October 9, 2010 (Covington, Kentucky) – Ryan Trebon and Katie Compton came up with big wins at Friday’s Panther Stampede presented by Darkhorse Racing, the first day of Cincinnati’s UCI3 Cyclocross Festival. It was Trebon’s first cyclocross win of the year, and the first win at the UCI3 Festival for the former national champion and the first 1-2 finish for Trebon and teammate Barry Wicks. For Compton, it was her 43rd UCI race win and kept her four year unbeaten streak in the Cincinnati intact.

Like last year, weather was a huge factor at the races held at Covington, Kentucky’s Devou Park. But the weather could not have been more different than 12 months before. Instead of a muddy deluge, this year was drought-dry. With no rain in over a week following an already dry summer, the ground was rock hard and bumpy. Promoter Nick Tinsler described the course as a “filling rattler”. Katie Compton said the surface was comparable to the high desert courses in her home state of Colorado. One similarity to last year was that it was still slippery with dry dusty dirt covering all the corners, virtually all of which were off-camber. When not laying on the ground the rob riders of traction, the dust hung in the air, making it difficult to breath.

Adding to the difficulty was the unseasonably warm weather and a strenuous course design on the hillside park overlooking downtown Cincinnati. “There must have been 2,000 feet of climbing in that race,” said Ryan Trebon. “This race and Granogue are the two hardest races for hills we have all year.” Asked before the race where the tactical portions of the course were, Trebon and Wicks laughed and yelled back, “There are none!” Trebon clarified, “It’s like a mountain bike race, you just go.” Jeremy Powers said the course reminded him of the Big Bear mountain bike race.

When asked about the apparently incorrect lines that most of the amateur racers were taking on the downhill off-camber turns, C3-Athletes Serving Athletes’ Arley Kemmerer, a former alpine ski racer who has negotiated more off-camber downhill turns than probably every other racer in the field, explained that it was so slippery that it often was faster just to follow the fall line rather try to than apex the corners late and exit the corners higher on the hill.

Katie Compton (Planet Bike / Stevens) had good news before she even lined up with the field of Elite Women for the first of the three races that, combined, have a cash prize list of $10,000 when husband Mark Legg-Compton (Planet Bike / Stevens) won the Elite Masters race. “That was a surprise,” he said as he crossed the line alone. Commenting afterward, he said, “You almost had to take mountain bike lines. And you had to go hard in the rough parts to keep your speed up or you’d sink into the bumps.”

At the start of the women’s race, Sue Butler (Hudz/Subaru) took the holeshot ahead of Mo Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill / Seven Cycles), Dee Dee Winfield (C3-Athletes Serving Athletes), Compton and Katie Antonneau (Cannondale-CyclocrossWorld.com). To the shock of many, Compton did not show herself at the front for over a lap. “I don’t really have any top end right now,” she explained later. Once Compton did hit the front, there was no stopping her as her lead continued to expand until the end, where she hap approximately one minute in hand. Behind her, Antonneau was the first of the lead group to drop off when she crashed and her rear brake lever slipped on the handlebars causing her rear brakes to drag. Soon afterward, she hit a bump hard enough to cause the handlebars to slip, which locked-up the front brakes, rendering her bike unrideable. Butler, Winfield and Bruno Roy battled for second but Butler always seemed to be in control. “I was mindful that there are three races this weekend and I was racing conservatively,” she said afterward. Eventually, Butler was able to attack up one of the punchy hills that happened to be paved, leaving Winfield and Bruno Roy to battle for the final podium step. Winfield would win the battle of attrition and take her first podium spot of the year. For Compton, it was UCI victory number 43 and it kept alive her four-year unbeaten streak in Cincinnati.

When the Elite Men started, Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/CyclocrossWorld.com) took the hole shot intent on keeping up his momentum from last year’s UCI3 Festival when he won all three races. But Trebon (Kona) passed for the lead on the first short punchy dirt climb. Rising out of the amphitheater bowl that served as the primary spectator area was a run-up with railroad ties serving as steps. Even the top Cat. 3 riders rode the section, so it was a surprise when Trebon was the only member of the front group to dismount, costing him time and position to Powers. “The spacing on the steps was tough,” said the lanky rider, “my bike is six inches longer than everybody else’s and I just couldn’t get it to fit right between the steps. I’d come almost to a stop.” The race’s defining moment seemed to be when Powers tried to accelerate past Trebon in the bowl section leading to the run-up and Trebon responded to maintain his lead with some tough side-by-side racing. This time Trebon did the run-up without dismounting, but came nearly to a halt, which threw off Power’s rhythm. Behind them Barry Wicks (Kona) and Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) battled together before Wicks pulled away. All around the track, riders were paired off in one-on-one battles on the tough, hot course.

Powers was taking water feeds in the pits every lap, while Trebon eschewed feeds. “I’m used to (this) from mountain bike racing,” he explained. But, despite the extra fluid, it was Powers who succumbed to the heat and faded in the later portions of the race. “He must have faded, because I rode the same pace the whole race,” said Wicks. “I caught him, waited for a few seconds and put in an acceleration on one of the hills and he was gone. Powers was able to hang on to third place ahead of a fast-closing Kabush.

On the podium Trebon shared his top step with Spencer Petrov, the 12 year old, 81 pound winner of the Men’s Category 4 Open division.

Results

Elite Men

1. Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 0:59:52
2. Barry Wicks (USA) Kona 0:22
3. Jeremy Powers (USA) Cannondale/Cyclocro 0:43
4. Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain 1:00
5. Brian Matter (USA) Gear Grinder 2:40
6. Troy Wells (USA) Team Clif Bar 3:06
7. Christopher Jones (USA) Rapha-Focus 3:16
8. Ryan Knapp (USA) BikeReg.com 3:25
9. Jake Wells (USA) Hudz-Subaru 3:42
10. Weston Schempf (USA) C3-Athletes Serving 3:56
11. Mitchell Kersting (USA) Fetzer Cycling Team 6:03
12. Bryan Fawley (USA) PARK PLACE 7:28
13. Mike Sherer (USA) Verizon u25 Team p/b -2 laps
14. Andrew Wulfkuhle (USA) C3-Athletes Serving -2 laps
15. Christopher Nevitt (USA) Fetzer Cycling Team -3 laps
16. Dave Weaver (USA) ALAN N. America -3 laps
17. Erik Hamilton (USA) NUVO Cultural Trail -3 laps
18. Stephen Cummings (USA) Indiana Regional -3 laps
19. Scott Mclaughlin (USA) SRAM Factory -3 laps
20. Andrew Reardon (USA) Van Dessel / Real
21. Robert Kendall (USA) Bob’s Red Mill -3 laps
22. Paul Martin (USA) Panther pb -3 laps
23. Ryan Gamm (USA) KENDA Pro Cycling -3 laps
22. Mark Broadwater (USA) C3-Athletes Serving -5 laps
25. Joshua Whitmore (USA) Team Globalbike -5 laps
26. Zachary Edwards (USA) DRT Racing -5 laps
27. Joshua Johnson (USA) DRT Racing -5 laps
29. Paul Mesi (USA) French Meadow -5 laps
30. William Street (USA) Sisu custom cycles -5 laps
31. Jason Karew (USA) Bishops Bicycles -5 laps
32. Tony Smith (USA) Rapha/Focus -5 laps
33. Jacob Virostko (USA) Shamrock/Biowheels -5 laps
34. David Mcneal (USA) BBC p/b WheelWorx -5 laps
DNF Noah Metzler (USA) Team Globalbike
DNF Michael Anderson (USA) North Country Cycle
DNF Daniel Gerow (USA) Wolverines

Elite Women
1. Katherine Compton (USA) Planet Bike 0:37:35
2. Susan Butler (USA) Hudz Subaru 1:27
3. Deidre Winfield (USA) C3 – Athletes Serving 1:39
4. Maureen Bruno Roy (USA) MM Racing p/b Seven 1:46
5. Laura Van Gilder (USA) C3 — Athletes Serving 2:46
6. Barbara Howe (USA) Ibis and the Danger 2:52
7. Kimberly Flynn (USA) Grace Law-Trek p/b 3:19
8. Kristin Gavin (USA) Team CF-Elite 3:44
9. Annajean Dallaire (USA) Alderfer Bergen 3:46
10. Linda Sone (USA) Planet Bike 4:06
11. Arley Kemmerer (USA) C3 – Athletes Serving 4:19
12. Kari Studley (USA) Team Group Health 4:42
13. Jennifer Maxwell (USA) Van Dessel Sterke 5:22
14. Lenore Pipes (USA) Fruit 66/Artemis 6:08
15. Kaitlin Antonneau (USA) Team Kenda 6:37
16. Nicole Borem (USA) DRT Racing 8:04
17. Bridget Donovan (USA) Trek Store Cincinnati/ 8:12
18. Geraldine Schulze (USA) Bio Wheels Racing 8:26
19. Deb Whitmore (USA) Performance Bicycle 9:08
20. Christy Blakely (USA) Cycle-Smart -2 laps
21. Katherine Shields (USA) Carolina Masters -2 laps
22. Melissa Corliss (USA) Michelob Ultra -2 laps
23. Tammy Wallace (USA) ThinkCash Racing -2 laps
24. Emily Shields (USA) Carolina Masters -2 laps
25. Rebecca Finley (USA) Team Kenda -2 laps
26. Nancy Henderson (USA) NE/COBC -3 laps
DNF Anne Schwartz (USA) Flying Rhino Cycling
DNF Amanda Mckay (USA) Shamrock