Hamblen Wins BCA Cyclocross, Pittsfield, MA, September 27

Many cross notables showed up for New England's first event of the season. Matt Svatek, Rob Hult, Mark McCormack and brother Shawn were in attendance, as well as a few riders from the Mid Atlantic region including Kris Auer. From the gun, former Wheelworks rider Matt Svatek led the field down the paved start section to the dirt. He set a blistering pace and separated a group of about seven off the front. In the first technical sections an Alan's Pennsylvania rider went away and Shawn McCormack took over as leader of the group with Bill Skinner and some others in tow including Rob Hult and Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks rider Jon Hamblen. Going into the second set of barriers Svatek, Hamblen, and Hult made a blistering attack and Team Time Trialed up to and past the front runner.

For the next several laps, the three riders took turns on the front, riding a moderate pace and saving energy for the inevitable bridge across by Mark McCormack of the Saturn Team. When Mark did make his move to come across on the third lap, Hamblen noticed Mark seemed to be struggling and put the pressure on. The gap grew on this lap as Mark suffered along behind the three leaders and Hamblen shouted encouragement to Mark each time the course doubled back on itself.

During the fourth lap Svatek fell hard on the first set of barriers, as he appeared to be trying to hop the barrier with one foot out of the pedal. However this technique did not seem to work for Svatek and he landed heavily, his 200 pound body making a large divot in the course. Soon after that crash, Svatek's rear tire went flat and he had to run half the course to get to the pit and change the wheel. Then McCormack flatted, and after passing the running Svatek, he had to ride his flat for several hundred yards to the pit and get a spare wheel.

Meanwhile on the front, Jon and Rob took pulls and increased their lead over McCormack's group of four riders who were trying desperately trying to catch the accident prone Svatek. On the final lap the gap to McCormack was over 50 seconds and Hamblen decided to leave Rob behind and finish alone. Jon attacked on the gradual hill with half a lap to go and held the lead to the line for his second cross win of the year and first ever cyclocross win in New England.

Peck Wins Vermont 50 Mile Mountain Bike Race, September 28

Chris Peck and Curt Davis made a surprise appearance on prototype Cannondale full-suspension bikes at one of the nation's longest mountain bike events. Held on a mix of singletrack, ATV trails, and dirt roads around the Ascutney Mountain Ski Resort, the event started at 6:15 am to ensure that people would be able to finish by early afternoon. Peck and Davis both made it into the front group of six riders that stayed together for the first two and half hours of the event. Unfortunately Davis flatted on one of the long downhills, and Peck found himself with a thirty second gap over the front group. Peck went on to ride by himself for the next two hours, winning the event in four hours and forty-five minutes with the fastest time of the 700 entrants.

Hamblen 5th at Competitive Edge Cyclocross, Northfield, MA, September 28

The rain came down all day long and created a mud-bog event for Sunday's race. By the time the Pro men lined up, the grass sections of the course were nearly un-rideable, with several featuring foot deep mud. Many riders, who hadn't raced the day before in the nice 80-degree dry weather, kicked themselves for saving their energy for this race. Adam Myerson (Cyclesmart) started at a very quick pace and separated himself from the field in the first 200 meters. Adam was followed closely by Justin Spinelli (Navigators) and Ben Turner (7Up/Maxxis). Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks rider Jon Hamblen struggled behind them, passing some riders and taking the turns nice and slow. Hamblen showed signs of being tired from his win the day before in Pittsfield as well as a having a lack of bike handling skills in the thick mud.

Once Hamblen made it up to fourth place in the race, it looked as though the finish was set and the first four spots were locked up. However, it didn't end up that way. Each lap through the mud, Myerson was seen cutting the course and riding outside the tape to take advantage of the firm grass which had not been torn up by the earlier races. This gave him a distinct advantage over Spinelli who could not keep up, as he rode the deep mud sections which slowed all the non-cheating riders to a Curt Davis-like speed. The officials noticed Adam's flagrant disregard of the rules and dropped him to second place in the final results.

Hamblen lost a spot in the last lap as well, though his was not due to cutting the course. Jon blew up with two laps to go and lost several minutes on the leaders and chasers, consequently a rider from Providence Bicycle caught and passed him to take fourth. Hamblen only just held onto fifth as several riders got to within three seconds of him by the time he limped across the finish line. Jon vowed to never race in the rain again.