2017/18 USA Cyclocross Nationals

Last weekend’s CX Nats in Reno was a fantastic way for PDXTI to put an official wrap on a very long and thankfully very successful 2017 cyclocross season.

Then we gathered at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island for the @oregonbikeracing State Championships.

The team rented a house high above Reno, overlooking the course venue at Rancho San Rafael Park, and began arriving earlier in the week. Mitch Trux and Andrew Coe were the first to hit town, having spent the week prior mixing it up in NorCal and both cracking the top ten of the California Central Coast CX Championships. Seth Patla and Max Ritzow would both be driving the mercifully (compared to Lousville KY) short drive from Oregon.

Thursday was our first day of racing and it went very well. In the team’s first race @andrewpcoe and @mdtrux finished top 10 in their Masters race with #MonsterTrux in the lead group from start to finish, landing on the podium in 3rd.

In race #2, also on Thursday, team captain @sethpatla, coming off a nasty flu, decided to feed his inner suffer monkey by only bringing SSCX bikes, and nonetheless managed to pass about 50 dudes from his @oregonbikeracing penalty position in the back of a 70 person field.

In race #3 on Sunday our man @maxritzow took to the course in the highly anticipated Juniors 17-18 field. Max had started strong off the line but was unfortunately caught up in the tangle of an early crash, setting him back several places. Eventually gaining back ground with a charge that put him on track to reach the extended podium, it was not to be Max’s day as he was ultimately hampered with a flat tire. Everyone on the team is extremely proud of the progress Max has made over the past season and race day in Reno provided our young rider with valuable experience.

The jury is out on attending CX Nats next year in Kentucky, but we are all very excited about the event’s return to the West Coast for 2019/20 Nats in Washington State!