On Sunday there will be the great opportunity to race at Durango’s Santa Rita Park. The park is located at the intersection of Hwy 160/550 and Santa Rita Dr. (it is where the Chamber of Commerce building and Whitewater park is). This course features a tough run-up and the volleyball court sand. Again, registration commences at 9am with the Open Women and Men’s B categories racing at 10am. The Kids/MTB race rolls at 11am and the Men’s A/Men’s 40+ races goes at 11:30am.

Cortez CX is the third race of the seven race FLC Cyclocross Series p/b Animas
Orthopedics, Durango Coca-Cola and Rivergate Sports Medicine.

At Parque de Vida in Cortez the conditions were truly CX with 3 inches of
melting snow and windy/cold temps. The course started next to the Rec.
Center and used much of the terrain of the park including the banked hill of
the skate park, the edge of the goose pond and a long foray through the sand
of the volleyball courts right before the finish of the lap.

The Men’s B race was immediately dominated by Garrett Alexander (FLC) while
a group of five sat 10 seconds back for the first third of the race. The
third lap saw the chase group explode with 15 year old Sepp Kuss (Durango
Devo) and Scott Dahlberg (DCCX) distance themselves from the other chasers,
but the gap to Alexander kept growing a bit each lap and that was the final
order.

Teal Stetson-Lee (FLC) and Lauren Hall (Hudz/Subaru) took off the from the
gun to set the early pace while the rest of the women sorted themselves out.
FLC racers Missy Erickson and Stephanie Falls flip-flopped in third and
fourth most of the race. Stetson-Lee pulled away from Hall a couple laps
into the 6 lap race and went on for the win while a late race mechanical saw
Falls get a gap on Erickson that held up to the finish.

In the Men’s 40 year old and up race the sprint for the first turn was won
by Kenny When (Colavita NM) and he pulled away consistently each lap for the
runaway victory. Behind him a group of 4 battled for position with Robert
Sonora (DCCX) putting in the first attack and Jon Delacy (DCCX) the second
that left the other two chasers, Joe Burtoni (DCCX) and Dave Hagen (FLC) in
their wake. On the last lap Delacy ended up getting by Sonora for second.

The Men’s A field, which sometimes can resemble a much larger race with the
many world/national caliber racers hailing from the region, started like
they were shot out of a cannon. Matt Shriver (Rocky Mountain Chocolate
Factory) instantly put his stamp on the race by getting 20 seconds on the
first lap. Cycling legend Ned Overend (Boure), Joey Thompson (Rocky Mountain
Chocolate Factory), Greg Lewis (Directory Plus/Trek), Chad Wells
(Hudz/Subaru) and Michael Carroll (DCCX) set up the chase on the quickly
deteriorating course conditions. This group eventually split up in that
order with 20-30 second gaps between each with Overend getting 2nd and
Thompson 3rd and Shriver taking the win by a comfortable margin.

A big thank you goes out to Ami Fair, the Special Events Coordinator with
Cortez Parks and Rec.for making the race possible and the great volunteers
from the Cortez cycling community/Kokopelli Bike Shop.

Next on the slate for the series is a twin bill coming up this weekend, Nov.
21 and 22, with races in Aztec, NM on Saturday and back in Durango at Santa
Rita Park on Sunday. 

Here are the results.

Cortez CX is this Sunday at Parque de Vida/Cortez Rec. Center (entering Cortez from the east, turn right at Taco Bell and the Rec. Center will be on your left after 2 blocks).

Sunday, Nov. 15 – Cortez – Parque de Vida - Registration 9 - 11:15am, closes 15 minutes before Start Time
 
Category                              Start Time   Race Time   
Men’s B/ Women’s Open   10am           45 Minutes   
Kids/MTB                              11am           20 Minutes   
Men’s A/ Men’s 40+           11:30am      50 Minutes  

Check out the series points so far below:

FLCCX Series p/b Animas Orthopedic Associates, Durango Coca-Cola and Rivergate Sports Medicine Standings

See y’all this Sunday,
Hagen

Here are the results