Sienna Lake Cyclocross

Front Rangers, Sienna Lake CX

On a cool and crazy weather day, Front Rangers youth athletes from our cyclocross team (CX), took to a challenging and muddy course for the junior races, Saturday.
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Our 13-14 yr. old athletes, along with their 15-16 yr. old counterparts, waited for their starts as the sun was shining and temperatures warmed. Within a matter of minutes, the clouds took over, the temperature dropped and the sky began to spit sleet, causing everyone to scramble for jackets to stay warm.

Darius, Leo and Mark launched from their starting line and rode well to establish their positions in the field.  

Mark had spent significant time during pre-ride practicing the steep descent and climb through the ditch, determining that running the uphill was best.  Mark looked strong riding that section of the course. As the photos show, he also had a close encounter of the very muddy kind out on the course during his race.

Darius has his patented smile showing in the photo from his race; glad you were having fun, D! Darius also had a muddy experience descending into the gully, turning his left shifter into a pretzel. That’s cyclocross and repairs will be complete before CX of the North.

Leo also had a solid race and the demand of the course showed in his fatigue after the event – a great feeling of accomplishment to compete in such an event.

Sam battled the course, as well as one of his competitors, passing and repassing each other throughout the race. Eventually Sam got the better of his rival and opened up an insurmountable lead on the last lap; a very satisfying race result.

Adriana used her newly developed descending skills to ride strongly on the hilly sections of the course, including the steep pitch into the gully. Coach Chris commented that Adriana has developed her skills significantly since she first began cyclocross and that development showed at Sienna Lake.

Jayshaun and Peter both rode in the 11-12 year old junior race, successfully battling the course and the weather conditions. Jayshaun was another athlete that wanted to practice the descent into the gully multiple times during the pre-ride.  The run-up was particularly difficult to get solid footing on and Jayshaun showed his grit and determination to tackle the run-up. Peter shared his infectious smile after the race, showing once again his almost constant joy when riding a bicycle.

Thanks to Coach Chris, Alex, parents, guardians and teammates for supporting Front Ranger athletes at the Sienna Lake Cyclo-X race.