Neff Uses Good Advice and Pedaling Hard to Win Masters 30-34

A dusting of snow overnight brought the fourth straight day of different cyclocross conditions to Riverside Park in Hartford. Hailing from Wisconsin and no stranger to the snow, Isaac Neff (Neff Cycle Service) heeded some good advice to stay calm and ride smooth to fend off a tough challenge from Scott Chapin (Santa Cruz Factory Racing) to win the Men’s Master’s 30-34 National Championship on Friday.

Friday’s riders were greeted by a winter wonderland of white snow when they arrived at Riverside Park. Thursday’s cold froze Wednesday’s ruts and the snow chipped in to make a frozen, rutted, snowy course for the riders to navigate. Race winner Isaac Neff talked about the conditions after the race, “Icy ruts, this reminds me of Nationals in Madison. Very similar conditions, riding in the ice and snow.”

Third-place finished Michael Larson (Velo Reno p/b Western Lithium) also had an interesting take on the conditions, “The first lap or two it was kind of slick, but not too bad. But after each lap it was getting a sheet of ice. It was like an ice rink with ruts. The lines changed and how you rode the course changed.”

From the opening whistle, the Baby Masters did their part to put on a good show in Hartford. Mark Flis (Squadra Flying Tigers) and Larson jumped out to an early lead through the woods while Neff, Chapin, and Bryan Fosler (801 W. Madison) gave chase.

Lead changes were a common theme at the front of the race. Flis held the lead at the end of the first lap, but Larson moved to the front through the embankment and descent off the levee in lap 2. The two flip-flopped again through the gazebo technical section, and after two laps the duo held an eight-second lead over Neff and Chapin.

The third lap was Chapin’s time to move to the front. He opened up a five second gap past the gazebo while Neff used the section to move up from fourth to second to take over the role of chasing Chapin.

With two to go, Chapin was riding strong at the front when disaster struck for the California resident. He suffered a bent chain link that made shifting difficult right after the pits and was forced to ride the next half lap on a poorly-shifting bike. Chapin is a legendary single-speed rider and was forced to go to his single-speed steed to finish the rest of the race after making his way to the pits.

Chapin told Cyclocross Magazine he was feeling strong after taking the lead and was bummed that the chain issues cost him the chance to go for it at the front.

Neff seized on Chapin’s misfortune and took the lead after descending off the levee. Neff opened up a seven second lead heading into the bell lap and overcame his early troubles with the ruts to ride smoothly through the course to take home his first Stars-and-Stripes jersey.

Neff said his wife Megan told him to stay calm and ride his race, and it paid off for the Wisconsinite, “It took me a while to get used to the ruts and sort of start to feel confident. Being patient and just trying to keep my head in the game was definitely what made it happen today.”

Chapin and his single-speed held on for second and Larson finished third.

2017 CX National Championships Hartford Day 4 Results Masters Men 30-34

Place	Bib	Last	First	Team	Time	Gap
1	188	NEFF	Isaac	Neff Cycle Service	39:01:00
2	157	CHAPIN	Scott	Santa Cruz Factory Racing	39:20:00	19
3	180	LARSON	Michael	Velo Reno P/B Western Lithium	39:34:00	33
4	168	FOSLER	Bryan	801 W. Madison	39:44:00	43
5	167	FLIS	Mark	Squadra Flying Tigers	39:53:00	52
6	199	ST GERMAIN	Adam	NEXT-BMB	41:15:00	2:14
7	154	BURKHARDT	Jeremy	C3-Twenty20cycling.com	41:48:00	2:47
8	164	ELLIS	Chris	Bellingham WA	41:54:00	2:53
9	195	RICHARDS	Westley	Clemmons Bicycle Racing	42:36:00	3:35
10	171	GOORSKEY	Abe	Floyd VA	42:36:00	s.t.
11	201	TYSON	Peter	Team Bikenetic	42:40:00	3:39
12	161	CURBEAU	Matthew	Millis MA	42:51:00	3:50
13	176	HUFF	Evan	BikeReg Elite Racing	43:10:00	4:09
14	165	ERCHULL	Matthew	KUDU Collective	43:23:00	4:22
15	173	GRIFFO	Gregg	Park Ave Bike Shop	43:32:00	4:31
16	198	SIMACEK	Charles	All-City X Fulton Racing	43:58:00	4:57
17	175	HUCK	David	Berlin CT	44:02:00	5:01
18	197	RUIZ	Jonathan	Lamprey Systems	44:26:00	5:25
19	193	PRESCOTT	Fred	Townsend MA	44:53:00	5:52
20	166	FITZGIBBONS	Daniel	Green Line Velo	45:23:00	6:22
21	196	ROBINSON	Lee	Team Bikenetic	45:56:00	6:55
22	158	CLARK	Daniel	GF Capital/ H&E Enterprise	46:07:00	7:06
23	177	HUIZENGA	Jacob	Chicago Cuttin Crew	46:14:00	7:13
24	163	ELLING	Jay	Housatonic MA	46:48:00	7:47
25	156	CHANDLER	Mark	Team Kyles Bike Shop	46:49:00	s.t.
26	191	PFAFF	Zachary	Team Air Assurance/Tulsa Connec	47:33:00	8:32
27	178	KACHIGIAN	Charley	Kingston NY	47:46:00	8:45
28	174	HONDA	James	Expo Wheelmen	48:08:00	9:07
29	172	GRAMLING	Sean	Germantown NY	48:22:00	9:21
30	181	LUNDGREN	Eric	JBV Coaching	48:49:00	9:48
31	189	NEWTON	James	RAPHA CYCLING CLUB	38:57:00	@1Lap
32	155	CARLSON	Eric	Team Edge	39:04:00	@1Lap
33	185	MOLLO	Matthew	Ipswich MA	39:22:00	@1Lap
34	169	FRISON	Scott	New Haven Bicycling Club	40:06:00	@1Lap
35	200	STAPLES	Patrick	Northampton Cycling Club	40:28:00	@1Lap
36	151	ARNDT	Christopher	Paradise Garage Racing	41:04:00	@1Lap
37	159	COCHRAN	Patrick	Essex County Velo	41:04:00	@1Lap
38	186	MONTGOMERY	Michael	L5Flyers Cycling Team	41:15:00	@1Lap
39	182	MAHONEY	Brendan	Tariffville CT	43:34:00	@1Lap
40	190	OBRIEN	Myles	Boston MA	44:15:00	@1Lap
41	162	DANIELLO	Kurt	Laurel Bicycle Club	46:43:00	@1Lap
42	203	MITCHELL	Erik	SPINTECK p/b Blue Bell private	40:45:00	@2Laps
DNF	194	REYES	David	Tenspeed Hero
DNF	187	MORSE	Mike	Colonial Bicycle Company
DNS	192	PIOTROWSKI	Brian	xXx Racing
DNS	152	BALLARD	Christopher	GF Capital/ H&E Enterprise
DNS	183	MCCABE	Daniel	Grinta! p/b Best Buddies Challe
DNS	202	WHITE	Garrett	Single Barrel CX
DNS	160	COLBY	Gregory	Back Bay Cycling Club
DNS	153	BIRDSEY	Scott	Albany NY
DNS	170	GEIB	Josh	Downeast Racing
DNS	179	KNEE	Max	Fuji Bikes - TiC