January 19, 2004 - 3 Wins for Hamblen

Hamblen Wins Three in Row at North Carolina Winter Cup Cyclocross Series

Win number two for Hamblen on January 11th! Southern Pines, North Carolina is familiar to most East Coast cyclists as the home of the Tour de Moore, a classic road race in South East but this weekend Southern Pines was host to the third round of the Winter Cup Cyclocross Series. The temperatures were low but the racing was hot as our boy Jon quickly took the lead on the pavement start before heading into the woods and down a tricky/icy decent. Jon was followed closely by Mike Shultze the first two laps and took every opportunity to make the North Carolina rider/promoter suffer by accelerating out of every turn on the fast course. Jon ended up alone and settled into a comfortable rhythm for the remaining eight laps. The cold weather was a challenge for Hamblen and he had to plan accordingly for the race, warming up for 5-10min at a time and then sitting in the comfort of his Toyota truck with the heat blasting, before heading to the start line. Shedding his extra warm Biemme jacket on the line, and making sure to eat a Clif shot before and halfway into the event helped him to fight off the chill and prevent the bonk that he normally suffers in the cold. Jon's pre-race plan worked and he went on to finish without bonking and in first place. Hamblen celebrated his win on the drive home by eating an entire bag of BBQ chips and falling asleep in the passenger seat while his girlfriend concentrated on the road.

Morganton, Race three of the North Carolina Winter Cup, January 17th
This was the first race in the two-day weekend finale of the series. Fiordifrutta's Jon Hamblen started the race quickly to try and intimidate the competition. He held on for the victory and was too tired to write any more details in his race report.

Hendersonville, the final race, January 18th
The race was run at Jackson Park on a very fast UCI style course... a perfect location for the 2005 Nationals. With early morning rains and drizzle during the event, the corners were a bit slick and Jon had to be careful not to fall and damage his beautiful Cannondale cross bike. Hamblen took the win for his fourth cross victory of 2004 and ended up second in the series! Hopefully the NC boys will get the Cyclocross National Championships next winter as they have shown that they can put on a great event.