October 11, 2009 (Edmonton, AB) – It’s a stacked field with 54 riders on the start line for the U23/Elite men’s race at the 2009 Jim Horner Cyclocross GP just underway. There have been off and on flurries making the 3.1km course even more slippery so we expect lots of crashes over the 60 min.

Lap 1
Ontario’s Mike Garrigan (Jetpower) gets the hole shot as the men are off… a group of three are now leading with Garrigan and 2009 CX champ Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) in 2nd, Tyler Trace (BC) Trek Red Truck in 3rd with Aaron Schooler (AB) Team H&R Block Kona close behind…

There are reports of riders taking handouts of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on the course – we’re trying to get photos.

Lap 2
It’s Kabush and Garrigan leading as Trace went down as Schooler passed him but he also went down – now both recovered at 7s – with Derrick St. John on his own in 5th. Then it’s Kevin Noiles (BC) La Bicicletta in 6th and current 2009 U23 Men’s champ Evan Guthrie (BC) Rocky Mountain in 7th.

Lap 3
Kabush is now leading with a 3s lead over St. John who moved up followed by Schooler in 3rd with Trace in 4th and Garrigan in 5th along with US rider Zach Macdonald (Stevens/Classic Cycle) in 6th… Guthrie is up there as well in 7th.

Now there’s a big crash behind St. John as Trace and Schooler go down along with Garrigan and Guthrie who’s looking at his bike – he has a chain problem. Behind are Noiles, Craig Ritchie (BC) Blue Competition and….

Kevin Calhoun (BC) Rocky Mountain Different Bikes is out with a broken handlebar or some kind of mechanical – and it’s starting to snow again..

Lap 4 – 2:30pm local – 4:30 pm EST
Kabush is surging with 10s on a group of 4 including St. John, Trace, Schooler and Macdonald as Garrigan has been dropped and is on his own anohter 10s back. Behind him are Ritchie and Noiles followed by Guthrie, Shaun Adamson, Shawn Bunnin and Ryan Hopping – the race is 1/2 over.

Lap 5
It’s unstoppable Kabush extending his lead to 15-20s over St. John in 2nd with Schooler in 3rd at 3s more followed by Trace in 4th and Ritchie in 5th. Then it’s Garrigan 6th, Noiles 7th, Bunnin 8th and Guthrie in 9th who lost time fixing his chain and is trying to regain his former position.

The snow is getting heavier and sticking to the ground – and they’re now out of pie…

Lap 6
Kabush is looking like the champ he is with 30s now on St. John in 2nd followed by Schooler at 10 more seconds in 3rd. Trace is another 10s back in 4th, Ritchie is 5th, Macdonald is 6th (only 19 years old), Noiles is 7th, Garrigan is 8th (we missed him on the last lap), Bunnin is 9th and Guthrie is leading the U23 men in 10th overall. Kabush is lapping riders…

Lap 7
Kabush is on his way to another victory with 45s on Schooler now in 2nd with St. John another 15s back in 3rd. Ritchie is in 4th and MacDonald and Trace are together battling for 5th and 6th… then it’s Noiles and Garrigan. We thought this was the final lap but it seems there’s one more….

Lap 8 Final
Kabush has a big gap as he enters the bowl on his final lap with Schooler in 2nd and now Ritchie is in 3rd as St. John has dropped back into 4th with Macdonald just behind in 5th as Trace is another 5s back in 6th… then it’s Noiles in 7th, Garrigan in 8th, Bunnin in 9th and Guthrie is 10th…

Full results pdf here. According to the official results the U23/Elite Men completed 7 laps not 8 – somehow during our coverage an extra lap was added incorrectly – apologies all round – more pumpkin pie for everyone.

Results

Elite/U23 Men – 7 laps – 21.7km
1. Geoff Kabush (BC) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain 1:03:27
2. Aaron Schooler (AB) Team H&R Block – Kona 1:04:26
3 Craig Richey (BC) Blue Competition Cycles p/b Neverblue 1:04:32
4. Derrick St. John (ON) Garneau Club Chaussure Oglivy 1:04:43
5. Zach Mcdonald (WA) Stevens/Classic Cycle 1:05:05
6. Tyler Trace (BC) Trek Red Truck 1:05:08
7. Kevin Noiles (BC) La Bicicletta Pro Shop 1:05:27
8. Michael Garrigan (ON) La Bicicletta Pro Shop 1:05:35
9. Evan Guthrie* (BC) Rocky Mountain Bicycles 1:05:43
10. Shawn Bunnin (AB) Team Alberta 1:05:52
11. Mathew Hewitt (BC) Independent 1:06:26
12. Steve Fisher (WA) Rad Racing NW / Hagens Berman 1:06:45
13. Shaun Adamson (AB) Juventus 1:07:08
14. Simon Lambert-Lemay (QC) Ride with Rendall 1:07:25
15. Mark Batty (ON) Planet Energy 1:07:35
16. Jared Stafford (ON) Bikesports Racing 1:07:38
17. Drew Mackenzie (BC) Island Racing Club 1:07:44
18. Nick Berry (BC) Mighty Riders 1:07:59
19. Nick Friesen (AB) Pedalhead Road Works 1:08:14
20. Ryan Hopping (AB) United Cycle Racing 1:08:32
21. Andre Sutton (AB) Hardcore Cycling Club 1:08:50
22. Matthew Krahn (AB) RedBike 1:08:58
23. Paul Tichelaar (AB) ERTC/Revolution Cycle 1:09:12
24. Russell Anderson (BC) Oak Bay Bicycles 1:09:20
25. Chris McNeil (AB) Team H&R Block-Kona 1:09:30
26. Kyle Douglas (ON) 3 Rox Racing 1:09:33
27. Justin Middleton (AB) Juventus/RVC 1:10:02
28. Brian Robinson (AB) CMC/ Bow Cycle 1:10:05
29. Kyle Fry (ON) MCOR 1:11:06
30. Glen Rendall (ON) Ride with Rendall 1:11:29
31. Jonathan Benskin (AB) Hardcore Cycling 1:11:57
32. Stefan Schreiber (AB) Hardcore Cycling Club 1:12:28
33. Kyle Anderson (AB) ERTC/Revolution Cycle 1:12:38
34. Cory Dickinson (AB) United Cycle Racing 1:12:42
35. Peter Knight (AB) Hardcore Cycling Club 1:13:06
36. Bailey McKnight (AB) Synergy Racing 1:13:34
DNF Kevin Calhoun (BC) Rocky Mountain – Different Bikes
DNF David Larson (AB) Pedalhead Road Works
DNF Stephen Cooley (SK) Team Saskatchewan
DNF Jannes Wessels (SK) Sprinter Club de Nice
DNF Nathan Sedgewick (SK) BCW
DNF Mike Berkenpas (BC) LOCAL RIDE RACING
DNF Marie Young (BC) ERTC/Revolution Cycle
DNF Aaron Fillion (ON) Ride With Rendall
DNF Ian Terry (WA) Rad Racing NW/Hagens Berman
DNF Marc Lapointe (QC) EMD Serono Specialized
DNF Roddi Lega (AB) Pedalhead Road Works
DNF Cuylar Conly (SK) Team Sask / Cycledelia
DNF Jason Redfern (AB) Pedalhead Road Works
DNS Stephen Ferris (BC) Calgary Cycle p/b Top Gear
DNS David Todd (AB) Juventus
DNS Cameron McKnight (AB) ERTC/Revolution Cycle
DNS David Munden (ON) Lightweight by CarbonSports
DNS Duncan Cameron (AB) Indpendent