Sunday, February 23, 2014

Southern Cross Race Summary

Back to Back wins for Tim Proctor & The Bicycle Station!  

Only 12 weeks after winning the local Gravel Grovel race, which was the final round of the 2013 American Ultracross series, The Bicycle Station racer, Tim Proctor, started the 2014 season with a win in the Masters 40+ Division, at the Southern Cross race in Dahlonega, GA

Southern Cross is a 50 mile gravel road race in the mountains of northern Georgia.  It is very different in nature to the Gravel Grovel which is held in the Hoosier National Forest.  The Georgia mountains make for long, sustained climbing efforts which can't be found in southern Indiana and the weather can be unpredictable.

The Course Topography


250 Racers lined up in the welcome spring sunshine and 50 deg temperatures at 10am on Saturday Feb 22nd.  The first mile took riders through a tough, winding cyclocross course in the grounds of the Montaluce winery which hosts the race.  The obstacles, soft ground and steep run-up made an early separation and a lead group of about 15 set off for the first climb.  Compared to the aggressive stop & go nature of the first mile, the rest of the race demanded careful pacing over the two main climbs.  After the first 7.5 mile long climb, the front of the race was broken up.  Eventual overall winner, Tom Turner had ridden away from everyone and held a 3 minute lead.  Tim Proctor was in 5th place riding with Mike Simonson (winner of the 2013 Ultracross series).  On the undulating roads at the top of the mountain and the long descent they closed the gap on riders in front, bringing a group of 5 together before the start of the 2nd climb, places 2 through 6 started the 9 mile ascent all together.  Trading turns to set the pace, this group stayed together to the summit and it was clear that it would come down to tactics on the remaining short, but sharp, climbs before the finish.  Mike Simonson put in a determined attack as soon as the road turned up again, a dropped chain caused Tim Proctor to lose contact with the group, eventually catching back up to the group by the end of the second short pitch had used up a lot of energy.  After a long and very bumpy descent on gravel roads, Mike Simonson, Nicholas Van Winkle and Chris Edmonds pushed the pace on the pavement as the race entered its final stages.  Already tired, and knowing that there were no competitors in the Masters 40+ category ahead, Tim Proctor chose to consolidate 5th place overall and a category win.  He dropped 6th place finisher, Jerry Dufour, with an attack on the final steep pavement climb.  Returning to the winery presented racers with a final mile of challenging cyclocross course, including a daunting run-up called "The Wall" - there were beer hand-ups on offer but none of the leaders availed themselves as the race for 2, 3, 4th places was still undecided.  After two creek crossings, jumping over a log and riding / running over the soft turf fields riders hit the final stretch of pavement with a sense of relief and powered the final quarter mile to the finish.

Tom Turner finished in 2 hours 58 mins winning the overall, Tim Proctor came home in 5th place overall, 6 mins behind Turner to take the Masters 40+ division victory.

"I think this is the first time I've ridden for more than two hours since New Year" said Proctor after the race.  "It's great to start the season with a win especially after the harsh weather has limited training.  The course was super hard with a soft layer of mud slowing us down in many places, there was no let-up even on the level sections."

Masters 40+ Podium


The Ultracross series next race is the super fast Barry-Roubaix in Michigan on March 22nd, however Tim Proctor will not be racing the event this year because of Spring Break commitments.  His next Ultracross event will be the Three Peaks race in North Carolina on September 28th, through the summer he will be focused on the DINO mountain bike race series.


Links:


The Bicycle Station (@bicyclestation) >>

Tim Proctor (@proctortim) >>