Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Jonathan Baker is preparing for national UCI circuit after winning all of the elite men's races in Colorado so far this season, including:
9/13 Pikes Peak Supercross #1 in Colorado Springs
9/14 Brecktobercross in Breckenridge
9/21 Mammoth 'Cross #1 in Golden
This Wednesday he travels to Las Vegas for the UCI C1 Race 'Cross Vegas (this race is sponsored by our own Denver/Boulder Couriers) to compete against the best in the nation. ‘Cross Vegas kicks off a circuit that will include UCI Racing in Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Delaware, Pennsylvania culminating in the national championships to be held in Kansas City, Missouri in mid-December. After that it is on to the World Cup circuit, with races mainly held in Belgium and The Netherlands. This racing will serve as preparation for a bid at World Championships, held at Hoogeheide, NL, in early February.
Contact Jonathan:
720-323-6712
jbaker.beasys@gmail.com
Friday, September 19, 2008
In the 2008 road racing season, the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies took Colorado's Best All Around Team Competition in the men's pro-1-2 category for the fifth year running. With that title now in the books, attention turns to cyclocross.
Jon Baker notched a pair of wins to open up his cyclocross account for the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies. In prior years, Baker has had different team arrangements during the cyclocross season but will be racing in the familiar orange and purple in 2008.
Saturday, Sep 13 saw Bear Creak Park in Colorado Springs as the venue. Baker lapped all but second and third place on his way to victory in the men's elite race. Sunday, Sep. 14 provided some high-altitude cross in Breckenridge Colorado. Baker had to come back from a mid race mechanical problem but was still able to pull off the victory.
Next up its Cross Vegas for Baker and a team of special guests, including former VC rider and current Successful Living Pro Chuck Coyle. Cross Vegas is held in Las Vegas during the interbike trade show. Last year Baker held is own in the lead group of domestic and international cross stars and finished 7th on the day. Stay tuned for a race report.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Kirsten started racing more consistently in the junior women’s 10-12 category this year. She raced the past two seasons doing tandem races with her dad and the state TT on her own. After her first season of cyclocross she wanted to strike out on her own for road races. She especially wanted to compete in the Cherry Creek TT series. After winning two of those time trials Kirsten was hooked on bike racing. Halfway through the season out of curiosity she checked the BAR results and found herself in fourth place. She set her sights on moving up in the ratings and finished in first place!
Kirsten placed in the top 5 all year and had a long string of races where she was first or second. She won at the Wheels of Thunder, Longmont Criterium, and Rock the River races. The competition came down to the last weekend of racing. Kirsten needed to do well in both races to hold the lead position. She placed fourth in the Federal Center Circuit race and then sixth in the Bannock Criterium.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Baker wins Tour of Colorado, Gateway and Boulder Roubaix – Jon Baker continues to have a strong 2008 campaign. This past Saturday, Baker took out one of Colorado’s most prestigious races by winning a wet and muddy edition of Boulder Roubaix. The win was a sweet one due to the teamwork involved. Jon Tarkington went in a very early move with Alan Krughoff (Team Rio Grande) and put pressure on the field. When Tarkington was caught late in the race, Christian McCarthy took off on a solo move. Sheldon Taylor (Team Rio Grande) bridged up to McCarthy with only Baker in tow. Upon Taylor’s arrival at the McCarthy rear wheel, Baker launched a textbook attack and held it to the line for the win. McCarthy would finish third. Derek Strong continued a string of solid performances by finishing 6th and Dirk Friel took 7th. Tarkington hung on for 10th.
Baker finished 5th the following day at another Colorado Classic – the North Boulder Park Criterium. With that placing, Baker clinched the Tour of Colorado. In taking that title, Baker won a pair of climbing road races the prior weekend in Grand Junction, CO.
In women’s racing, Anne Lannan took 2nd in the North Boulder Park Criterium with VC teammates Renee Eastman, Lisa Strong and Jenna Allen taking 6th and 9th and 10th, respectively.
McCarthy racks up silvers – in other race news, VC strongman Christian McCarthy notched three-in-row second places in recent weekend races. In all three instances, McCarthy was second to some solid professional riders. McCarthy took second to Heath Blackgrove (Toyota United), Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) and Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) at the Federal Center Circuit Race (Aug 2), Bannock Criterium (Aug 3) and Vic’s Prospect Criterium (Aug 9).
Pinkerton wins Nevada Masters State Championship – VC team manager and long time rider Bob Pinkerton recently took the Northern California/Northern Nevada State Criterium Championship in the 50+ Division at the Carson Valley Classic Criterium.
Kellagher, Barrowclough and Mapes – The Vitamin Cottage pb XP Companies team snagged a few recent victories of note. Bill Kellagher won the 45+ and James Mapes the Category 3 Boulder Roubaix race. Mathew Barrowclough won the Salida Criterium.
Monday, July 14, 2008
McCormack takes the win (photo by Lewis Geyer/Timescall.com)
Alan McCormack won the 2008 CO State Criterium Championship in a dramatic finish. While Dirk Friel's presence in a long breakaway looked promising for him to repeat as the state crit champ, with three laps to go, Friel was the last rider away after his three breakaway companions were swallowed up by the field. Friel held a narrow margin over the field, but with half a lap to go was caught. Never fear, as McCormack along with teammates Randy Reichardt and Christian McCarthy were well positioned for the sprint. McCormack took a close sprint over Reichardt in second with McCarthy finishing in sixth. Reichardt's second was impressive given that he crashed hard just 15 minutes earlier. For a full report, check out the Longmont news article from the timescall.com.
In Saturday's Rocky Mounts Criterium, Dirk Friel took second to team THF's Dan Schmatz.
The 08 State Crit podium (Byron Nix, Alan McCormack and Randy Reichardt)
Following are race reports by Jon Baker.
Vail Hillclimb:
Raced on the same day as the Mike Horgan hillclimb in Boulder, which I unfortunately would miss, the Vail Hillclimb promoted by Teva Mountain Games, and sponsored by Backcountry.com, offered a generous prize fund; but only 4 deep. This was the first race in my upcoming 5 week road trip, so I was motivated to earn a bit of money. Checking out the start list on the morning of the race revealed some heavy hitters, including Ned Overend (winner of the past 2 years), Mike Carter, Drew Miller, Stefano Barberi, Corey Collier (Health Net), and the Toyota duo of Ben Day and Chris Baldwin (both current or former national TT champions). I knew I would have to be on my "A" game for this one.
When I won this event 3 years ago, I raced on a full TT setup; this year, I used my road bike with clip-on bars. The course is half flat/rolling, with the 2nd half an uphill grade of 7%. With a ripping tailwind, times were super-fast, with both Day and Baldwin breaking the former course record (held by Andy Hampsten!). I was able to slot in 3rd place, about 20 seconds off the old record time. See http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jun08/jun10news for a snippet on the race.
Folsom Criterium:
I raced a criterium in Folsom, CA as a warmup for my favorite race of the year, the Nevada City Classic. After lapping the field with a large group of 13, I mustered a fifth place in the sprint.
Nevada City Classic:
Held in my home town of Nevada City, CA, this race serves as a good reason to travel out to California, and see my family for Fathers Day. Oh yeah, and the race is pretty cool too. As the oldest race on the west coast, it has an impressive history and list of former winners (see www.ncclassic.com). I've dreamed of winning this race ever since I started competing, and always arrive super motivated. This year saw a list of the usual suspects for the difficult circuit that climbs 150 feet per lap for 40 laps. Scott Nydam, Justin England, Burke Swindlehurst, Steven Cozza, Matt Cooke, and Ned Overend were among the top contenders. As expected, attrition was the rule of the day, and by the midpoint the front group was down to a dozen or so riders. First Nydam, then England went up the road, and as I was going through a bad patch, I was unable to respond. The remaining seven or eight guys I was with set a good tempo, and we stayed within striking distance as I recovered a bit. As the race wound down, it became obvious that we would only be able to contest the final podium spot. I launched a late attack on the last lap, but was overtaken in the last 200 meters by Graham Howard (Bissell) and Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics), to arrive 5th on the day. I was pleased with the result nonetheless, as it equaled my previous best in this notoriously difficult event.
Tour De Nez:
The Tour De Nez was back to it's former glory as a multi-day NRC stage race this year. Held at altitude in and around the Reno / Tahoe area, this event is tailor-made for Coloradans. VC brought a 4 man team including, Randy Reichardt, Joey Pinkerton, Dirk Friel, and me. From the Team Presentation on the Grand Stage at the Grand Sierra Casino, to the Post-Event party with gourmet catered food and an open bar, the organization was top-notch. We were treated to complimentary hotel rooms, as well as 2 meals / day for the Reno portion of the event, and with Northstar Mountain Resort's commitment for the next 3 years, I was told that teams would be given rooms there as well next year.
I've realized that at the NRC level, if I just sit in and wait for the finale, I'm a bit behind the top riders. With that in mind, I was determined to "race" all stages this year, looking to be opportunistic and get in breakaways. That strategy panned out, as I was able to make the break on stage 2, finishing 2nd, and again on the final day, only missing the top step by about 6 inches! Overall, the stage results were much better than my anonymous 12th place overall, justifying my race strategy. As result of my two second places, I also was second in the Points competition, adding another $500 to the coffers. I was very happy I was able to get this result for the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies as we were due another national level result.