hardwick (CCN/Cove/Empire)
DNF Jeff Van Mulligen (Atomic/Speed Theory)

Cat 3 / 4 Men
1 Kelly Servinski (SCOTT Bikes)
2 Nigel Kinney (Independant)
3 Ted Martin (Triple Crown Racing)
4 David Morrissey (Triple Crown Racing)
5 Evan Wishlaff (Independant)
6 Anderew Summers  (Independant)
7 Ben Sigston (Independant)
8 Troy Neale (Westwood cycle)
9 Alexander Dove (Independant)
10 Chris Macdonald (Leading Edge)
11 Chett Hopkins (Independant)
12 Ben Jackson (lululemon)
13 William Fergusson (Independant)
14 Michael Parmish (Independant)
DNF brandon Thomson (Speed Theory)

Single Speed
1 Nick Berry (Mighty Riders)
2 Niels Steiner (West Coast Racing)
3 Paul McClosky (Mighty Riders)
4 Mark Oldenburg (VAN.S.S.)
5 Ashley Stotts (Mighty Riders)
6 Scott Sportsman (Republic Bicycles)
7 Dave Cressman (Distance Runwear)
DNF Lucas Gallagher (Independant)
DNF Wayne Leslie (Evolve)

Citizen Men
1 Hugo van Hoogstraten (Atomic Racing)
2 David Stringer (Independant)
3 Domitr Szopa (Independant)
4 Paul McCarthy (Independant)
5 Peter Wilson (The Bike Gallery)
6 Brian Reguly (Independant)
7 Dale Tiessen (Daryl-Evans Racing)
8 David Gilmour (Atomic Racing)
9 Andrew Appleton (Independant)
10 Drew Hemmingson (Independant)
11 Maarten Elferink (Independant)
12 Tom Craik (Independant)
13 Matthew Sipple (Independant)
14 James MacGregor (Independant)
15 Adam Cameron (Independant)
16 David Watt (Independant)
17 Scott Wheeler (Independant)
18 Brent Fahl (Independant)
19 Owen Wood (The Fix Inc.)
20 Duncan Coo (Independant)
21 Harry Henderson (Independant)
22 Evan Crawford (Independant)
23 Jason Glacken (Independant)
24 Andre Perret (Team "Huge Thighs")
25 Robert Wasylyshyn (Independant)
26 James Davison (Independant)
27 Audey Korpus (Independant)
28 Geoffrey Wherrett (Independant)
29 Hubert Lam (Independant)
30 Kevin Letchford (Independant)
31 Ronald Noakes (Independant)
32 Paul Chaytors (Independant)
33 Brian Roth (Leading Edge)
34 Sheldon Boreen (Independant)
35 Brad  Hiebert (Independant)
36 Mike Tannah (Independant)
37 Robert de Rot (Ballistic Velo Racing)
38 Glen Ross (Independant)
- 1 lap Keith Ng (Independant)
- 1 lap James Clarke (Independant)
- 1 lap Jordan McAuley (West Coast Racing)
- 1 lap Raphael Fang (Independant)
- 1 lap Doug Giles (Speed Theory)
- 1 lap Paul Verlann (Independant)
- 1 lap Martin Richardson (Independant)
- 1 lap Doug Brons (Escape Velocity)
- 1 lap Edwin Beange (Independant)
- 1 lap Bob McLaren (Independant)
DNF david Usher (Independant)
DNF Matt Klymson (West Coast Racing)
DNS Jason Rhodes (Independant)
DNS Kian Zandi (Independant)
DNS John Smith (Independant)
DNS Chris Nicholson (Independant)
DNS Graham Holborn (Independant)