Dec 8, 2007 - Driscoll Wins U23 Title

Jamey Driscoll has done it for the second year in a row, taking the crown as top U23 cyclocrosser in the US. You can read about both Saturday and Sunday races on cyclingnews.com and see some great podum pics.

Driscoll Wins Under 23 USGP Cyclocross Title, December 1-2

Saturday – 1st U23 and 6th Overall
It's a real shame that my only experiences with New York city have been in transit, and nothing ever seems to be on schedule, such as the parking lot that was the JFK airstrip on Friday night, a delay which made my pacific time in Oregon arrival too late ….or too early for me to dare think of what time it was at home.

Though it wasn't pouring Saturday morning when I woke up, the lawn of my host family was still pretty saturated with previous Portland rain storms- Maybe it’s always saturated? Last time I raced at this venue, in 2004, the mud was so deep and thick half the race was spent running, fortunately this year, the ground was harder with good slick mud on top. A perfect mudder's course, just like I hope for. This course was technically challenging, and as the course wore in, it showed who had the best strength and skill.

A non perfect start to the race made for some clogged first corners, but actually allowed me to rest until the second lap where the race had spread out enough for me to be able to move up. The same can’t be said for my main competition, Bjorn Selander (Ridley), who led the race for close to the whole first lap. Within 3 laps, I caught up to the U23 “front group” of Danny Summerhill and Bjorn.

In our newly formed group was mountain bike strong man Geoff Kabush, he and I kept the pace as high as we could forcing Danny and Bjorn to struggle in the tricky conditions. With my U23 competitors struggling in the mud I could race the rest of the race concentrating on keeping my bike running smoothly and placing high overall in the elite race.

I was able to just hold off Kabush for 6th place, my best result this season! One day down and I was more confident that I could repeat my 2006 USGP U23 overall.

Sunday – Driscoll Wins U23 race again, 6th overall
I woke up to the sound of steady rain on Sunday. I was thinking this could make things even more epic than Saturday, but hopefully not epic to the point of 2004’s foot race. Setting out on the course, I was a bit surprised; a large part of the slippery mud sections from the previous day turned into large puddles which were actually less slippery, these puddles also served as little bike washes as well.

Fortunately, some of the key sections were just was rutted and still very slick, and could prove decisive. Normally I am not one to bring a trainer for warming up on, but I wished I had my Elite Crono today! After riding a few laps on the course and hosing my bike off, I was pretty wet. Combined with the hurricane force winds off the coast, I was pretty darn chilly.

The start of the race again saw my U23 rivals off to a fast and furious start, one by one I caught and passed them, and fortunately they put up less of a fight than the day before. After about 1/3 of the race, I was in 6th again with Geoff Kabush, I overtook him and surged hard to get a little gap . I got too greedy, went too hard, and got passed back again. I rode in, periodically blinded by specks of mud for 6th place again. Overall, I was very happy with my performance in both races, and felt happy to have won the USGP jersey again.

The journey home took me through Salt Lake, a cruel joke for a former ski bum from Alta, with the mountains in plain sight for a solid hour and a half. Now I sit here waiting for my last plane home as I scribble down my adventures from the weekend. They are much more captivating than the engineering homework I should be doing.