Wells earns second place at Colorado Cross Classic
Specialized Racing: XC MTB | October 31, 2011
Todd Wells (Specialized) raced to a strong second place at the Colorado Cross Classic in at the Boulder Reservoir in Boulder, Colorado, on Saturday afternoon. Wells was battling Ryan Trebon for the win when some blowing course tape got tangled in his drivetrain. The resulting necessary bike change cost Wells some time that he could not make up, but he soloed onward to a strong second place.
"It was cool racing in Boulder. All these cycling celebrities came out and cheered us on," said Wells. "I saw Tom Danielson, Taylor Phinney and Connie Carpenter. It was neat to see so many cyclists from other disciplines out cheering."
From the gun, Wells, Trebon, Danny Summerhill and Ben Berden were among those setting the pace together at the front of the field. After one lap, Trebon attacked and got a small gap.
"We all looked at each other, and then I was able to bridge across to him," said Wells. "We rode together for a couple of laps until the course tape got caught in my bike. It was windy with 30mph gusts and tape was blowing all over. It got wrapped around my gears. Fortunately, I wasn't too far from the pit." Wells lost about 10 seconds due to the incident.
The tape was so entangled in Wells' drivetrain that nearly a full lap passed with Wells aboard his spare bike while his mechanic Joe unwound it.
As Wells was recovering from his encounter with the course tape, Summerhill caught up. "I thought we'd be able to work together, but I was faster through the corners, and he was stronger on the straight sections. I'd gap him on the corners and he'd catch up on the straights. We weren't matched well together."
Wells gave up on thinking he and Summerhill could collaborate and took off on his own in pursuit of Trebon. "After a few laps, I was holding Trebon at 10-12 seconds, but then his lead ballooned out on me to 10-20 seconds," said Wells, who would finish alone in second after Trebon and ahead of Jamey Driscoll, who had ridden his way up through the field into an eventual third place.
Out on course in the afternoon, the elite riders enjoyed relatively mild temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees despite the overcast skies. Although it had snowed about four inches in the days prior to the race, the course was in excellent condition. Organizers had cleared much of the snow and while it was muddy in the morning, the amateur racers effectively dried it out through their toils leaving a nicely tacky course with just a few muddy sections for the elites.
Wells enjoyed the course and said it was in "great" condition. "There was a good mix of obstacles. They had a set of barriers and a few sets of logs and railroad ties. The top guys were bunny hopping them. There was a log before a sandpit you also had to dismount and run over plus a small run-up from the reservoir. It was the traditional course, but changed a bit to improve it."
He competed on his Specialized Crux cyclo-cross bike with Specialized Terra mud tires.
The US cyclo-cross national champion will race one more day of cyclo-cross in Colorado on Sunday before heading to do the La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike stage race in Costa Rica on Monday.
"Tomorrow's race will be at the Valmont Park, which was closed since the snow earlier this week," said Wells. "They had inmates out there shovelling the course so as to dry it out and not destroy the trails during the race."
"I feel like I had better form than I thought I would today. When Trebon and I were together, I felt like I was riding within myself. I hope that tomorrow, without any bad luck, I can contend for the win," said Wells.
Sunday's race, the Victory Circle Graphix Boulder Cup, is a UCI category one event and as such will draw tougher competition, including today's top riders and also Tim Johnson and Christian Heule, who will start with fresh legs.