Race: Georgia State Cyclocross Championships
Date: 12-7-2002
Place: Sandy Creek Park, Athens, GA
Distance: 7.4 miles
Speed: 11.7 mph
Time: 37 minutes
The Georgia State Cyclcocross Series Finale and State Championships was held at Sandy Creek Park in Athens, GA. The course was about 60% road and 40% off road. It began with a long slight uphill along a paved road to a right hand turn and the first set of barriers. The course turned slightly downward for a fast section with 2 curb jumps and a loamy dirt path. It continued down a paved walking path to a sharp right hand turn to a grassy run up. The course then wound back on itself in the grass towards the final run up, which was a barrier and a steep hill. The final section put riders back on the road.
Eight women lined up to contest the state cross championships. Lisa Ropke (Independent Fabrications), winner of the previous 6 series races, was the heavy favorite. It would be hard to beat her speed and technical skills. Esther Davis (Outback Bikes), Trish Albert (Nalley), Kim Sawyer (Nalley), Kim Budde (Nalley), Becky Caldwell, Cathy Boland (Velo Bella), and others were going to do their best to prevent Lisa from taking the state title to go along with the Series title that she had already wrapped up. I got a good starting position in the second row, right behind Lisa. The rest of the women and I watched Lisa ride away from the gun. She would manage to lap almost everyone by the time the race was over. I got a good start and was among the top 12 people to hit the first set of barriers. On the downhill, I caught sight of Kim S., who passed me. Esther was right behind us. Over the next barriers, I passed both Kim and Esther as they remounted. We stayed together through the grass section, and I pulled slightly ahead on the next run up. Kim passed me on the road. I was breathing hard but feeling good. I was determined to keep up the pace as long as I could. It would be interesting to see how a car accident earlier in the week affected the race later on. Esther nearly caught me on the road, but I stayed ahead of her easily in the barriers. She passed me on the dirt section, and I powered as hard as I could down the paved hill to stay with her. Once again, I caught her and Kim at the second set of barriers. I passed them for the last time during the race. I pulled slightly ahead until the next run up. Kim and Esther both powered by me on the road. My breathing was rapid and almost put me into a VCD attack, and I had to back off. I glanced back to see where Kim B. and Becky were. I had a good gap on them, but I wanted to widen it a little bit. Going into the third lap, I was 4th. Esther and Kim were about 10 seconds ahead of me. I tried my best to catch them the rest of the lap but could not. Knowing that I could not catch the Cat. 2's, I settled into my rhythm and focused on having fun the rest of the race. The fourth lap was very steady, but by the sixth lap, my back began to bother me. I focused on finishing. I was at least 25 seconds ahead of the fifth place rider, who I assumed was Kim B. I later found out that she had to drop out. I saw Becky a few times, but she was far enough back that I was not concerned about my lead. Going over the second run up, my back nearly exploded into a fireball of pain. I hobbled back onto my bike and tried to use the grass section to recover. I hopped off, jumped the barrier, and walked up the hill. Remounting, I felt the searing pain. The car accident had shown its ugly head. My back was done for. I spun up the road and into the next lap. I took it easy and recovered a bit. Lisa passed me on what I thought was my final lap. Coming into the paved section, Jeff Traicott, tried to motivate me. He let me latch onto his wheel to catch the draft. I held it until the start/finish line. I thought we were done, but I had one more lap to go. I looked back and did not see any other women behind me. I sat up and spun the last lap. It was the final effort to top off a fun cyclocross season.
I wound up 4th, which I was a little disappointed with although I know that there is no way I can hang with the Cat. 2 riders. I gave it my best for as long as I could at the beginning of the race, so I had to feel good about that. I clinched 2nd place overall in the Georgia Cyclocross Series, which I was ecstatic about! Even though I missed a race, I placed well enough for 2nd.
The Masters Men kicked off the action followed by the A's and C's. Here are the unofficial state championship results.
Georgia Cyclocross Series Winners
| Cat. A | Andy Johnston (EPX)-State Champion & Series Winner, John Phillips (Jittery Joes)-Silver Medal & 2nd in the Series |
| Cat. C | Brady Rogers (Bicycles Unlimited)-State Champion & Series Winner, Cleve Blackwell (Bicycles Unlimited)-Silver Medal & 2nd in the Series |
| Masters 40+ | Brad Harper (The Bike Center)-State Champion, Scott Ewing-Series Winner |
| Masters 30+ | Tony Scott (Genesis)-State Champion & Series Winner, Doniminque Desmonts (Peoplesoft)-Silver, Dub Smith-2nd in the Series |
| Women | Lisa Ropke (IF)-State Champion & Series Winner, Ester Davis (Outback Bikes)-Silver Medal, Trish Albert (Nalley Automotive)-2nd in the Series |
| Juniors | Brian Foley (Genesis)-State Champion 17-18 & Series Winner, Christian Fontaine (Bike Town)-U15 State Champion, Quint Smith (Nalley)-Best Under 14 Series Rider |
The unofficial awards were:
Best Pit Crew – Kim Budde
Most Improved Rider – Walter Stark
Best New Masters Rider – Tony Scott
Best New U30 Rider – Tim Barrett
Most Bike Changes - John Phillips
Most Family Members in the Series – The Halgat Family
Unbeatable – Lisa Ropke
Genesis-Fulton Flyers narrowly beat out Nalley Automotive for the team title. Each team fielded 10 riders throughout the season. Congratulations to everyone! It was a fun season!