11.21.06
Posted in Home at 12:31 am by admin
The weekend of Nov. 18-19 had the Harshman Wealth Management / Primus Mootry Racing Team working from the Atlantic to the Pacific with Colorado in between. On the West Coast, Jon Baker had a great weekend, grabbing a 5th place finish at round #5 of the Crank Brothers USGP race at Fort Steilacoom in Washington. Jon made the split of nine riders and rode a flawless race culminating in winning a three-up sprint finish for 5th over Todd Well and Barry Wilks. Whitey Debroux rode to a 47th place finish and Taylor Kneuven finished 53rd.
On Sunday was the final round of the USGP in Hilsboro, OR. Jon, as were many riders, was caught behind a crash just after the start. But he rode another great race, coming back from about 30th place on lap one, surviving a flat tire and working his way up to as high as 8th place. Jon finally settled into 9th place for another impressive finish. Zak Grabowski showed what he can do when healthy with a 31st place finish after working through the entire field following another pile-up moments after the start. Whitey Debroux finished 37th on the day.
Overall, Jon finished in 11th place overall for the six race Crank Brothers USGP series in the Elite men, with Taylor Knevuen finishing 11th in the U23 Men.
Shawn went to NC to grab some UCI points away from the GP series and although the results weren’t exactly what he wanted, he poured it on in the top ten both days. Solidly in the hunt for points, a crash in front of him relegated him back a few spots on Saturday and Sunday an unfortunate tire issue had him chasing back into the top ten, dragging 6 guys with him as usual. Only supporting himself, a self made bike change in the pits was the difference between UCI points and a pack finish. Wish I could have been there for you Shawn, your hard fought effort should have been rewarded.
Back here in CO, the Boulder Racing series was contested on Saturday while the Red Rocks series was a Sunday affair with BCR and BCT points on the line. Saturdays Masters race saw Micah, Charlie and Dan line up with Micah raging to a 7th place finish. Chain dropping was Charlie’s story of the day, but he persevered to come in 13th, while Dan suffered through motivational issues and rode at 80% the whole day, saving himself for the next day’s course that suited him better. The race of the day was the battle that ensued in the Elite men’s race where Doug was subjected to a Vitamin Cottage sandwich that tried to eat him for lunch. He fought hard and managed an awesome 2nd place finish on the tough, bumpy course. Great job Doug!
Sunday on top the mesa in Golden, Dan, Charlie and Micah lined up with the rest of the contenders in the 35+ race. Everyone got off to a good start, but Charlie soon succumbed to a dropped chain and flat tire which took him out of the race, and Micah suffered the same fate as well. Dan settled into a fierce battle with the main pack of 4 to 6 guys which, while pretty evenly matched, turned the race into a tactical one rather than who had the most power. A drafting race was then played out for the remainder of the 45 minute battle with the strong men out of reach for the day. The last lap was an attack fest which saw Dan finish a respectable 10th, although self-admitted mental errors may have placed him a bit higher. The low turnout for the Elite race in Golden saw none of the rest of the Harshman Wealth/Primus Mootry team show as they were off in the Pacific NW.
Permalink
10.30.06
Posted in Home at 1:58 pm by admin
U.S. National Men’s Cyclocross champ Todd Wells of Durango won the Open Men’s title in Sunday’s Boulder Cyclocross Series race at Boulder Reservoir.Danish national champ Joachim Parbo edged Boulder’s Jonathan Baker of the Harshman Wealth Management team for second in the sprint to the finish line.
Wells, racing for the GT Bicycle Team, and Parbo are in town making final preparations for next week’s U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross in Boulder. Whitey Debroux finished 7th to grab his first UCI points for the season. Shawn Harshman finished 16th with a solid ride, still recovering from an injured hand.
In the Master’s 35+ race, harshman Wealth/Primus Mootry riders Micah Thompson and Charlie Hayes finished 3rd and 5th respectively after a day long battle with Tim Faia, the days eventual winner.
In the women’s race Sunday, Colorado Springs resident and current national champ Katie Compton of the Spike-Primus Mootry Team rolled away from the field from the start to win by almost 30 seconds over Georgia Gould of the Luna Team. Third place went to Louisville’s Anne Trombly of Excel Sports.
Next up is the Sunday’s Boulder Cup at Harlow Platts Park in south Boulder.
Permalink
09.18.06
Posted in Home at 3:53 pm by admin
The Thursday Night Longmont cross rides have run their course and are finished for the season. Thanks to everyone who came out to participate.
Permalink
01.18.06
Posted in Home at 2:31 pm by admin
In a late-breaking development, Jonathan Baker has been elected to the US Elite Mens Cyclocross World Championship Team. Jon will be heading over to Europe on January 19th to race in the World Cup in Hoogerhide, Netherlands on January 22nd as a final preparation for the World Championships on January 29th in Zeddam, Netherlands. Although not originally selected to the roster, the abandonment of Ryan Trebon opened up an additional spot. Jon has been preparing diligently for this opportunity, and us ready to show he is deserving of the chance to race with the world’s best.
Permalink
01.05.06
Posted in Home at 9:02 am by admin
Primus Mootry Cyclo Cross rider Jon Baker finished a solid 14th place at the Centrumcross Surhuisterveen Cyclo Cross race in Surhuisterveen, Netherlands on January 4. Jon has been in Europe for the last 3 weeks to get valuable experience and to try and earn a spot on the US World’s team for this year’s world Championships. Way to go Jon!
Permalink
Comments off
12.23.05
Posted in Home at 11:38 am by Jon Baker
The season continues for me as I make the hop accross the pond to the mecca of cyclocross racing: Belgium. I have been selected to attend Geoff Proctor’s Euro Cross Camp, which is billed as a training camp for racers before the World Champtionships in January. Since I’m on the bubble for selection for the World’s team, I will be treating this simply as a big opportunity to race alongside the best in the world, and hopefully get a decent result or two.
See my updated schedule for a full list of races. More posts to come; I’ll try to get in a race report after each event.
Permalink
12.13.05
Posted in Home at 9:52 am by admin
Jon Baker rode to a fantastic 10th place at Cyclo Cross Nationals this past weekend at Providence, RI. Whitey Debroux finished 24th in the Elite race as well. The following day, Jon backed up his 10th place with an even better 8th place in the Liberty Cup race. Whitey Debroux made huge strides to post a 14th place in the Liberty Cup race.
Permalink
11.21.05
Posted in Home at 9:36 am by admin
Red Rock Cross Series #2, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005, Golden, CO
Primus Mootry’s lone Open Men entrant in the Red Rocks Cross race #2 didn’t dissapoint with a 4th place finish and a 3rd place overall for the two race series. Another small field (due to the large number of goat-head flats and unnecessary mud pit from the first race) went off into the setting sun ata fast pace. Led by Junior National champion Alex Coehlo, the former world’s best American Hour Record holder Colby Pearce (thanks Dave 
), Jeff Wardel and Taylor Kneuven, the pace was fast at the start and continued that way.
The front group of four stayed together for a few laps until Taylor flatted. Meanwhile, joe had begun to work his way throrugh the rest of the field and passed Taylor to move into 5th at the half-way point. Taylor quickly joined him and the two were together for a lap and a half, until the mud bog where Taylor rode through it, while Joe chose to run it. That was all the gap Taylor needed to drop Joe.
Up front, Alex Coehlo had dropped out, leaving Colby and Jeff to duel for the win. Taylor caught and passed Greg Abrahmson for 3rd, but flatted again. Joe had worked to within 10 seconds of Greg and a podium position, but couldn’t close the gap in the final laps. Up front, Colby attached Jeff to score his first-ever cyclo cross win.
Permalink
Posted in Home at 9:36 am by admin
Day One, Boulder CX No. 4, Longmont, CO:
A brisk and windy day greeted us at the start of the race. The fourth round of the Boulder CX series was held at the Xilnx campus in Longmont, which is one of my favorite courses and is just around the corner from my house, which is a bonus. This year’s edition included the usual course features such as the woody decent and run up, the ditch jump, and the log barriers just to name a few. The P12 field size was surprisingly small but talented. My hopes of chalking up my second victory of the season were quickly dashed when the US mountian bike national champ Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski lined up next to me. Many years ago before he was winnng pro races Jeremy and I used to race against each other quite a bit. Since then he’s obviously had some huge successes on the bike, but his friendly, down-to-earth attitude hasn’t changed at all, which is pretty damn cool in my book!
After a good start I led the bunch into the first wooded section. After about a half a lap, a group of 6 or 7 seven of us seperated ourselves from the remainder of the field. Going into the second (or maybe the third) lap Jeremy decided it was time to attack. I managed to hold his wheel for a lap, which in hindsight was quite an accomplishment. Once I let go of Jeremy I found myself comfortably in second position, which I managed to hold until the end. A group of three eventually formed behind me that included Tayler Kneuvan (Broadmark), Christian McCarthy (Vitamin Cottage), and Mike West (Maverick). Thanks to the course’s serpintine nature, I was treated to a virtual front row seat to this threesome’s battle which was eventually taken by Tayler.
Following the race, the family and I loaded up the wagon and drove straight to Albuquerque for a little Thanksgiving vacation - and a one-day return to the New Mexico cross scene.
Notes - Both Micah and Joe didn’t make it out of the first lap unscathed. After good starts, that had them both in the lead group, Micah flatted and had to stop for a wheel change. Joe had his rear wheel un-skewered in the second run section. Micah did recover from last place to finish in the top-10, while Joe managed to crash, break his chain and wind up with four bike exchanges for the day after yo-yoing through the field all day long
While Micah finished strong, it turn out he hair-line fractured his wrist jumping over the ditch in the last laps of the race.
Day Two, NM Cross No. 8, Tijeras, NM:
Another brisk and windy day greeted us for Sunday. You’d thnk a 7-hour drive due south would get you some warmer conditions, but alas this was not the case. I met up with my good friends Todd Bauer (2005 NM Road Champ) and Michael “Schmitty” Smith (2006 Dad-to-be) for the 1-hour ride out to Tijeras. The NM cross scene has a number of differences over the CO scene - smaller field sizes and more eclectic courses just to name a few. Today’s course was exceptionally interesting taking full advantage of the terrain provided by the elementary school, community center, and arroyo (New Mexican for creek) that seperated the two. After a quick start, I led the 25ish-man field into the first 2mph, 18-degree turn. A lap later it was just myself, Stephen Knight-Williamson (SugerMamma), and Dave Allen (KHSnm.com) off the front. After another lap it was just me. I settled into a decent pace for the remainder of the race, which eventually quickened as the thought of lapping Mr. Bauer entered into my imagination. Unfortunately I came up short, but I did get my elusive second victory of the year. Not too shabby!
Permalink
Comments off
11.14.05
Posted in Home at 8:43 pm by Jon Baker
‘reprinted
Baker makes the front group at the Cycle-Smart International
Baker and Debroux’s Great Adventure
Planes, automobiles, and bikes (many bikes..) produced a memorable weekend of New England racing for myself and Primus Mootry teammate Whitey Debroux. Things started off with a late flight to Hartford, CT, and a super host house where I was stationed in my own private luxury RV, despite arriving near 2AM.
I met up with Whitey a the Chainbiter 7.0 UCI C2 race in Farmington, CT the next day (he had spent the night at a new friends’ house near Boston… and she baked him cookies). Fast forward to the start… I’m still getting a bit nervous at these big races, getting called up to the front row alongside McCormack and Jonhson raised the HR a few beats. Gun goes off, and I get a great start, 3rd wheel over the hill and into the first corner.
Things regroup on lap 2 when Wells puts in a big attack through the start/finish, I’m caught a bit off guard and wind up at the back of the lead group of 8 or so. Sure enough, the split happens this lap, and I can only look up the hill as 3 guys peel off the front when a fiordifrutta rider (Cody?) lets the gap open. The race seems to be going by pretty quickly, and I settle into a group racing for 4th with McCormack (who had some mechanical issues), Tonkin, and Cody. At 2 to go, I launch an attack through the section of the course where I’m fastest, and get a couple bike lengths. Pushing a bit too hard, I proceed to slide out on a dirt to paved 180 degree corner. Road rashed and in a bit of pain, I latch back onto the group I was with, and somehow manage to hold off McCormack in the sprint to finish 5th. Whitey had a good ride from a back row start to finish 20th.
Sunday’s race, the Cycle-Smart International UCI C2 in Northampton, MA was another great East-Coast cross course, held in perfect (for me, mild and sunny) weather. Whitey has ambition to crack the top 10 and get some precious UCI points, while I’m hoping to make the front split. The start is a short 100 meter sprint on pavement, to a 120 degree downhill / dirt corner. Somehow my great start form continues, and I’m 2nd wheel when we hit the dirt. Things are pretty ballistic on the first lap, and I find myself at the front when Wells and McCormack both make some small bobbles. We eventually settle down a bit, but Johnson is chasing hard and bridges up with Matt White in tow on lap 3 (see photo). The decisive section of this course was a snaky piece of singletrack leading up to a steep run-up. I make the mistake of going in last wheel and found myself gapped off at the top (my legs don’t move very fast when I’m running). I managed to chase back on, but was too gassed from the effort to move up in the group and got dropped for good the next time up. I suffered by myself for the next few laps, until I was caught by Tonkin. We heard that White had been dropped from the front group, and tried to work together to reel him in, but then I had another mishap; sprinting out of a courner, my gears slipped an I went flying over the bars. Luckily it was on grass and I wasn’t injured, but Tonkin was now 20 seconds up and I rolled in for 6th.
Whitey fought through traffic for another admirable top-20 placing. Starting at the back a these big races puts you at such a huge disadvantage; Its really almost like giving yourself a 2 minute time penalty at the start of the race.
Post race bliss is a bit tempered by a mad scramble to disasseble our bikes and rush off to the airport. I made my flight with plenty of time to spare. Whitey dropped me off and then had an extra 2 hour drive to the Boston airport to look forward to. I hope he made it OK.
Permalink
« Previous entries ·
