The 2009-10 Southern California Prestige Series of Cyclocross presented by Shimano is now officially half way through the season with stop number eight at Celo Pacific’s Storm the Beach Cyclocross in Oceanside, CA. Over two hundred racers came out to play in the sun, sand, and surf – and it seems that everybody had a great time. The course was a dichotomous balance of high speed and slow motion racing. Hard packed fire roads and a long, firm beach section saw speeds approaching those of your local criterium. These were punctuated by steep bluff-side climbs, a barely rideable sand-pit, and two deep sand runs. The bluff-top expo area which overlooked all the technical portions of the course gave the spectators a dilemma of whether to watch the riveting race action or gaze out at a stunning ocean view. After their races, appreciative riders took advantage of the bike washing station provided by Nomad Portable Power Cleaners to get that grinding noise out of their drivetrains. Other highlights of the day included SoCal’s youngest ‘crossers competing in the Clif Bar kids race; the “Please Pre-register” raffle for a pair of Revolution Wheelworks Rev-25x wheels won by Kermit McGovern; and an historic moment in SoCal cyclocross racing with Brent Prenzlow taking his 100^th career Elite win. Now on to the racing action…

 

The juniors were first up and carving lines in the fresh sand.  Tori Baldewin, Team Velocity's up-and-coming racing star led the 10-14 Junior women's race smiling as always along the way!  In a hotly contested Junior 10-14 Men's race... newcomer Quinten KIrby took the win! The warm SoCal sunshine brought in racers from as far away as Sacramento and New Mexico including National Masters Champion Tove Shere, (Nat'ls Project)  in town visiting friend Renee Milton, made a powerful showing to win the Masters Women's 35+ race (3 of the top 4 ladies were over 50! Go fast ladies!) with Milton finishing in a respectable 6^th place in her first ever ‘cross race!  Both had so much fun, they duked it out again in the Women's Elite race!  Jon Miller  (Rock N Road) "aka Wave Dogg" surfed his way through sand to a smooth victory as the donimant series leader in the 55+ men's race.  Johnny O'Mara continues his winning ways in the 45+ Men's race... winning two in a row with hid debut at Spooky Cross this season.  Host club and Best Team Competition Leaders Celo Pacific took victories in starting with the Yourth-Jameson Campaigne, Ben Jones (SS 1/2/3), James Walsh (Men 3/4) and Brent Prenzlow (1/2/3) races.  Mike McMahon (Velocity) returns to form with a close but powerful victory in the 35+ 1/2/3 race between 6 riders and coming down to the final lap uphill sprint finish.

 

Just as with every field on the day, a wicked fast start initiated the Women’s Elite race across the course's long, hardpack dirt sections. The pack was led out by Tonya Bray (YOR Health/MTBChick.com) and followed closely by Megan Elliott (Black Mountain), Dorothy Wong (SoCalCross-CICLE) Lana Atchley (unattached) and Emily Katchorik (Beer). Once the race hit the sand, Megan Elliott (Black Mountain) and Dorothy Wong (SoCalCross-CICLE) attacked. Then taking advantage of their strong road backgrounds, the pair worked together and increased their lead on the hard packed fire roads. Megan proved to be the stronger rider and surged on the finish hill with two laps to go, opening a gap on Wong. Elliot kept the tempo high and maintained her lead to the finish. In the end it was Elliott, Wong and Lana Atchley (also a strong road and track rider) on the blocks with Tonya Bray and Emily Katchorik rounding out the top five.

 

In the Elite Men’s race, presented by Hoover and Nebrig, the action started out fast and furious through the dirt fire roads and resembled a (dirt) road race as the pack stuck together taking advantage of the draft. The early pace was driven by Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific/B&L), Brandon Gritters (Rock n Road), Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air), John Bailey and John Behrens (Bailey Bikes). It was the deep sand sections, however, that would prove to be decisive. On the third lap, as the eight-strong lead pack wended its way through the sand, Prenzlow and Taberlay threw down the wattage and opened a gap. The two collaborated on the fast fire roads, but once on the beach Prenzlow made an acceleration into the B&L Bikes sand run and forged into the lead, leaving Taberlay in his wake. Prenzlow threw everything into this move and, upon re-emerging onto the beach from the fire roads on the next lap, Taberlay was nowhere in sight and would eventually slip back to the chase group. The last three laps saw Prenzlow increase his lead while the battle for second place remained close despite several riders being taken out of contention by flats including Kyle Gritters (Rock n Road) and John Bailey. Finally on the last lap, Prenzlow used the massive lead he had built up to savor taking his 100^th career Elite win on his home course and in front of a home crowd: beaming a huge smile, high fiving the crowd, and dismounting to finish in classic cyclcocross style. The sprint for second resembled a tractor pull with rooster tails of sand being thrown up by the lead group of riders as they careened through the sand pit under full power. Taberlay held off a hard charging John Behrens with Gary Douville (Platinum Performance) and Fritz Bottger (PAA/Sixtumed) just behind.

Results:

Elite Men
Place	FName	LName	City	State	Club
1	Brent	Prenzlow	CARLSBAD	CA	Celo Pacific / B+L Bikes
2	Sid	Taberlay	SOUTH PASADENA	CA	Sho-Air
3	John	Behrens	SAN DIEGO	CA	Bailey Bikes
4	Gary	Douville	GOLETA	CA	Platinum Performance Cycling Team
5	Frederick	Bottger	PASADENA	CA	PAA / SIXTUMED p/b CARE FOR DIABETICS
6	Brandon	Gritters	MISSION VIEJO	CA	Rock n Road
7	Kyle	Gritters	LAKE FOREST	CA	Rock n Road
8	Jason	First	LAGUNA BEACH	CA	Pioneer/Crank Brothers
9	John	Bailey	SAN DIEGO	CA	Bailey Bikes
10	Dana	Weber	ALISO VIEJO	CA	Trek
11	Ted	Willard	LAGUNA NIGUEL	CA	Rock n Road
12	Anton	Petrov	REDONDO BEACH	CA	Bike Religion
13	Peter	Knudsen	SACRAMENTO	CA	Beer
14	Eric	Colton	LOS ANGELES	CA	Team CICLE
15	Nate	Deibler	BUENA PARK	CA	5 Star
16	Orion	Berryman	ENCINITAS	CA	Swamis
17	Damon	Roberson	HUNTINGTON BEACH	CA	Surf City Cyclery
18	Michael	Herdman	LAGUNA BEACH	CA	Cal Poly Wheelmen
19	Ryan	Cox	SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO	CA	Linked Cycling
20	Griffith	Vertican	CEDAR GLEN	CA	Bear Valley Bikes
DNF	Jeff	Sanford	RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA	CA	Celo Pacific
DNF	Colt	Peterson	HUNTINGTON BEACH	CA	Bike Religion
DNF	Robert	Herber	MURRIETA	CA	Dixon Art
Elite Women
Place	FName	LName	City	State	Club
1	Megan	Elliot	SAN DIEGO	CA	Black Mountain Bicycles
2	Dorothy	Wong	ALTADENA	CA	Team CICLE
3	Lana	Atchley	ENCINITAS	CA
4	Tonya	Bray	ALTADENA	CA	YOR Health / mtbchick.com
5	Emily	Kachorek	SACRAMENTO	CA	Beer
6	Christina	Probert	MURRIETA	CA	Unattached
7	Jill	Sisamis	COSTA MESA	CA	Team Duke
8	Anna	Fortner	CARPENTERIA	CA	Van Dessel
9	Renee	Milton
10	Jean-Marie	Wheeler	SAN DIEGO	CA	G.S. Adams Avenue Bikes
11	Carol	Ruckle	REDLANDS	CA	Team Possabilities
12	Tove	Shere	SANTA FE	NM	Natls Project
13	Annette	Padilla	SAN DIEGO	CA	Celo Pacific