October 28/97 1:33 am - Wedding Bells, MTB Triathlon, Ontario `Cross

Posted by Editor on 10/28/97
 

Canadian Ex-Racer Marries  You could have knocked us over with a feather when we heard about this one - former Canadian racer Jodi Cross has married Euro pro Axel Merckx (son of cycling legend Eddy Merckx). Jodi raced for me (the editor) for two years after making the transition from the national triathlon team, before moving to California. We subsequently kept in touch (mainly running into each other at trade shows), and she DID mention something about meeting a ŒEuropean racer‚, but no details until we found out about this... Best wishes to Jodi (and maybe she can get me her father-in-law‚s autograph...).   TOMLINSON 2ND AT XTERRA TRIATHLON (thanks to Steve Fleck of Tri-One-On Communications for this story)  Canadian mountain bike rider Lesley Tomlison finished second at the XTerra Off-Road Triathlon Championships at Wailea, Maui, Hawaii on Sunday. The demanding race consisted of a 1.5 ocean swim, a 30 K off road bike leg and an 11 K cross-country run.  The women's race was won by a relativly unkown multisport athlete, Cameron Randolph from Durango, CO. Mike Pigg, a stand-out triathlete for many years, who has recently taken up mountain bike racing with a vengence, won the mens race.  Tomlinson trailed the leaders badly after the swim. However, as expected she roared through the field on the bike with the fastest split of the day dropping many of the top traithletes quite handily. Tomlison, who at one time was a very good runner pursued Randolph relentlessly on the run and missed taking the overall win by just six seconds. Third place in the women's race went to triathlete Sue Latshaw, who earlier this year became only the second woman to break the nine hour barrier at the Ironman distance at Ironman Europe.  Pigg was followed to the line by former World Mountain Bike Champion Ned Overand, who like Tomlison, was not a bad runner in a former life. Last year's winner, triathlete Jim Riccitello was third. The men's field included the likes of 2 time Ironman Champion Scott Tinley(5th) and mountain bike stand-outs, Mike Kloser(9th) and Steve Larsen (15th). Top Canadian was mountain bike rider Andreas Hestler in 12th.  Results:  Women 1. Cameron Randolph, Durango CO, 3:04:25 2. Lesly Tomlinson, Canada, 3:04:31 3. Sue Latshaw, Boulder CO 3:11:32  Men 1. Mike Pigg, Arcata CA, 2:28:48 2. Ned Overend, Durango CO, 2:32:12 3. Jim Riccitello, Tucson AZ, 2:34:49   Ontario Cyclo-Cross Series - CHORLEY PARK CYCLO-CROSS, TORONTO (courtesy Peter McCaffrey)  Last Sunday saw the first really cold day this fall but it didn't deter the near record number of entrants to the Chorley Park cyclo-cross event. No less than sixty-one riders answered the starter's gun.  The course, laid out by event organizer Chuck Bonnaffon, was very fast and not too technical, so a number of the mountain bikers had brought cyclo-cross bikes to take advantage of this. Because of the small size of the park, the circuit was only 1.5 kilometers around and soon the front-runners were lapping the tail-enders, which cut their speed down somewhat.  In the senior race, Andrew Croutch lead for the first lap, closely marked by Josh Hall, Schwinn, Chris Dewar and Chris Hansen, Silent Sports. He led the still-tight pack across the initial 300 meter straight and down into a wooded ravine but, by the end of the lap, series leader Hansen had taken the lead and was to keep it until the end. Hall and Croutch finished in 2nd and 3rd. places and Chris' older brother Matt, Espoirs de Laval, moved up through the field to take a well-deserved 4th.   The Vet's event saw the return of ex-provincial team member Jeff Myke, Racer Sportif, who surprised his competiton, but not himself, by grabbing 2nd. Just behind Dave Dermont, True North, the Veteran points' leader. Polonius' Greg Kosiacki won the battle for 4th by overtaking Eric Orschel on the 12th of 17 laps and finishing 17 seconds ahead of the Silent Sports man. Scott Buschlen, who injured himself in last week's West Deane event, finished 6th. just behind Shawn Kehoe, Doug's Bike and losing a point to Kehoe in the league standings.  The women's race was, again, well-supported, with a national class field including MTB national Chrissy Redden, Ritchey and road national, Leigh Hobson, Ziggy's. Kona's Leslie Greene and Julia Farrell, now riding for Optiped added to the fun. Chrissy showed her stuff by leading from start to finish and only Leigh was able to stay within a lap of her.  A big surprise was the relatively large turnout of juniors. Seven under 19's came to compete, including minime, Ryan De Boer, Mississauga, who is becoming a regular on the circuit. Brendan Gorman, Espoirs de Laval, won the contest comfortably with series leader Colin Campbell at just over a minute and Charlie Gorman, Espoirs, at a further 30 seconds. Oscar Salvendary, Ind. faded badly and finished nearly a lap down after staying with the leaders for most of the race.  Finally, thanks should go to all competitors and spectators for respecting the environment and leaving Chorley Park the way they found it. Residents' comments indicate that they'll be glad to see us back next year. A tip of the helmet to Veltec for the loan of the excellent Schwinn tent. We're putting it to good use.    RESULTS OF CHORLEY PARK CYCLO-CROSS OCTOBER 26TH '97  WEATHER: CLEAR & DRY, 2 deg. C   SENIOR DISTANCE: 25.5 KM AVERAGE SPEED: 24 KPH   1 Chris Hansen Silent Sports 1:04:30 12 League Points 2 Josh Hall Schwinn Canada @29" 11 3 Andrew Croutch Independent @1-53 10 4 Matt Hansen Espoirs de Laval @2-17 9 5 Jeff Weber Schwinn @3-25 8 6 Peter Morse Chain Reaction @4-21 7 7 Edgar Apse Spinning Wheels @5-50 6 8 Heath Cockburn Optiped @6-00 5 9 Chris Dewar Independent @6-10 4 10 Piers Davidge Independent @6-44 3 11 Jack Sohacki Polonius @6-55 2 12 James Rivet Racer Sportif @6-57 2 13 Warren Davies Woodstock @8-55 2 14 Keith Hopkins Jet Fuel @ 3 lps 2 15 Kris Tobias Chain Reaction " 2 16 Keith Peck Ziggy's " 2 17 Dan Hunter Mississauga B.C. " 2 18 Ben Ayson Mississauga B.C. " 2 19 Robert Ospina Independent " 2 20 Alan Becker Newmarket @ 4 laps 2 21 Michael Morrel Thornton's Cycles " 2 DNF Jeff Hansen Silent Sports 1 DNF Rob Fletcher Independent 1  VETERANS DISTANCE: 25.5 KM  AVERAGE SPEED: 21.47 kph  1 Dave Dermont True North 1-08-05 12 2 Jeff Myke Racer Sportif @26" 11 3 Gregor Kosiacki Polonius @1-12 10 4 Eric Orschel Silent Sports @1-29 9 5 Shawn Kehoe Doug's Bike @1-31 8 6 Scott Buschlen Independent @2-55 7 7 Rob Cheskey Hamilton C.C. @3-13 6 8 James Buffet D'Ornellas @2 laps 5 9 Randy Brown Hamilton C.C. " 4 10 Glen Paycoco Buttery Bakery " 3 11 Pierre Perrin Schwinn Canada " 2 12 Chris Redden Schwinn Canada " 2 13 Brian Taborek Brampton C.C. " 2 14 Ted Suddon Independent @ 3 lps 2 15 Doug Evans Independent 2 16 John Easton Independent 2 DNF Frank Morrow C.C.Iberius 1 DNF Steven Cooper Jet Fuel 1 DNF Jim Jenkinson Independent 1 DNF Martin Kohn Independent 1 DNF John Easton Independent 1 DNF Leighton Davies Woodstock 1  WOMEN DISTANCE: 22.5 KM  AVERAGE SPEED: 20.25 kph  1 Chrissy Redden Ritchey 1-06-35 12 2 Leigh Hobson Ziggy's C.C. @2-05 11 3 Leslie Greene Kona @1 lap 10 4 Julia Farrell Optiped " 9 5 Lisa Hussey Chain Reaction 8 6 Maria Di Lellio Bicycleworks 7 7 Tina Bragg Bicycleworks 6 8 Jenny Verschuuren Independent 5 9 Amy Jarvis Mississauga B. C. 4  JUNIOR DISTANCE: 22.5 KM AVERAGE SPEED: 21.8 kph  1 Brendan Gorman Espoirs de Laval 1-06-03 12 2 Colin Campbell Independent @1-07 11 3 Charlie Gorman Espoirs de Laval @1-32 10 4 Oscar Salvendry Independent @3-07 9 5 Rob Sydlowski Polonius @ 1 lap 8 6 Chris Reid Speed River Cycles @ 2 lps 7 DNF Anrico Traida Trail Blazers 1  NOVICE DISTANCE: 10 KM  AVERAGE SPEED: 15.8 kph  1 5 Ryan De Boer Mississauga B.C. 38-07 12