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The course claimed plenty of victims © Bob Jenney (545velo.com)

The course claimed plenty of victims © Bob Jenney (545velo.com)

by Jeffrey Bramhall

Shrewsbury, MA. – The Night Weasels Cometh presented by BikeJD.com brought New England racers a truly unique experience under the lights at the Ski Ward in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/Scott) and Meredith Miller (California Giant/Specialized) took wins in the Elite races, both handily over extremely strong fields, but everyone who came to the race was treated to the first real cyclocross conditions of the season combined with a festive atmosphere more reminiscent of Portland than New England. The race, organized by Colin Reuter of crossresults.com, Linnea Koons of Embrocation Cycling Journal and Chip Baker of HUP United, was a first attempt at holding a midweek race between two of the biggest race weekends in New England – Gloucester and Providence.

Meredith Miller (California Giant/Specialized) takes her victory. © Russ Campbell (russcam.com)

Meredith Miller (California Giant/Specialized) takes her victory. © Russ Campbell (russcam.com)

The course wound across the Ski Ward hill, forcing racers to climb and descend across a tight, sinewy track. The two days of rain leading up to the race meant for a slick, soft, greasy course with challenging ruts throughout. The mud combined with the course’s thick grass kept the Pedro’s bike wash humming well into the night, letting the racers enjoy the fun and friendly atmosphere. The prize list reflected the atmosphere, awarding a bag of sand to the winner of the Cat 3 race, an award to the last woman on Meredith Miller’s lead lap and a prize for the worst mechanical of the night.

Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe's Garage/Scott) in lap one traffic. photo:© Russ Campbell (russcam.com)

Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe's Garage/Scott) in lap one traffic. photo:© Russ Campbell (russcam.com)

As predicted by the pre-race prize list, the Elite Women’s race was dominated by Meredith Miller. From the first lap to the last, she held a gap over a hard-charging group of chasers. Behind Miller, Crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles teammates Sarah Bresnick-Zocchi and Sally Annis were battling to complete the podium with Bresnick-Zocchi getting the edge in the final lap as Annis flatted shortly before the finish and ran across the line. Coming out of retirement for Night Weasels was Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) who crossed the line fourth in her return to racing. Co-promoter Linnea Koons came across the line fifth for Embrocation Cycling Journal.

The Elite Men seemed a replay of the Nor’easter race 10 days prior at Loon Mountain, where Justin Lindine followed a massive start by his teammate Jerome Townsend and took victory. The difference last night at Ski Ward was that this time Townsend stayed in the race. Townsend pulled in second just ahead of Alec Donahue (Wheelhouse-NCC). Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart) came across the line fourth. Mixed in with the Elites was a selection of big name Masters who were racing for a secondary prize list. In a fantastic duel, Rob Hult (Gear Works/Spin Arts) edged Masters national champ Jonny Bold (Corner Cycle) to take top honors.

Late into the night, well after the last prizes had been awarded, there was a palpable buzz about the venue. The Night Weasels Cometh clearly filled a void in the New England cyclocross calendar and will hopefully be back next year.

Photo Gallery:

Full Results:

Cat 1/2/3 Men 60 minutes 61 starters
Place 40+ Bib Time First Name Last Name Team City State
1 801 0:55:08 Justin Lindine BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / Scott New Salem MA
2 804 0:56:48 Jerome Townsend BikeReg.com / Joe’s Garage / Scott Princeton MA
3 810 0:56:48 Alec Donahue Wheelhouse / NCC Easthampton MA
4 803 0:57:14 Adam Myerson Cycle-Smart Boston MA
5 806 0:57:33 Steve Fisher Rad Racing NW / Hagens Berman LLP Bellingham WA
6 816 0:57:39 Adam Snyder Team Jamis Westminster MA
7 1 807 0:58:00 Rob Hult Gear Works/Spin Arts Harvard MA
8 2 802 0:58:00 Jonny Bold Corner Cycle Marstons Mills MA
9 808 0:58:36 Shawn Milne Seaside Cycle – Antero Resources Gloucester MA
10 811 0:58:36 Brian Wilichoski CYCLOCROSSWORLD.COM Danvers MA
11 814 0:59:27 Manny Goguen BikeReg,com/Joe’s Garage/Scott Hopedale MA
12 812 0:59:27 Peter Bradshaw Embrocation Cycling Journal Boston MA
13 824 0:59:54 David Wilcox PEDROS Jamaica Plain MA
14 821 1:00:18 Jeremy Durrin Wheelhouse / NCC Amherst MA
15 850 1:00:18 Matthew Simpson Pedro’s Londonderry NH
16 3 813 1:00:47 Todd Bowden CVC Subaru of New England Glastonbury CT
17 828 1:00:47 John Foley Bicycle Concepts Sturbridge MA
18 820 1:01:35 Pete Smith Embrocation Cycling Journal / Mad Alchemy Merrimac MA
19 837 1:01:35 Joshua Lehmann PEDROS Weare NH
20 825 1:01:48 Michael Wissell B2C2 Allston MA
21 865 1:02:02 Synjen Marrocco Unattached Hanson MA
22 4 817 lap Keith Gauvin Expo/Superior Energy Ellington CT
23 5 818 lap Mike Rowell NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Bedford MA
24 847 lap Timothy Daigneault Bicycle concept Dudley MA
25 849 lap Nicholas Mashburn Svelte Cycles Cambridge MA
26 822 lap Cary Fridrich Embrocation Cycling Journal Charlestown MA
27 831 lap Sheldon Miller Bikeman.com Craftsbury Common VT
28 826 lap Cliff Kenyon Expo/Superior Energy Manchester CT
29 6 815 lap Mark Gunsalus Team FUJI/Clif Bar Dudley MA
30 7 840 lap Matthew Domnarski Horst-Benidorm-Property Research Corp. Ware MA
31 842 lap Tom Gosselin FRANK Bikes Old Orchard Beach ME
32 866 lap Mukunda Feldman Wheelhouse/NCC Cycling Team Easthampton MA
33 835 lap Hunter Pronovost Cheshire Cycle Racing – cyclistsarenotrockstars.com Cheshire CT
34 856 lap Scott Glowa Svelte Cycles Providence RI
35 8 863 lap Alan Douglass Wilbraham MA
36 832 lap Stephen Pierce Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames Somerville MA
37 844 lap Matt Mitchell 545 Velo Weston MA
38 851 lap Gregory Vigneaux Gearworks/Spin Arts Bolton MA
39 848 lap Miro Koulnis BikeReg.com Worcester MA
40 838 lap Cort Cramer Svelte Cycles Belmont MA
41 852 lap Rodrigo Moraes Edgartown Bicycles West Tisbury MA
42 9 855 lap Eric Goodson EMBROCATION CYCLING JOURNAL Wellesley MA
43 864 lap Harry Precourt Twin Six Sudbury MA
44 10 858 lap Peter Abdinoor Team Psycho South Hamilton MA
45 857 lap Jeff Gelt Silver Bull/Central Wheel of Farmington CT Farmington CT
46 11 854 lap Paul Cox CCB / Wheelworks Haverhill MA
47 867 lap Tim Janson Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy NY
48 843 lap Ryan Kelly crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles Dover NH
49 833 lap R. Michael McKittrick Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames Cambridge, Ma MA
50 834 lap Peter Rubijono Embrocation Cycling Journal Watertown MA
51 860 lap Joshua Gunn Embrocation Cycling Journal Cambridge MA
Cat 1/2/3 Women 40 minutes 28 starters
Place cat 3 Bib Time First Name Last Name Team City State
1 1 0:35:02 Meredith Miller California Giant/Specialized Ft. Collins CO
2 2 0:35:23 Sarah Bresnick-Zocchi crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles Arlington MA
3 3 0:35:59 Sally Annis crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles Nashua NH
4 23 0:36:26 Lynne Bessette Cyclocrossworld.com Beverly MA
5 5 0:37:08 Linnea Koons Embrocation Cycling Journal Somerville MA
6 6 0:37:38 Anna Barensfeld LadiesFirst Racing Wellesley MA
7 1 4 0:37:44 Rebecca Blatt silver bull/central wheel West Hartford CT
8 7 0:37:44 Kate Northcott BEAM TEAM RACING Walpole NH
9 9 0:39:12 Catherine Sterling Worcester MA
10 2 8 0:39:32 Alexandra Jospe Umass Bicycle Racing Club Amherst MA
11 3 12 0:39:43 Elizabeth White BLUE STEEL CYCLERY Bedford NH
12 26 0:39:48 Frances Morrison Wheelhouse/NCC Cycling Team Easthampton MA
13 27 0:39:48 Darcy Foley Bicycle Concepts Sturbridge MA
14 4 13 0:40:41 Christine Fort crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles Somerville MA
15 25 0:40:49 Jennifer O’Donnell Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames
16 5 11 0:41:26 Lauren Kling B2C2 p/b Boloco Allston MA
17 6 14 0:42:31 Rachel Brown International Bicycle Somerville MA
18 7 16 0:42:53 Cathy Rowell NEBC/CycleLoft/DevonshireDental Bedford MA
19 8 10 0:43:11 Olivia Harkness FRANK Bikes Portland ME
20 9 28 0:43:27 Elizabeth Lukowski NYCROSS.com Albany NY
21 10 24 lap Karen Nash CCB Racing North Hampton NH
22 11 20 lap Lily Richeson Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames Somerville MA
23 12 19 lap Leah Pappas-Barnes Cycle-Smart Arlington MA
24 13 18 lap Teri Carilli NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Lexington MA
25 14 22 lap Starr Walker TIB / HUP / Wheelworks Waltham MA