The 2014 Cyclocross National Championships in Boulder, Colorado turned out to be a great success for all four KS Energy Services / Team Wisconsin riders who made the long trip to compete in the championship races.
Joe Maloney had an awesome ride against the top professional ‘crossers in the nation, taking an impressive 21st place in the Pro/Cat 1/2 Elite race; Alex Martin got sweet redemption for a season marred by bad luck with his exciting 4th place in the Collegiate D1 race and with his 20th place finish in the Men’s Singlespeed race; Tyson Hausdoerffer concluded his breakthrough season by taking 13th place in the Masters 40-44 race; and Dave Eckel fought his way through the muddy conditions he loves to finish a strong 22nd in the Masters 50-54 race. There were other Wisconsin racers out there, but it’s safe to say that, with those results, the KS / TW team was the strongest and most visible Wisconsin-based team at Nationals this year.
And what a Nationals it was! The venue, Boulder’s Valmont Bike Park, provided an ideal setting for all the racing drama. Every detail, from the choice of food to the placement of the bike-wash stations and beer gardens, was well considered, and the view of the iconic Flatirons looming west of the course was stunning. Even more importantly, the venue’s location on a hillside and a sloping, mostly treeless valley floor made for spectacular spectating, with nearly every inch of the course visible from the hilltop.
Most importantly of all though, the course itself was fantastic. Even when relatively dry, as it was for Saturday’s and Sunday’s races, the course was fairly technical, requiring riders to be on their toes at all times. In particular, it featured two sets of stairs, one set of barriers, a sandpit with a jump in the middle, some tricky descents, several long and bumpy off-camber traverses, many short, punchy hills, and plenty of deceptive corners on the backstretch. But despite all of these challenging features, the racing was very fast thanks to the sweeping nature of many turns, the existence of multiple lines through most sections, and the strategic placement of straightaways (not to mention that every racer was going all-out). In short, on this course, you really felt like you were flying, and if you weren’t manhandling your bike through some tricky feature, you were digging deep to accelerate down an open stretch, to power up the big climb, or to survive another run up the stairs—all at altitude!
Specific Race Recaps
Joe Maloney – 21st place, Pro/Cat 1/2 Elite Men
Lining up with the very best in the nation, Joe got a 5th row call up and positioned himself right in the middle of the row. He had a good start, made it through the dangerous first corner unscathed, and rode hard up the long first hill. He rode very aggressively throughout the first lap to gain the best possible position, coming through the start/finish just inside the top 20—a fantastic first lap.
Despite going out that hard, Joe was then able to bring the effort back within himself without losing too many spots. As any of us who were watching can attest, Joe was riding technically better than everyone around him, looking very smooth and comfortable on the bike despite the watts he was putting out. Unfortunately, on his third or fourth lap, Joe had a shifter break and had to pit, but the guys at Pro Bike Express (whose services Joe won for placing 2nd at Midwest Regionals) helped him out with a clean pit exchange, getting him right on his aluminum B bike.
Joe was then able to pace himself for the second half of the race and even managed to pick off a few riders as the race wore on, the field got strung out, and more and more riders started to get pulled. Joe pushed hard to hold onto his gains throughout the final lap and finished a very impressive 21st, on the lead lap, just 6 minutes off the blistering pace set by the winner. Joe says he is very happy with the race and the support of the team
Alex Martin – 4th place, D1 Collegiate Men & 20th place, Singlespeed Men
Alex provided perhaps the best KS / TW drama of the week in his D1 Collegiate Men’s race. Avoiding the bad luck that seemed to plague him earlier in the season, especially at Jingle Cross, Alex had a great race from start to finish. Even though he missed his pedal at the start, he was able to keep the power on and slot into sixth before corner one.
From there, Alex picked off a few riders on the first lap and moved up into third. Early in the third lap, though, Kevin Fish of Texas bridged up to Alex, and the two worked together to solidify the gap they had on the rider in fifth. Even though they were working together, each put in some strong attacks to test the other, which made for great spectating. Alex was for sure the better technical rider and kept getting little gaps on Kevin on the downhills and off-camber sections, but Kevin would then close the gaps and pull in front of Alex on the straights and the stairs.
On the final lap, Alex got in front of Kevin out on the back of the course and was leading coming onto the finishing straight, but Kevin just barely managed to come around Alex in an exciting sprint finale. Alex is more than pleased with fourth place since it was a goal of his all season and since it allowed him to finish the season on a very strong note.
Tyson Hausdoerffer – 13th place, Master Men 40-44
Tyson was called up 11th in a field of 132 and had a conservative but clean start. He was about 20th going into the first corner as a group of 5-6 riders desperately tried to force their way around on the outside line. One of these crashed right in front of Tyson, who had no choice but to run him over; it wasn’t pretty. Immediately there were two more crashes.
Tyson got lucky both times and just barely squeezed through without losing too much ground, but the top 15 or so quickly got a gap. By the middle of the first lap, Tyson was sitting around 18th and pushing hard to move up and achieve his goal of a top-15 finish. On the second lap, he picked off a few riders through the off-camber sections and the long hill, and then, as the gaps began to open up, he started working with a couple of other riders to bridge up to the first chasing group.
Tyson’s group of 3 never quite managed to catch that group but ended up having an exciting race among themselves. Tyson pulled into 12th on the penultimate lap, and he and the eventual 12th-place rider worked hard on the start/finish straight to drop the 14th-place rider.
A bit gassed from that successful effort, Tyson had his quads cramp up his last time up the stairs but managed to stay on the 12th-place finisher’s wheel all the way to the final pit. From there, Tyson was able to hold off a rider charging hard from behind and finished a solid 13th. Tyson is very satisfied with that finish, especially since it was his last time racing in the 40-44 age group at CX Nats. He looks forward to being the young guy next year in the 45-49 age group.
Dave Eckel – 22nd place, Master Men 50-54
Dave made the rest of the KS / TW team a bit jealous with the nice muddy conditions he got for his race on Thursday afternoon. Those are the conditions Dave likes best, and he clearly was having a good time with it even though the altitude was hitting him hard.
Dave’s comfort and ability in the greasy conditions were evident all around the course, especially on the tough off-camber downhill just after the stairs. He also was seen to make some strong digs through the muddy straights parallel to the start/finish. Dave felt he just didn’t have his usual power, but he still finished an impressive 22nd in a strong, large field.
All of us were proud to represent KS Energy Services / Team Wisconsin and our other sponsors at the 2014 Cyclocross National Championships, and we are very grateful for all of the support, encouragement, and congratulations we received. That officially wraps up a great cyclocross season for the team, and we hope to have a strong crew in Austin, Texas next January for the 2015 National Championships.