Jamey Driscoll continued his dominance of the under 23 ranks and now holds a sizeable lead in the Verge New England Cyclocross Series. He writes the following report and you can see a great pic of him here. Josh Dillon also writes in with an amusing race report from a Canadian UCI race and included this crash photo.

Driscoll Wins Under 23 Category at Baystate Cyclocross, NECCS#5, November 24

I was on the road again after some much needed time off school and some not-so-much needed face stuffing, but both equally as enjoyable. This time I was fortunate enough to travel with my northerly teammate Josh Dillon. We decided to make the journey to the Sterling Cross race a day trip, since we rarely sleep in the comfort of out own beds before races.

Since it pretty closely resembled winter up in VT, we had the bragging rights of the saltiest team car in the parking lot. One notably unusual thing about this trip was it was not done in typical Dillon fashion, (showing up to a race with 15 minutes before the start, making the winning break, and soloing away from that break). Instead, we got there with plenty of time to spread all the contents of the team car on the grass surrounding us to prepare for the race on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, this extra time was not entirely beneficial to Josh, as he somehow ripped his derailleur off his bike during warm-up. Our awesome mechanics from Landry's bikes were right on top of it, and with the help of Toby's pit bike, Dillon was able to race. The start was a little strange, without the strength and depth of the Gran Prix races, and there was more jockeying for position around the track.

The next section of the course was a frozen steep run-up, and the first time up, there was a hold-up on the left and as I went up the right, I found myself in 4th, just off Tim, Jeremy and Jesse's wheels. Just before the pavement, I was able to catch them, and had a gap on the chasers. This only lasted about a lap, as I could not hang on to the accelerations from any one of these riders. As I got gapped off, there was Richard Fries, doing his job, "Driscoll is taking on water!!"

I was then in 4th, going flat out narrowly holding off McCormack, with Myerson in tow. The gap was decreasing until Mark waved Adam through. All of a sudden, I had a larger gap again. This did not phase the shark of course, and the next time I look back there he is, chasing me solo, and that is about the closest thing to a tractor beam as you will find, unless you are in a galaxy far, far away.

Sure enough, the inevitable happened, and since Myerson had latched onto Troy Wells, Mark's teammate, and the pair was still close, I decided to pull for a bit longer. Like a true professional, Mark pulled through to do about an equal amount of pulling. I waited till after the last corner to open up the sprint, but McCormack rarely loses a two-up sprint, and though I was gaining on him in the last 30 meters, I'm sure it was well calculated by Mark.

Later I heard Richard Fries was predicting the sprint for 4th, certainly not rooting for the underdog, with such comments as "I wonder who's going to take this one." For such a fast course, I was actually expecting smaller time gaps and larger groups in the race. Much to the contrary, the lead group was about the largest of the race and only 14 racers finished on the lead lap.

Toby Marzot had a good first race back from some painfully long time off the bike, finishing 5th in the U23s and 21st overall. Unfortunately for Dillon, rumors have spread that he lost his killer instinct to race somewhere in the abyss of time he had before the start of the race. The desert-like weather, with warmth found in the sun, and frigid cold after sunset encouraged a swift packing job to start our trek north.

Toronto UCI CX #1 & 2

Rather than making the crappy drive down rte 7, through lovely whitehall/glens falls area, past Albany, then NYC, and deep into the bowels of New Jersey...our kind brethren to the north hosted their very own UCI race in Toronto and gave me a shorter drive to try to score some UCI points.

Shorter has to be used loosely as it was only 20 miles less (or 32 kilometers eh, in canadian distances), but I did have the benefit of local hospitality in the form of my former college ski teammate and good friend Keith. So after the short 7 hr drive we found a sweet course with long straightaways and cool technical features in between...could be good for a decidedly roadie of a cross racer.

Having barely cracked the top 20 in any UCI races this year, and not having any local series points, they placed me firmly at the back for the start. But with the long start stretch, I was able to gun it up to fifth wheel by the single track and found myself in the lead group partway through the second lap. With long laps it was nearly a quarter through the race and no signs of getting dropped that I am all too familiar with. So I started to consider how I may actually win this race...weird.

But that thought was quickly thrown out as I nearly fell on my face on a nothing corner, that indicated my pressing need to get to the pit on the now flat tire. So I rode it in, changed it out (mind you B-teamers run 1 bike at these deals and it takes a little longer to change out a flat), and had to change the game plan to making it back into the top 10 for some of those UCI points everybody talks about. Fortunately, the Canadian national champ had some similar luck and we paired up to pick off enough guys for 8th place on the day (i'll take a sec to note i dusted him in the sprint). Cool, goal accomplished scoring a few points and looking forward to another opportunity the next day...or so I thought.

Regarding the next day, I'll first state that this was the coolest course I have ever ridden in my almost 2 seasons of cross racing. The major features were on the side of a ski hill that involved two wicked climbs and some BIG sweeping turns down the hill. Having over 25 years experience making big sweeping turns down ski hills I liked my chances at carrying good speed out of these features, albeit there was no snow.

Unfortunately, I never got the chance as one of the more eager back row starters came up on my side and hooked my bar sending me down hard. Not really nice of him, but that's why they call it a Pro-Am. And I got this nice hematoma on my hip as a souvenir, so I've got that going for me...which is nice.

Matt White and Jamey Driscoll have been on a roll at the UCI cyclocross races the last few weeks, and even Josh Lipka has been getting in on the action in the B races in his first cyclocross season.

Driscoll Wins U23 Title at USGP Mercer Cup, NJ, November 17

What does every college kid do the Friday before thanksgiving break? Pack the car to go home. For me home is 20 minutes away, so I had to get the experience in of living in New Jersey, driving down to stay with my friends for the second weekend of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross. This course was fast, with many turns, and a real sand pit, the kind that most people were running the second half.

I got caught behind a few more people that I had hoped the first lap, and there were limited amounts of places to pass on this course. My main competitor, Danny Summerhill, leader of the U23 series, is an amazing starter, and I was keeping an eye on him, making sure I didn’t lose much ground. After a few laps, however, I was able catch him, and another U23 rider Chance Noble caught us as well. Along with 2 other elite racers, this was my group for the majority of the race.

It lasted until the penultimate time through the sand, Summerhill goes over the bars, and I was fortunate enough to be right beside him, as opposed to on his wheel. I heard the crowd collectively say, “OH!” then a second later another “OH!”. I didn’t even have to look back, I knew Chance had plowed into Summerhill. Once I got out of the sand pit I assess the carnage, and I had 5-10 seconds on the pair. The next straight section I went right to the front of the group to keep the gap I that had been given to me. This was not necessary, since the duo did the same thing again in the sand the last time through.

Driscoll Takes Overall U23 Leader’s Jersey at USGP Day 2 in NJ, November 18

The second day brought rain, and a similar course, making the conditions very slick. It’s was a good day for bike changes since the mud had a high grass content, and built up on your bike rather fast. Being able to handle a bike well was necessary for today, however, I forgot my skills.

There were 2 U23s who had the upper hand on me today, who got away from me early in the race and I was not able to close the gap. Summerhill was not having a good weekend, breaking his chain early in the race after being in a crash in the very first turn. To add salt to his wounds, he switched bikes with his teammate, which resulted in a disqualification.

White had a good start to the race, towing around the kids I was racing against until he blew sky high. In the last few laps, the rain stopped, and it tacked up just enough to be able to gain some ground and get on the U23 podium. While the elite racers were being interviewed, I was told much to my excitement that I had slipped into the overall lead by only 2 points.

Driscoll Wins Under 23 Race at Chainbiter Cyclocross, NECCS#3, Nov 3

I was back at the race in Farmington, Ct, I hadn’t raced here since the snow of ’04. The sky looked as if it was going to unleash on us the entire morning. We ended up only getting a sprinkle. This would only make a difference in 1 or 2 places, since the entire park except the soccer fields is a giant sand box.

Off the line, I could tell there wasn’t much spark in my legs, and I spent the whole day alone, not able to catch the group just 5-10 seconds in front of me. Unfortunately, Matt White went down early on one of the grassy corners, and decided to save himself for the next day, rather than chase the whole race. Josh Dillon made an appearance, fighting it out in his self proclaimed “B” race, narrowly missed top 20 with 22nd. Fellow U23 teammate, Toby Marzot, against all his wishes was convinced to sit out this weekend after a long hard season, starting from collegiate, almost nonstop through the cross season

Driscoll Top U23 and White 7th at Cycle Smart International Cyclocross, NECCS#3, Nov 4

Sunday’s racing went down in Northampton, where team fast guy, Matt White had the extra pressure of defending his win from last year. In the first few laps, I still felt a little flat, not able to match the accelerations out of the corners in the front group. I was the first to be popped, followed by Ryan Leech and White, who ended up working well together for the remainder of the race.

This race is very fast, and the time gaps are much smaller than most other races, since drafting and tactics play a larger role. The U23 race was getting close toward the end, young Jerome Townsend was getting dangerously close to our group, with made me start pulling a bit more in the group than I was before. I set up White to take 7th, the top spot in our group, while I came in behind Ryan in 9th. Dillon rode strong at his home course to get 20th.

Matt White wrote the following race reports and there is a good but mislabeled picture of Jamey Driscoll on cyclingnews.com

Driscoll 2nd U23 and White 6th Elite at Derby City USGP Round 1, Louisville Kentucky – October 27

After some really long travel days and delayed flights, the Fiordifrutta Team arrived safely in Louisville and was picked up by our very gracious host Olivia Jaras. It was Friday night, so no course preview or opening up rides were planned, just a hearty sandwich and a dark beer at the local tap house, and of course a root beer for Toby, we know he loves that stuff. I had seen the course already, as I got there a day earlier than the other boys, and did my best to describe the features of an abandoned golf course to my team mates.

It had been raining all week in Louisville, but for better or worse, a golf course is designed to the drain well, so when the sun broke out on Friday afternoon, and Sat was dry but overcast, we knew the course would be greasy at best. No slop fest, that's for sure, but the wet ground slicked things up and gave the advantage to the technically gifted. Michelin Muds were the tire for the day, needed all the traction we could get.

So Jamey and I lined up on the second row, a great place to start. When the starting pistol shot, I found myself on Jamey's wheel through the first half of the twisting course. We were falling off the front group or Powers, Johnson, Wick and Trebon, and we leading the second group, with Jones, Craig, and Wells. It was early in the race, and I decided to not let the pace fall for a second, preventing more guys from joining our group. I went to work at the front, splitting us up a bit.

The only guy left for me to catch was Jessy Anthony, who dangled solo in between the distant first group and our group, and with the assistance of Adam Criag, we reeled him in and dropped him off. Jamey lost us at some point, and was caught by his fiercest competitor in the U23 race, Danny Summerhill. This promised to be an exciting race. The two younglings also had in tow everyone’s favorite wheel sucker "Jazzy" Myerson. After many attacks by Driscoll, Summerhill forced a sprint, which he unfortunately won. The results were White 6th, Driscoll 15th, Marzot 41st.

Driscoll 5th U23 and White 8th Elite at Derby City USGP Round 2, Louisville Kentucky – October 28

Things dried out a bit on Sunday, which produced a faster race than Saturday’s. Same starting positions produced a similar first lap order. But a crash mid lap, in the sand pit, involving Powers and Wicks, changed the dynamic of the first 3rd of the race. At the start of the second lap, I found myself pacing off Powers as he made the effort to charge back to the front group.

I may have stuck him for 2 or 3 laps, before I felt like I was choking on my own lung, and had to fall off the pace. I was riding solo in 5th for some time, with a broken up group of chaser behind, somewhere containing my team mate Jamey. I continued my solo pacing for the rest of the day to finish 8th, being passed by Adam Craig early and Jesse Anthony in the last lap or racing. Jamey finished an uncharacteristic 24th place, and Toby finished 40th.