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Katerina Nash took the win close to her Truckee home. NCNCA 2010 Cyclocross Districts. © Tim Westmore

Katerina Nash took the win close to her Truckee home. NCNCA 2010 Cyclocross Districts. © Tim Westmore

by Paul Guerra

This year’s Northern California and Nevada Cycling Association District Championships were held in Reno, Nevada, at Clayton Middle School and were hosted by the Reno Wheelmen in addition to their normal Sagebrush Cyclocross series lineup. Although Reno has a vibrant cycling scene and is in close proximity to excellent road and off-road terrain, most of the cycling population, and therefore most of the racers at this even,t had to travel from points west in California over the infamous Donner Summit on Highway I-80. In a repeat of the events of November, 1846, an early season storm dumped 12 inches of fresh snow on the Summit over the Friday evening prior to the race. Many racers spent a cold night parked on the highway, waiting for accidents to be cleared and scraping ice from their windshields only to arrive in Reno in the wee hours of Saturday.

The expectation then was that serious snow would have accumulated at the racing venue, making for a rare snow race. The high desert of Nevada, however, didn’t let that happen. While temperatures hovered in the 30s during the race, only a light dusting of snow blanketed the course and melted off by the time of the Elite Men’s race at 1:30, leaving the faintest bit of mud on the grassier sections of the course.

Donner Summit was a snowy, stormy mess. by {Stardustza} on flickr

Donner Summit was a snowy, stormy mess. by {Stardustza} on flickr

The course was laid out with a minimum of elevation change. Long grass and sand sections demanded more power and cardiovascular fitness of the racers and less technical ability. Sets of closely spaced barriers and a forced dismount and run-up completed the circuit. Several locals took advantage of the proximity of the race and their adaptation to altitude to take home the coveted bear-and-star jersey of NorCal/Nevada.

Nash shows her National Championship form

A light women’s field saw Truckee, California local, Team Luna Chix phenom, Winter Olympian and Czech National Champion Katerina Nash run away with victory. From the end of the first lap, Nash held a commanding lead over second place, 2009 40-44 Masters national champion Gina Hall from Cal Giant Strawberries. Third place in the strung out Elite Women’s category went to Emily Thurston of team Missing Link. Both Thurston and Hall could not match Nash’s superior performance at altitude, as both hail from the San Francisco Bay Area and Nash was fresh off a win at the USGP in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Nash said after the race, “I was really happy that a big race like Districts was in Reno, so close to home.” She also appreciated the relatively dry and grassy course, having spent the morning shoveling her way out of her nearby mountain town home.

The Mountain Men Rule the Day

Alex Candelario wins the District NCNCA 2010 Cyclocross Districts. © Tim Westmore

Alex Candelario wins the District NCNCA 2010 Cyclocross Districts. © Tim Westmore

As a warm-up for the Elite Men’s race, Bjorn Fox (Clif Bar Development Cyclocross Team) handily won the Junior’s race. Fox hails from the nearby ski town of Incline Village of Nevada and echoed Nash’s comments, saying, “I’ve been racing a lot around the US, so it’s nice to have a race close to home.” ’ Cross legend Don Myrah (Ibis-Buy-cell.com) also won his Masters 35+ age group race as a warm-up for later racing in the Elite category. Myrah waltzed away with the win, putting 30 seconds on his closest competitor, Anastasio Flores of Cal Giant Strawberries.

Both Fox and Myrah joined a strong, if slightly small, field in the Elite Men’s race to battle it out for top honors. Reno native and World Bicycle Relief representative Alex Candelario had other ideas however. Similarly to Nash, Candelario has recently had a commanding performance at altitude at the Colorado Cross Classic and carried his form to Reno where he had an exceedingly strong showing. Candelario began lapping the field with three to go and held a significant time gap over his nearest rivals, second place’s Brue Silversten (De La Paz Coffee) and Abe Rotstein (Hunter-Freewheel). Myrah narrowly missed his second podium of the day after being out-sprinted for third by Rotstein. However, with prizes in this category going 10 deep, and additional swag handed out by the promoters to spectators and racers, no one went home empty handed. Hopefully the memories of the racing and the loot kept racers warm as they assaulted a socked-in Donner Summit again on their way west, back home or to a Sunday of racing for those who could recover from the travel and racing effort of Saturday.

[Newly minted women’s 35+ district champion Heather Langendorfer contributed to this report.] Full results below the photos.

Photo Gallery by Tim Westmore:


Photo Gallery by Paul Guerra:

Full Results:

Place BIB Category First Name Last Name City State
1 599 Junior Women 10-18 Maddie Ortenblad Santa Cruz CA
1 551 Women’s B/C* Paige Galeoto Reno NV
2 550 Women’s B/C* Erica Greif Reno NV
3 552 Women’s B/C* Miss Mary Perez La Selva Beach CA
1 508 Men’s C* Cory Caldwell Lafayette CA
2 507 Men’s C* Joe Herrick reno NV
3 501 Men’s C* Dave Melchior Tom’s Place CA
4 511 Men’s C* Joseph Togoan reno NV
5 506 Men’s C* Martin Lagarza reno NV
6 502 Men’s C* Rich Paul reno NV
7 510 Men’s C* Coby Rowe reno NV
8 509 Men’s C* Reid Weber reno NV
9 504 Men’s C* James Hunter Elko NV
10 503 Men’s C* David Simon Reno NV
1 409 Men’s B* Skyler Taylor Mill Valley CA
2 406 Men’s B* Brian Wallace Carson City NV
3 407 Men’s B* Josh Rennie reno NV
4 408 Men’s B* Levi Grabo Carson City NV
5 400 Men’s B* Benjamin Tedore Reno NV
6 402 Men’s B* Andrew Sizelove Reno NV
7 489 Men’s B* CJ Dudley reno NV
8 401 Men’s B* Stephen Berg reno NV
9 404 Men’s B* Brian Sparks Elko NV
10 488 Men’s B* Christopher Dugan reno NV
1 499 Men’s B 35+* scott carothers Reno NV
2 487 Men’s B 35+* Matty Larsen Reno NV
3 498 Men’s B 35+* Jude Mayne Reno NV
4 495 Men’s B 35+* Spencer Ericksen Sparks NV
5 492 Men’s B 35+* John Albrecht Incline Village NV
6 494 Men’s B 35+* Robb Wolf Reno NV
7 490 Men’s B 35+* Ross McMahon Incline Village NV
8 493 Men’s B 35+* David Noble Incline Village NV
9 496 Men’s B 35+* David Taylor Reno NV
10 497 Men’s B 35+* Brice Shoolroy Reno NV
11 491 Men’s B 35+* Eric Ingram Reno NV
1 460 SS Men’s B* Raj Crow Incline Village NV
1 395 Junior Men 17-18 Bjorn Fox Incline Village NV
2 398 Junior Men 17-18 Alex Howard Mill Valley CA
1 397 Junior Men 15-16 spence peterson mill valley CA
2 399 Junior Men 15-16 Tobin Ortenblad Santa Cruz CA
3 396 Junior Men 15-16 Skyler Taylor Mill Valley CA
1 316 Master Men 45+ john mundelius alamo CA
2 306 Master Men 45+ Kevin Merrigan Castro Valley CA
3 303 Master Men 45+ Steve Ouzounian Moraga CA
4 315 Master Men 45+ Logan Kelsey mill valley CA
5 314 Master Men 45+ Brett Lambert Scotts Valley CA
6 319 Master Men 45+ Thomas Fox Incline Village NV
7 311 Master Men 45+ Paul Lennon Redding CA
8 301 Master Men 45+ Evan Adams San Francisco CA
9 304 Master Men 45+ Mark Henry Incline Village NV
10 312 Master Men 45+ Justin Eatinger Incline Village NV
11 300 Master Men 45+ scott weaver bishop CA
12 313 Master Men 45+ Jeff Poulsen Arnold CA
13 302 Master Men 45+ unknown rider
14 317 Master Men 45+ Christopher Holmes Folsom CA
15 318 Master Men 45+ John Collins Grass Valley CA
16 308 Master Men 45+ Jim Barkley Reno NV
17 310 Master Men 45+ Gilbert Tarin Knightsen CA
18 309 Master Men 45+ Matt Mansur Reno NV
1 353 Master Men 55+ Norman Kreiss Orinda CA
2 355 Master Men 55+ Paul Gossi Reno NV
3 354 Master Men 55+ Rod McCollough Susanville CA
4 351 Master Men 55+ Ronald Riley Aptos CA
1 200 Elite Women Katerina Nash Truckee CA
2 204 Elite Women Gina Hall Orinda CA
3 207 Elite Women Emily Thurston San Pablo CA
4 202 Elite Women Courtney Dimpel Aptos CA
5 201 Elite Women Haley Juno-Galves Menlo Park CA
6 205 Elite Women Hollie McGovern Nevada City CA
7 203 Elite Women Ellen Sherill South Lake Tahoe CA
8 206 Elite Women Margaret Shanafield Reno NV
1 292 Master Women 35+ Heather Langendorfer Redwood City CA
2 291 Master Women 35+ Paige Galeoto Reno NV
3 293 Master Women 35+ Penny Collins Grass Valley CA
1 251 Master Women 45+ Yvonne Walbroehl Mountain View CA
2 253 Master Women 45+ Soni Poulsen Arnold CA
3 250 Master Women 45+ Kristi Stewart Reno NV
1 270 Master Women 55+ Jenny Frayer Reno NV
2 272 Master Women 55+ Christine Cremo Reno NV
1 114 Master Men 35+ Don Myrah San Jose CA
2 103 Master Men 35+ Anastasio Flores La Selva Beach CA
3 101 Master Men 35+ Robert Braun Gardnerville NV
4 105 Master Men 35+ Scott Phillips Reno NV
5 108 Master Men 35+ Monte Boyle Reno NV
6 102 Master Men 35+ Eric Bustos Alameda CA
7 111 Master Men 35+ Shawn O’Meara Reno NV
8 104 Master Men 35+ Tim Thompson San Jose CA
9 107 Master Men 35+ AJ Kennedy Walnut Creek CA
10 106 Master Men 35+ Jeff Angermann Reno NV
11 112 Master Men 35+ Scott Carothers Reno NV
12 109 Master Men 35+ Scott Leland Reno NV
1 16 Elite Men Alex Candelario Reno NV
2 13 Elite Men Bruce Syvertsen San Francisco CA
3 3 Elite Men Abe Rotstein Watsonville CA
4 10 Elite Men Don Myrah Truckee CA
5 15 Elite Men Scott Chapin Santa Cruz CA
6 110 Elite Men Noah Silverman Reno NV
7 5 Elite Men Bjorn Fox Incline Village NV
8 14 Elite Men Aaron Wilcher San Francisco CA
9 12 Elite Men Ben Dodge San Jose CA
10 4 Elite Men Simon Vickers Bishop CA
11 19 Elite Men Justin Thomas Reno NV
12 2 Elite Men Matthew Obregon folsom CA
13 8 Elite Men JP Donovan Incline Village CA
14 18 Elite Men Scot Ferguson Reno NV
15 9 Elite Men Paul Guerra Mountain View CA
16 7 Elite Men Dear Pe shard Santa Cruz CA
1 97 Singlespeed A’s Tim Cannard Los Gatos CA
2 98 Singlespeed A’s Evan Sarna
*indicates non-championship event