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Johnson, Nash tops in Portland USGP
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Normally in Portland, when the sun shines and the temperature reads over 50 degrees in December, many consider it to be a sign of the apocalypse. But even without a drop of rain for days, the first day of the USGP finals still dirtied riders’ race kits, if only just a little.
Reigning national champion Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Katarina Nash (Luna) out foxed the competition in two highly tactical races. Teammates Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers double teamed Ryan Trebon in the Elite men's race. Nash came home solo, easily defeating Luna teammate Georgia Gould and Rachel Lloyd (California Giant Berry Farms).
The course at Portland International Raceway used one of the longest pavement sections in recent memory with over a quarter mile of straightaway before the dirt. Flowing quickly into the motocross course, racers rolled over berms and jumps into sizable mud puddle followed by a fast and very twisty wooded section.
Almost from the gun, a group of five women opened a gap on the field the steadily grew throughout the race. Portland local Sue Butler (Monaview-Cannondale) lead Lloyd, Gould, Nash and Wendy Simms (Kona) off the tarmac and into the infield lined with hundreds of fans fueled by Belgian waffles from Cyclosportif.
Simms was the first to surge through the puddle trying to separate herself from the elite group. The dangerous duo of Luna riders unintentionally kept the others on their toes with Nash attacking and Gould forcing Lloyd to chase.
"We didn't have any team tactics going into the race. The series overall is so close between Georgia and me that we raced each other," said Nash.
After a few laps, Butler began to fade, barely holding Simms' wheel. Lloyd put in a damaging acceleration that only Nash and Gould could follow. The leaders were consistently posting lap times under 8 minutes. Behind, cyclocross rookie Meredith Miller raced superbly maintaining pace with veterans Maureen Bruno-Roy and Amy Dumbrowski. Miller went home with the SRAM Most Aggressive Rider award.
With one lap remaining, the leading three kept the pace high and nervously watched each other.
"On the last lap we had a strong group so I had to attack as hard as I could," recalled Nash.
Her powerful punch opened a 20 bike length margin. Gould forced Lloyd to chase then the series leader attacked leaving Lloyd trailing. Nash hit the finish line some 30 seconds ahead of Gould. Lloyd came in a further ten seconds down.
About a minute later, in an impressive display of courage, Butler crawled her way back to Simms, lead into the sprint and held onto fourth with a quick bike throw.
With her second place finish, Gould keeps the series lead by the slimmest of margins over Nash.
"The big goal for me is nationals, then worlds. The series win would be great," Gould said.
Johnson capitalizes on Trebon trouble
As was the case in women's race, the elite men immediately broke into small groups. Heading into the first few turns, Trebon led Powers, Johnson, series leader Todd Wells (GT), Jesse Anthony (Jamis) and U23 rider Danny Summerhill (Clif Bar)
Wells had an untimely bobble as Trebon punched the throttle. Powers and Johnson were able chase back on quickly making them the race protagonists. The gap grew significantly; the three had over 15 seconds heading into the second lap.
Powers and Johnson threw everything they had at Trebon trying to shake him. Powers opened a gap briefly with three laps to go but Trebon calmly shut it down. Race announcers were shocked that with just a couple laps remaining, none of the lead riders had taken a bike change.
Behind, Wells was stuck in a chase group with Anthony, Summerhill, Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz-Giro) and Barry Wicks (Kona). The group never gained much ground on the lead trio but rode together until the finish. Earlier that morning Wicks had his bike stolen off his car. The former Single Speed World Champion rode a strong race into the top 15.
Coming into the final lap at over 20 mph, the leaders remained glued to each others' wheels. Trebon led through the final barriers then into the chicane tree section. Taking the wide line around a 180 degree turn, Trebon washed out on a root and instantly toppled onto Powers. Johnson took the inside line and hit the gas one final time setting himself up for a solo victory.
As Trebon and Powers remounted, the fans cheered crazily, cowbells drowning out the announcers. Powers cruised across the line half a bike length ahead of a disappointed Trebon.
"We raced around well, attacking, covering. Then on the last lap I screwed up and wasn't paying attention well enough," Trebon said. Powers philosophically responded: "that's racing." Johnson and Powers went into the race with tactics in mind but when the opportunity presented itself, Johnson had to act.
"Going into the last lap the plan was to get Jeremy onto the finishing straight in position for the sprint. I had to take advantage of the situation when Ryan crashed," said Johnson. With his win, Johnson takes over the USGP series lead from Todd Wells.
Danny Summerhill won the SRAM Most Aggressive Rider award for his strong 7th place finish. Mitchell Peterson maintained his lead in the U23 overall heading into the last day.
With a chance for rain overnight and into Sunday morning, day two of the series finals could play out differently.
U23 Men's Top 3
1. Danny Summerhill
2. Nicholas Wayhall
3. Bjorn Selander
