Controversy Clouds Cross Crusade Heron Lakes Result – UPDATE: Full Report, Gallery, Results

by Pat Malach

PORTLAND, Oregon – Aaron Tuckerman (Corsa Concepts) took his second consecutive Crusade Sunday at race #3 under a shadow of controversy after tangling with Molly Cameron (MetaFilter/Portland Bicycle Studio) at the front of the men’s A slugfest and then soloing in for the win. Alice Pennington (Upper Echelon Fitness) returned from the national scene to power away from the women’s A field for her first win of the 2011 Cross Crusade series.

A rare clear afternoon during a month of record rainfall in Portland set the tone for a blistering day of racing on the flat, hard and fast Heron Lakes course at Portland International Raceway. Exactly 1,475 registered ’crossers and hundreds of kids mixed it up with geese, golfers and race cars for a full day of competition on the pavement, gravel, grass and off-camber slopes of this traditional Cross Crusade course that has been in use since 2002. Race director Brad Ross said it was the first dry day he could remember on the course.

After a quick men’s A race start that saw multiple attacks from the top riders, Tuckerman and Cameron found themselves in a five-rider group that included Tuckerman’s teammate Shannon Skerritt, Donald Reeb (cyclocrossracing.com) and week #1 winner Sean Babcock (Kona).

About three quarters of the way through the 60-minute race, Tuckerman and Cameron, who finished first and second last week in Rainier, chose separate lines to pass a lapped rider from the women’s field and then came together when they emerged on the other side. Tuckerman got the better of the meeting as Cameron hit the deck hard, slowing the rest of the group behind.

“We came around a lapped rider,” Tuckerman said of the contact with Cameron. “Molly went high and I went low; it was off-camber. So I put an effort right in, and when we came back there was only one line, I guess, and I happened to be in front. And whoever’s the wheel in front tends to hold it up.”

Cameron’s account of the events obviously differed, but Tuckerman didn’t stick around to hash it out. Seizing the opportunity, the current series leader turned on the watts over the hard-packed course and started building a gap, hoping to add maximum points to his overall lead with another win.

“I don’t really know what happened behind,” Tuckerman said. “All I know is I had a gap so I pushed.”

Babcock was first to remount and pick up the chase, sticking about 15 second behind Tuckerman. Reeb grabbed the third spot another five seconds back. Skerritt picked up the fourth spot, trailing over half a minute behind the leader while a disheveled and dirtied Cameron slipped to the fifth spot, about 1:15 behind.

The leaders finished in that order but they were mixed in with other lapped traffic, and while Tuckerman sailed across the line for the second week in a row posting a one-armed salute with his index finger pointed skyward, Cameron crossed the line and immediately stopped at the start/finish to lodge a protest.

“Tuckerman just took me out,” Cameron said later while waiting to hear the judge’s decision. “The lapped rider was kind of inconsequential. We were just racing, and I was taking the safe line around someone, and then I heard these shifting gears and the next thing I know I’m on the ground.”

Cameron said Tuckerman’s attack wasn’t safe and caused the former road pro to cut off the Portland ’cross veteran’s line.

“Any other rider wouldn’t have passed there,” Cameron said. “Shannon (Skerritt) wouldn’t. Reeb wouldn’t. Any of the other fast guys. There’s no need to do sketchy stuff like that. I was holding my line and Tuckerman drove into me. I know how to race my bike and bump elbows. But that was just uncalled for. It wasn’t on purpose. He wasn’t trying to take me out. But it was just unnecessary. In the process of moving up he just rode into me. There was no reason to be so aggressive. There are plenty of straightaways on this course to attack and get a gap. Just chill out. The only reason he won that race is because he put me on the ground and everyone else was behind me and had to slow down.”

But Tuckerman said that he felt he had proved the week before in Rainier, where he beat Cameron by 50 seconds on another fast climber’s course, that he didn’t need to do anything sketchy to win. Skerritt was behind the two leaders when they collided, and while admitting a team bias, he backed up Tuckerman’s version of events.

“Aaron got pinched a little bit for as low as he was by one of the course stakes and had to creep up just a little bit more than he may have wanted to,” Skerritt said. “Aaron wasn’t as far forward as I think he had timed, and he made contact with Molly. His hip hit Molly’s elbow, and the hip wins that one every time.

“It was legit,” he continued. “From the outside perspective it may have looked kind of ill-willed or malicious. Molly likes to describe her racing style as unapologetic European racing, well that was pretty unapologetic. Although Aaron did apologize afterward. I don’t think he intended to be that close. No one wants to take anybody out. And Molly went down pretty hard. And I almost did, too. But I think Aaron had every right to hold his line and not brake.”

After discussing the incident with most of the riders present in the lead group, OBRA official Teri Camp ruled against Cameron’s protest, leaving Tuckerman with the win but issuing him a warning for dangerous riding.

Tuckerman now leads the series with 72 overall points. Babcock and Cameron each have 46 points, followed by Skerritt with 45 and Reeb with 44. The best six of eight races count toward the overall series competition.

Pennington Powers to Elite Women’s Win
The women’s race was a much simpler affair by contrast. Upper Echelon Fitness rider Alice Pennington, who finished second behind Sue Butler (River City Bicycles/Ridley) during week #1 but missed last weekend’s Crusade, cruised with her competitors for half a lap before laying down the serious power and opening a sizable advantage to which she added steadily throughout the race.

“It was just like a road race,” Pennington said of her effort. “Because I didn’t have much of a warm up, for the first five or six minutes I just sat in the draft of the people who went off the line quick. So I used that as a warm up and then just put down the roadie power into the headwind.”

That seemed to be enough as Pennington quickly gained an advantage of around 10 seconds that she held for several laps on a chase group that formed behind. Pennington’s lead eventually expanded as the race wore on and the chase began to splinter.

In the race for the remaining podium spots and series points, Brooke McDermid (bicycleattorney.com), third last weekend behind Serena Bishop Gordon (Silverado Gallery/Sunnyside) and Tina Brubaker (Vanilla Bicycles), climbed one rung of the podium into the second-place spot, relegating Bishop Gordon to third, followed by Heather Clark (Bend Memorial Clinic Total Care) and Megan Chinburg (Corsa Concepts).

By the finish of the 60-minute women’s race, Pennington had built a 1:19 lead over McDermid, 1:41 over Bishop Gordon, 1:50 over Clark, and 2:26 over Chinburg.

The win moves Pennington into third overall with 46 series points. Bishop Gordon maintains the lead that she won in Rainier with 58 overall points. McDermid climbs to second with 47 points. Brubaker and Brigette Brown (River City Bicycles) are tied for fourth with 40 points.

The Cross Crusade heads west next week and picks up the battle at the Washington County Fair Complex in Hillsboro.

Gallery – Pat Malach

Gallery – Nick Fochtman

RESULTS

Elite Men

Pl	Num	First Name	Last Name	Team	City	Age	Laps	Time
1	79	Aaron	Tuckerman	Corsa Concepts Cycling Team	Portland	28	8	57:08.0
2	105	Sean	Babcock	Team S+M	Beaverton	28	8	57:22.0
3	20	Donald	Reeb	cyclocrossracing.com	Keizer	37	8	57:27.0
4	31	Shannon	Skerritt	Corsa Concepts Cycling Team	Portland	40	8	57:44.0
5	13	Molly	Cameron	MetaFilter - Portland Bicycle Studio	Portland	35	8	58:22.0
6	65	Damian	Schmitt	Silverado Gallery/Sunnyside	Bend	33	8	58:54.0
7	37	leland	gilmore	River City Bicycles	Portland	28	8	58:58.0
8	39	Ross	Brody	Buy Local Cycling	Salem	32	8	59:00.0
9	96	Ben	Thompson		Bend	35	8	59:05.0
10	15	Steve	Carwile	www.evanplews.com/KENDAUSA	portland	29	8	59:19.0
11	49	Seth	Patla	Gates Belt-Drive / River City Bicycles	Hillsboro	34	8	59:19.0
12	63	Ryan	Weaver	Gates Belt-Drive / River City Bicycles	Portland	33	8	59:25.0
13	123	Matt	Russell	Bend Memorial Clinic Total Care Racing Team	Bend	32	8	59:27.0
14	53	Chris	Snyder	bicycleattorney.com	Portland	38	8	59:31.0
15	119	Joshua	Liberles	Corsa Concepts Cycling Team		39	8	59:33.0
16	7	Ian	Leitheiser	Moots/Cyclepath	portland	40	8	00:18.0
17	80	Paul	LaCava		Portland	33	8	00:23.0
18	102	Josh	Kelley				8	00:24.0
19	130	Walton	Brush	West End Bikes/Specialized	Portland	21	8	00:33.0
20	120	Joshua	Johnston		Portland	30	8	00:34.0
21	124	Christopher	Bagg				8	00:37.0
22	62	Alex	Criss	Gates Belt-Drive / River City Bicycles	Portland	34	8	00:40.0
23	118	William	Barta		Boise	15	8	00:47.0
24	11	Matt	Fox	Silverado Gallery/Sunnyside	Bend	33	8	00:49.0
25	43	Chad	Swanson	Team S+M	The Dalles	34	8	00:53.0
26	4	Samuel	Nicoletti	Gentle Lovers	Portland	27	8	00:56.0
27	23	Seth	Hosmer	HPChiro/Alpine Mortgage Planning	Portland	36	8	00:57.0
28	25	Pete	Rubijono	Embrocation Cycling	Portland	35	8	01:13.0
29	67	Patrick	Jackson	Buy Local Cycling	Salem	32	8	01:18.0
30	127	Ben	RATHKAMP				8	01:23.0
31	52	Matthew	Wills	Embrocation Cycling	Portland	30	8	01:28.0
32	121	Erik	Tonkin				8	01:36.0
33	59	Patrick	Means	Team S+M	Corvallis	28	8	02:01.0
34	94	Spencer	Bushnell	Therapeutic Associates Cycling/Sagebrush Cycles	Portland	30	8	02:13.0
35	27	Joel	Madrone	Embrocation Cycling	portland	36	8	02:24.0
36	66	Scott	Bradway	Team S+M	Portland	40	8	02:24.0
37	131	Andrew	Boone	Team Oregon presented by Laurelwood Brewing	Bend	30	8	02:29.0
38	91	James	Ceccorulli		Portland	24	8	02:32.0
39	6	Jeff	Ballantine	Portland Velo	Portland	26	8	02:41.0
40	122	Ryan	King	IRA Ryan Cycles	Portland	27	8	02:44.0
41	58	Jonathan	Smith	Team S+M	Portland	37	8	02:46.0
42	28	Chip	Sloan	Gründelbrüisers/Stewie Bicycles	Vancouver	36	8	02:53.0
43	38	Doug	Wilmes	Portland Bicycle Studio	Portland	31	8	02:57.0
44	3	Nat	Johnson	Green Submarine Records	Portland	33	8	03:21.0
45	46	matt	hall	IRA Ryan Cycles	Portland	33	8	03:28.0
46	47	Ira	Ryan	IRA Ryan Cycles	Portland	35	8	03:31.0
47	21	Jonathan	Myers	Team S+M	Portland	44	8	03:35.0
48	92	Tim	Joslin	Cyclepath Racing	Portland	35	8	03:42.0
49	88	Gabriel	Linn	Trusty Switchblade	Bend	34	8	03:46.0
50	110	Justin	DeMallie	Filth and Fury	Portland	29	8	03:50.0
51	61	Dylan	VanWeelden	Embrocation Cycling	Portland	33	8	03:53.0
52	117	Robert	Carver	Ironclad Performance Wear	Portland	30	8	03:54.0
53	1	alex	wentz	Team Oregon presented by Laurelwood Brewing	Portland	22	8	03:56.0
54	32	Cole	Sprague	Bend Memorial Clinic Total Care Racing Team	Bend	18	8	03:59.0
55	26	Jeremy	Dunn	Embrocation Cycling	Portland	31	8	04:00.0
56	56	Ross	Bowden	HPChiro/Alpine Mortgage Planning	Portland	26	8	04:27.0
57	113	Colin	Rowan				8	04:29.0
58	100	Bruce	Cole-Baker	Silverado Gallery/Sunnyside	Bend	31	8	04:57.0
59	48	Julian	Deiss		Portland	33	8	05:10.0
60	75	Brian	Schultz	Gründelbrüisers/Stewie Bicycles	Portland	34	8	06:52.0
61	68	john	walrod	Gates Belt-Drive / River City Bicycles		35	7	57:09.0
62	84	Brian	Gerow	Corsa Concepts Cycling Team	Portland	30	7	57:13.0
63	125	Christopher	Dubois	Team Oregon presented by Laurelwood Brewing	Salem	22	7	57:13.0
64	87	Dan	Watson	Gentle Lovers	Portland	31	7	57:39.0
65	109	Ryan	Garner	Tensegrity PT Cycling	Eugene	30	7	57:53.0
66	90	Larry	Ehmke	Gründelbrüisers/Stewie Bicycles	Beaverton	32	7	57:57.0
67	60	Clint	Culpepper	Embrocation Cycling	Portland	31	7	58:04.0
68	97	David	Messenheimer	Green Submarine Records	Portland	31	7	58:11.0
69	128	Robert	Pilz	Gentle Lovers	Portland	32	7	58:25.0
70	81	Julien	Jaborska		Portland	29	7	58:35.0
71	126	Pete	Zlatnik		Portland	40	7	59:18.0
72	74	Jim	Anderson	Team Oregon presented by Laurelwood Brewing	Portland	34	7	00:29.0
73	99	Ian	Brown		Portland	32	6	03:18.0

Elite Women

Pl	Num	First Name	Last Name	Team	City	Age	Laps	Time
1	948	Alice	Pennington	Upper Echelon Fitness	Portland	30	7	59:17.0
2	922	Brooke	McDermid	bicycleattorney.com	Portland	31	7	00:36.0
3	937	Serena	Bishop Gordon	Silverado Gallery/Sunnyside	bend	32	7	00:58.0
4	915	Heather	Clark	Bend Memorial Clinic Total Care Racing Team	Bend	33	7	01:07.0
5	934	Megan	Chinburg	Corsa Concepts Cycling Team	Portland	32	7	01:43.0
6	918	Brigette	Brown		Portland		7
7	911	Beth Ann	Orton	Team S+M	Portland	30	7	02:14.0
8	928	Tina	Brubaker	Gentle Lovers	Salem	43	7	02:58.0
9	925	Anna	Christiansen	Ironclad Performance Wear	Portland	27	7	03:07.0
10	908	Erin	Playman	Team S+M	Portland	37	7	03:18.0
11	932	Abra	McNair	Showers Pass	PORTLAND	29	7	03:19.0
12	900	Alexandra	Burton	Upper Echelon Fitness Women's Cycling	Portland	30	7	03:27.0
13	939	Jill	Hardiman		White Salmon	41	7	03:47.0
14	952	Hilary	Billington				7	03:55.0
15	902	Susan	Peithman	Upper Echelon Fitness	Portland	30	7	04:07.0
16	949	nissy	Cobb	Tempo Cycling and Pilates Studio			7	04:08.0
17	951	Anona	Whitley	Ironclad Performance Wear	Portland	26	7	04:20.0
18	907	Sara	Fletcher		Portland	26	7	04:20.0
19	917	Taylor	Shekell	Team Beer	Portland	26	7	04:49.0
20	943	Sarah	Rawley				7	05:08.0
21	931	Susan	Grandjean	Showers Pass	Portland	38	7	05:15.0
22	919	Rachel	Bagley	IRA Ryan Cycles	Portland	33	7	05:16.0
23	942	Amy	Campbell	River City Bicycles	Portland	32	7	06:37.0
24	903	Jennifer	Cree	Upper Echelon Fitness	Portland	36	6	57:31.0
25	933	Megan	Faris				6	57:35.0
26	938	Laurie	Hotovy				6	57:39.0
27	947	Audrey	Brown	Team S+M	White Salmon	25	6	58:33.0
28	940	Karen	Oppenheimer		Bend	43	6	58:58.0
29	950	Marila	Alvares		Portland	40	6	59:10.0
30	945	Meagan	Masten		Salem		6	59:19.0