January 28, 2004 - 2 Wins and New Zealand

Josh Gewirtz spent his holiday break from school by traveling to New Zealand and doing some racing in the warm weather. He writes the following race report, and Jon Hamblen checks in with two more wins from the North Carolina Cyclocross Series.

Cheer on Matt White this Saturday as he races in the World Cyclocross Championships for Under 23 Men. Click here for some pictures of Matt from World Cup #10.

Gewirtz 5th at Tour de Vineyards Stage 4

Stage 4 of the 2004 Tour de Vineyards saw a determined Josh Gewirtz take 5th place on the 60K rainy course. Gewirtz had been off the front in Stage 3 by 1 minute with 25 K to go and was then presented with a 18K mountain to the finish. He promptly detonated 10K up the beast and was looking for payback in the next day’s Stage 4.

Gewirtz rode in the front of the field of 70 strong, which included a pair of Health Net Kiwis and other strong New Zealand pro's. With 20K to go a whittled down field of 35 was chasing a group of 3. In the closing lap Gewirtz bridged to a splintered group of 12 and was narrowly beaten in the very small bunch sprint taking 5th for the day.

After finishing he was seen down at the local pub drinking a celebratory beer, both to celebrate his result as well as the fact that New Zealand is a country where he actually meets the drinking age. Gewirtz wore his trademark stained red T-shirt and claimed that he could hear Phil Wong’s muffler while half way around the world. He would also like to thank Fiordifrutta for their excellent sponsorship and would suggest importing Fiordifrutta product to New Zealand as they are in desperate need of both stellar jams and hazlenut spreads.

Hamblen Wins Cary Cyclocross, NC, Winter Cup #4, January 22nd

While his teammate Matt White spent this weekend racing UCI Category 1 and World Cup races in Belgium, Fior di Frutta's Jon Hamblen remained in North Carolina to defend his lead in the much more prestigious Winter Cup Series. The racing in Cary was held at Bond Park, also a stop on the regular season series in the fall. Hamblen was well aware of the obstacles the course would present, having won there in October. He wasn't ready, however, for the extremely cold weather conditions, temperatures in the thirties and rain. While Jon wished that he could again go back to spending winters at his second home in Santa Barbara, CA, wasting the day away at Doug Knox's Velo Santa Barbara bike shop (at 331 Motor Way, a block off State Street). He knew that there was a job to be done this cold day in Cary, and so, he went about his preparation for the race (starting with chipping ice off of his Cannondale Cyclocross bike).

Wearing his warmest fleece Headsweats hat and jacket Jon spent a short time warming up for the race. Speaking of time, Jon's Time ATAC carbon/titanium pedals were invaluable to him today in the thick, shoe clogging mud, which never affected the Fiordifrutta cyclocrosser because of Time's innovative mud shedding design. Hamblen started the race quickly and was alone after the first two laps, chased closely by Mike Sholtze (Defeet) and Jason Morgan (Asheville BC). Hamblen looked small but strong, riding a Clif Shot induced pace and not bothered by the rough sections of dirt due to his Selle Italia saddle soaking up the bumps and keeping him sore-ass free. Each lap his Northwave shoes dug into the steep run up, giving much needed traction, helping him gain seconds on the other racers. Jon had a minute plus lead going into the last three laps and won the race to increase his lead in the Winter Cup series but there was still one more day of hard racing left. Once again, Hamblen also won the race back to the parking lot, his truck was running and heating the cab within a minute of finishing.

Hamblen Wins Chapel Hill Cyclocross, NC, Winter Cup #5, January 23rd

Even colder! Temp's in the 20's, some ice and slushy mud. This was the last race of the North Carolina Winter Cup Series, held in Chapel Hill at the High School on a fast but slippery course. Intent on staying warm, Jon started the race at a quick pace to get the blood flowing to all his frozen parts. Mike Sholtze (Defeet) stayed on Hamblen's wheel until the second lap when the Fiordifrutta rider made a mistake in an off camber muddy turn and slid out. Jon wrestled with the course marking tape stuck in his right shifter before remounting and catching up to Mike. Soon, the two were riding a fast pace again and opening the gap to chasers Phil Wycoff (Cane Creek) and Jason Morgan (Asheville BC). Sholzte was eager to create a gap on Morgan who was several points ahead of him for second place in the series . It wasn't Mike's day, however, and he faded back to the two man chase group that relentlessly pursued the lead duo. Alone again, Hamblen put the hammer down in the brutal headwind sections to increase his lead over the three chasing riders. With icy, unfocusable (non focusing) eyes Jon navigated the slippery course and had a one minute lead half way through the race, which was the point that he almost quit, when he saw that race promoter/organizer Derrick Powers was serving hot coffee in the sheltered event registration area.

Hamblen decided to wait until after the race, though, and kept riding, foolishly unaware that the coffee was being consumed at an incredibly high rate other racers and race fans. Jon went on to win the last race of the series and took home the overall Winter Cup 2005 Title but was more interested in the steaming hot coffee he'd seen other races drinking during his event. Soon after the finish, Jon hurried over to registration to get a big hot cup of coffee, knowing that it would warm his frigid body. He grabbed a used cup, not caring where it had been, pushed on the pump of the coffee carafe and... nothing, not a drop left.