November

We dodged wet soggy bullet for what was forecasted to be >80% rain on Saturday and a muddfest on Sunday all turned out to be BONE DRY!  Although it was paid for with high winds gusting 20-30mph+. While the pirates and skallywags were bringing the heckling to Heather at Swashbucklers, she had a couple mishaps  like getting wrapped up in wind-blown Cannondale course tape of all things slid her down the field to finish in 9th.   Meanwhile Webb was down at Biketoberfest defending the MABRA SS jersey and stepped up to the podium with a strong 2nd place finish!!

The following Sunday, Webb took 5th down at the Lilly Ponds of Ed Sanders Memorial CX.  The rest of WWR Cross was at Stoudts - where the beer is - go figure! That JB MTB Racing team took no mercy on this year's course design, running it in reverse direction of previous years, forcing racers up goat hill 6x for the women's elite race and about 8x for the men.  Rob finished strong in the rolling Armageddon field of the 4/5 Men, finishing 24/69.  Alex and Jason raced the Killer B's (3/4 Men), where Alex had a top 10 finish and Jason was in the hunt until he ripped the cable out of the front derailleur and followed that up with a flat. Heather battled a sore back that morning, but still got rolling with expert passing up Goat Hill, and found herself finishing 6th place on the podium.

Fair Hill CX took place on Saturday with 254 racers.  The sun was out and the wind abated just enough to make for comfortable racing conditions…and great spectating! A lot of friends and family came out to watch as the racers put on a mighty good show with some spectacular falls on the off-camber turns that wound around the horse park.  WWR had great representation!  Ultra trail runner/soccer star Liz just showed up (rumor has it after running 17 miles on Wednesday) and took a solid 8th place finish while mommy Kimmie finished just a few spots behind at 11th amongst the 3/4 Women. Despite a spectacular wipe out, which was caught on camera, Jason recovered and finished 19th in the Killer B's.  We gotta hand it to Webb, who despite dislocating his shoulder last week racing, showed up to race Fair Hill, fell, dislocated it AGAIN, got up and finished the Killer B race.  Heather had one of her strongest races yet, getting a great start and hanging with the fast pack as long as she could, finishing 12th out of 21 in a particularly strong Elite Women field. 

Sunday Webb and Heather raced at Schooley Mill with a crowd of 478 racers.  Despite the shoulder, Webb showed up got a top 10 finish, which was enough to keep him in 2nd place in the SS Category of the BikeReg.com Super8 Series. Heather suffered a mechanical that cost loads of time that was to much to claw back from which ended her race just outside the top 10 in 11th. 

Kutztown MAC Race #10 took place Saturday November 15th with 222 racers.  Brisk temps, a little wind and sunny skies set the scene for Heather battling it out with the 1/2/3 Women to finish 8th out of 14.  The course zig-zagged across a relatively flat field with the addition of a newly made pump track.  If corning wasn't your strength, you may have had some trouble with this one.  

Rockburn Event #7 in the BikeReg.com Super 8 Series took place on Sundaywith 435 racers.  Grey skies made it feel colder but that didn't deter Webb and Heather from getting out and racing. It must have been Lucky Number 7 for WWR, with Webb placing 7th in the Single Speed Open and Heather placing 7th in the Women 1/2/3 field.   The course had some nice elevation gains, a log-over, barriers, single track through the woods, and several off-camber W's to negotiate - causing several racers to roll their tubulars right off the rims.  

With these races complete the 2014 BikeReg.com Super 8 Individual Standings wrap up next month at Capital Cross in DC.  Current standings have Webb 2nd in Single Speed Open and Heather 8th Pro 1/2/3 Women.

The the next weekend's races were South Germantown CX and the PACX Finale in West Chester. Webb continued to churn his single ring to propel him to a 2nd place finish at South Germantown CX. In the PACX race Heather put the hammer down to close out the month with 6th place. Both Heather and Webb have been posting up phenomenal results every week deep into the cyclocross season. Great work!!!!

Finally Wooden Wheels polished off the month of November with the strongest overall showing of the CX season at the MABRA Cyclocross Maryland, DC, and Delaware State Championships in Taneytown, MD. Heather took 5th place in her race to claim the DE state title! Kim nailed 3rd in Cat 4 and Webb kept the good WW race pace up with a 5th place finish in SS to keep a hold of the MBRA sportif SS Cat leaders jersey. 

OCTOBER

Onto Michaux Sate Forest for Iron Cross! In its twelve year it followed the new course that was unveiled last year. Including all the usual fun of the Wigwam and Powerline run-ups as well as the neverending Hogshed Road climb. As per the usual flavor of Iron Cross it finished with a grueling 11 mile climb to the line with the last two miles averaging near 14%, can you even believe that exists on the east coast!

Iron Cross 100K Finishers:
Will Neide in Single Speed finished in 11th after a leg pounding 4hrs 59 min
Jeff Burress caim across in 64th fighting through the longest 6hrs, 25 min anyone can put themselves through.

Iron Cross Lite Finishers:
Rob landed in 2nd after 2 hrs 4 min of race time.
Katrina, 3rd overall Women.

If you ever have the opportunity to race in New England, you must take it! Picture near ONE THOUSAND hardcore competitive cross racers raring to attack challenging courses in festival like atmosphere. Providence Cross is a huge event offering three days of vendor expos showcasing the latest and greatest bikes and gear, music, a mountain bike stunt show, and a wide array of food options. Simply put the cross scene up there is amazing.

Friday of that weekend kicked off the weekend with the Madison of Cyclocross - an hour long, two-person relay. Heather teamed up with Scotty Roberts to test their skills against other highly talented duos even a couple pros to keep everyone honest! We finished 36/64 - as a coed team in the open category. The course had THREE flyovers and a small table top ramp right in front of the beer garden to give the heckling audience a front row seat for the main event.

Saturday the moisture showed itself and things turned a bit cooler, damper, and cloudier. But the weather held all day up to the Women's pro race. As they called the women to staging, the rain began drizzling, and Heather was seated at the back of a the pack. After a sketchy start on the now-slick asphalt the women went down like bowling pins mid pack. Heather danced to around the crash and hung on putting in a massive effort only to get pulled with just one lap to go. Way to put down all you cards, Heather!

Sunday brought much more favorable riding conditions that revitalized Heather's energy stores. She was able to hang on to the Women's UCI Elite field and even take back a couple places on the final lap to finish up in 51st that included Delawar's own Katie Compton!!!

Meanwhile back in the Midatalantic:

At Psycho CrossWebb landed 2nd in Men's SS Open and Hyattsville Cross
Webb kept at the SS Men's Open for an 8th place finish.

As cross season rolled on into full swing at the Seneca Creek Cyclocross race in Gaithersburg, MD
Webb continued his assault on Mens SS Open with a First Place!!! 

The following day at another Maryland venue the Tacchino Cyclocross race in Rosaryville State Park Webb found a 4th place Men's SS Open while Heather stormed the Women's Cat 1/2/3 into an 8th place.  

West Chester Cross Classic was under way following that in the PACX series where Ed Williams  raced the 4/5 Men to a 39/93 place.


Also at the two day DCCX  (event #4 of the Super8 Series) Wooden Wheels go to cross racer, Andrew Webster took on the Single Speed Open field to find himself a podium worthy 5th on day 1 and a follow up 8th on day 2. Heather showed up as usual to battle the Women's Cat 1/2/3 crowd to a 9th on day 1 and 16th on day 2. Great racing down in the nation's capital. 

Finishing off October with cross racing at AACX in Maryland- Sunday Oct 26 Webb and Kim represented Wooden Wheels with another 1st Place in Men's SS open and a superb 5th place in Women's Cat 4. 

The same day at Crossasaurus Awesome Heather managed to work her way up into a 6th place finish.