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Mother Nature Decided to Make Spooky Cross Extra Spooky © Corey J Keizer

Mother Nature Decided to Make Spooky Cross Extra Spooky © Corey J Keizer

Irvine, CA – The long week of rains gave Southern California a dose of real ’cross racing this week for the Third Annual Spooky Cross, Round 5 of the SoCalCross Prestige Series presented by H2O Overdrive. There was something for everyone during this night of festivities. With 500 participants from children, to dogs, to top European professional road racers, this year’s Spooky Cross set a new record. Pro Tour racer Chris Horner tested his road fitness against MTB Olympian Sid Taberlay and multi-time 4-cross MTB world champion Brian Lopes.

The event started with the first ever Kids & Canines Costume Race. The canines joined in to make the circus complete. From there the kids headed off to carve pumpkins and the top three were chosen to sit on the Spooky Cross podium blocks! But, as the skies darkened and the moisture filled the air, the Spooky Cross course went from a sticky course of long straights and few technical sections, to a slick mess that challenged racers through the night. As the moon came out, so did the freaks of the costume race, smoke machines and hard-hitting action of the Elite racers as they slid around the greasy course.

Elite Women:

The women saw the return of Coryn Rivera (Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12) to the local seen this week as she has taken a little break from the bike after a long road season to recharge her batteries for ’cross. And it showed once the gun fired. From the first turn it was the youngest in the Elite field, Alexis Ryan (Team SoCalCross), who took the holeshot and cranked out the lead pace. Rivera stayed patient in second with Alexis leading the way. There was a strong group of six women together. Through the first barrier there was some commotion and the SDG Factory rider Amanda Schaper dropped her chain after being tangled by riders through the hurdles. Alexis held the lead and the group was down to five while Schaper worked hard to get back on.

Rivera said, “After the first lap, I had an instinct to take the front, so I attacked and weaved my way around the course.” After a while she finally looked back to see it was just Megan Elliot (Black MTN Cycles) behind her with Kendall Ryan (Team SoCalCross) not too far back. Rivera held her pace and was focused, sprinting out of every corner and carrying her speed through each lap. With three laps to go, Elliot took the lead until they passed through the start/finish, and Rivera made her move on the road to take the lead again. She was putting the pressure on and all she had to do at this point was make the fewest mistakes and continue to flow around the course. One to go, Rivera was still on the front and held it for her first win of the season. Elliot took a comfortable second, with Kendall Ryan third, Alexis Ryan fourth, and Allison Mann (Rock N’ Road) rolling in to round out the top five.

Elite Men:

From the start it was the two most talented bike handlers in the field, Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air) and Brian Lopes (Ibis/Oakley), railing their way through the first corner with a large group of hungry riders chasing through the slop. Gary Douville (Platinum) took the lead on the first lap and set the pace for the first two. The crowd was looking for Chris Horner (RadioShack), but the messy conditions left him tangling with riders as he worked his way toward the front. Douville continued his charge leading a group of 10 off the front, and people were going nuts for junior Morgan Ryan (Team SoCalCross) as he was comfortably riding in the lead group.

Taberlay and Lopes passed through the third lap with Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific-B&L) in third as Douville dropped back from the huge effort. On lap four, Horner was riding to the front group and he passed Taberley and Lopes for the lead. The effort was impressive, and he did not stop. Horner was continuing to smash the pedals, opening a huge gap that stuck to the finish. Taberlay tried to close the gap leading the chase with Lopes in tow. But, Lopes would not leave his wheel as he was holding on for the solid finish. The two rode in for second and third. In the last two laps Brandon Gritters (Rock N’ Road) came off the back of Prenzlow as he attacked on a muddy run-up and was able to hold off Gritters for the remainder of the race, giving Prenzlow fourth with Gritters rounding out the top five.

Gallery:

Full Results:

Men 1/2/3
Pos No. Name Club/Team Class Laps Total Tm Diff
1 15 Christopher HORNER Team RadioShack Men Cat 1/2 9 56:41.6
2 29 Sid TABERLAY Sho-Air/Specialized Men Cat 1/2 9 56:55.0 13.386
3 69 Brian Lopes Men Cat 1/2 9 56:56.7 15.069
4 21 Brent PRENZLOW CELO PACIFIC / B&L Men Cat 1/2 9 57:19.2 37.566
5 43 Brandon Gritters Rock N Road Men Cat 1/2 9 57:31.0 49.366
6 25 Morgan RYAN Men Cat 1/2 9 57:47.3 01:05.7
7 1 John BAILEY Bailey Bikes Men Cat 1/2 9 58:10.9 01:29.4
8 3 John BEHRENS Bailey Bikes Men Cat 1/2 9 58:15.0 01:33.4
9 47 Anton Petrov SDG Factory Men Cat 1/2 9 59:01.9 02:20.3
10 49 Kyle Gritters Rock N Road Men Cat 1/2 9 59:18.2 02:36.6
11 7 Eric COLTON The TEAM Men Cat 1/2 9 59:31.1 02:49.5
12 9 Gary DOUVILLE Men Cat 1/2 9 59:39.9 02:58.3
13 62 Mark Noble Franco Men Cat 1/2 9 00:06.2 03:24.6
14 40 James Walsh B&L Bikes/Celo Pacific Men Cat 1/2 9 00:33.2 03:51.6
15 5 Frederick BOTTGER SDG Factory Team Men Cat 1/2 9 00:38.3 03:56.7
16 39 Oliver Hutchinson Helens Men Cat 3 9 01:24.1 04:42.5
17 54 Cody Phillips ShoAir Men Cat 3 9 01:30.1 04:48.5
18 27 Jason SIEGLE Bike Religion Men Cat 1/2 9 02:06.1 05:24.5
19 42 Doug Barnett Camarillo Bike Co. Men Cat 1/2 9 02:07.3 05:25.7
20 65 Lance Voyles Giant Men Cat 3 9 02:28.2 05:46.7
21 4 Ben BERTIGER Men Cat 3 9 02:29.5 05:48.0
22 35 Alex Darville Echelon Santa Barbara Men Cat 3 9 02:36.9 05:55.3
23 61 Chance Noble Ca Giant Specialized Men Cat 1/2 9 02:42.9 06:01.3
24 63 Eric Christenson SDG Factory Team Men Cat 1/2 9 02:43.7 06:02.1
25 44 Ryan Weeger Celo Pacific Men Cat 3 9 03:01.9 06:20.3
26 31 Ted WILLARD Men Cat 1/2
27 26 David SHEEK SDG Factory Men Cat 1/2 9 03:31.4 06:49.8
28 80 Men Cat 3 9 03:31.7 06:50.1
29 55 Vu Le Men Cat 3
30 41 Colby Weber Metal Mtn Men Cat 1/2 8 57:00.6 1 Lap
31 36 Timothy SPARKS METAL MTN Men Cat 1/2 8 57:00.9 1 Lap
32 67 Men Cat 3 8 57:07.4 1 Lap
33 30 Griffith VERTICAN Bear Valley Bikes Men Cat 3 8 57:09.0 1 Lap
34 50 Alex Boone Pablove Men Cat 1/2 8 57:13.3 1 Lap
35 81 Garnet Vertican Men Cat 1/2 8 57:30.1 1 Lap
36 70 John VanDyke Men Cat 3
37 64 Dean Lihou Mudfoot Men Cat 3 DNF
38 20 Jett PINK Men Cat 1/2
39 46 Matt Snow Surf City Cyclery Men Cat 3 8 58:42.7 1 Lap
40 18 Bryan KWAN Men Cat 3 8 59:05.4 1 Lap
41 34 Andrew Dickinson Celo Pacific Men Cat 1/2 8 59:05.7 1 Lap
42 51 Philip Monell Trek Men Cat 3 8 59:16.4 1 Lap
43 48 Jay Ku The TEAM Men Cat 3 8 59:51.8 1 Lap
44 2 Christopher BASSETT Mafia Racing Men Cat 3 8 59:55.6 1 Lap
45 13 Jason HARDY I Beer LA Men Cat 3 8 00:06.6 1 Lap
46 59 Roger Rilling Stoller Men Cat 1/2 8 00:13.2 1 Lap
47 19 Ryan MERLIN Men Cat 3 8 00:14.1 1 Lap
48 37 Dan Breyer Celo Pacific / Focus Bikes Men Cat 3 8 00:43.4 1 Lap
49 60 TJ Ferrara Above Category Men Cat 3 8 00:52.4 1 Lap
50 52 Nick Ducharme Mafia Racing Men Cat 3 8 00:55.4 1 Lap
51 56 Jeffrey Do Jenson USA Men Cat 3 8 01:19.9 1 Lap
52 32 Christopher WOODRUFF CICLE Men Cat 3 8 01:59.8 1 Lap
53 45 Andrew Juskeits Giant Bicycle Men Cat 3 8 02:06.3 1 Lap
54 53 Justin Anderson 1 Beer L Men Cat 3 8 02:19.8 1 Lap
55 6 Mark COLTON Team C.I.C.L.E Men Cat 3 8 02:33.1 1 Lap
56 28 Matt SMITH San Diego State University Men Cat 3 8 02:42.6 1 Lap
57 33 Eric Bierman Men Cat 1/2 8 02:45.5 1 Lap
58 22 Christopher QUIGLEY Ritte Van Vlaanderen Men Cat 3
59 58 Fritz White Two Wheels One Planet Men Cat 3 7 56:46.9 2 Laps
60 38 Doug Hall The TEAM – SoCalCross Men Cat 3 7 56:57.4 2 Laps
61 12 Radford HALLMAN USC Triathlon Men Cat 3 7 57:36.5 2 Laps
62 14 Kenneth HILL TEam SC Velo Men Cat 3 7 57:51.0 2 Laps
63 23 Adam RAKUNAS TTS Racing Men Cat 3 6 59:35.5 3 Laps
64 17 Sean KNEALE Men Cat 3 7 04:55.0 2 Laps
Women 1/2/3
Pos No. Name Club/Team Class Laps Total Tm Diff
1 127 Coryn RIVERA Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 Women Cat 1/2 5 35:17.9
2 124 Megan ELLIOTT Black Mountain Bicycles Women Cat 1/2 5 35:47.0 29.042
3 129 Kendall RYAN Team CICLE Women Cat 1/2 5 36:11.5 53.535
4 128 Alexis RYAN The TEAM – SoCalCross Women Cat 1/2 5 36:29.1 01:11.2
5 142 Allison Mann Rock N Road Women Cat 1/2 5 36:46.5 01:28.6
6 130 Amanda SCHAPER SDG Factory Women Cat 1/2 5 37:07.3 01:49.4
7 125 Nancy KLINGER Women Cat 3 5 37:23.8 02:05.9
8 136 Christina Probert The TEAM – SoCalCross Women Cat 1/2 5 38:12.1 02:54.1
9 135 Jill Sisamis Team Duke Women Cat 3 5 38:58.7 03:40.8
10 139 Meghan Blades Giant Women Cat 3 5 38:58.9 03:41.0
11 134 Sarah Brodsky Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling Women Cat 3 5 39:13.4 03:55.5
12 132 Dorothy WONG The TEAM SoCalCross Women Cat 1/2 5 39:39.4 04:21.5
13 131 Rebecca SIEGEL The Team Women Cat 3 5 40:13.5 04:55.5
14 138 Beatriz Rodriguez SC Velo Women Cat 1/2 5 41:36.3 06:18.3
15 141 Brooke Warner Women Cat 3 5 43:13.5 07:55.5
16 137 Anna Dvorak Bear Valley Bike Women Cat 3 4 35:37.4 1 Lap
17 143 Kim Kiunke The TEAM – SoCalCross Women Cat 3 4 35:55.3 1 Lap
18 133 Virginia Clark Women Cat 3 4 36:53.7 1 Lap
19 126 Annette PADILLA Women Cat 1/2 4 40:15.2 1 Lap
20 126 Annette Padille Celo Pacific Women Cat 1/2