Cyclocross season may be in the rearview, but there’s still great racing out there happening on the dirt. Last weekend, I traveled to Temecula, California, for Vail Lake MTB, the first UCI US Cup MTB series event. This was my first time at Vail Lake, and the venue, which is located on a KOA campground, is an excellent XCO playground.
For the UCI riders, the weekend consisted of a short track race on Friday and an XCO event on Sunday. I arrived on Thursday and went to the park to check out the venue and take in some practice laps. I was excited to leave the forty-degree, rainy weather on the east coast and enjoy some southern California sunshine. And boy, was I in for a surprise when I got off the plane at LAX and was smacked in the face with forty degrees and rain.
My trip to the venue was a literal wash. The practice session was canceled, and the ground was slick and saturated. So I figured the weekend was going to be a mess.
I was wrong.
It turns out desert conditions and sandy soil don’t stay wet that long. By Friday afternoon, the track was dry, and the short track course was riding fast. The short-track and cross-country courses comprised a mix of park features and single-track. As I’ve said, the best venues center their race tracks around a bowl. Think Zonhoven or Albstadt. You have your most exciting features in a natural amphitheater that draws spectators to a central location and creates a festival-type atmosphere. Vail Lake was no different.
XCC Friday
The short track course mixed in a variety of wide sectors, a rhythm section, a lovely tabletop, some high-speed berms, a significant drop and plenty of room for tactical racing.
The women’s elite field for Vail Lake was stacked. Kate Courtney, Haley Batten, Gwen Gibson, Maddie Munro, Haley Smith, Jenn Jackson, Hannah Otto, Kelsey Urban … this was a legit World Cup field fighting it out.
Gibson took the holeshot with Otto, Courtney and Munro on her heels. Jackson, Urban and Batten made up the next trio as the field entered the arena. Gibson continued setting the pace as Batten methodically moved from sixth to second. Once there, Batten bided her time before going to the front and upping the pace. With a few laps to go, she distanced herself from Gibson, who gapped the rest of the field trying to stay with Batten. Otto, Courtney, Urban, Jackson and Ruth Holcomb were heads down, trying to catch back on.
Despite the chase group’s efforts, nobody would catch Batten, who cruised to the victory or Gibson, who easily took second. Then, the real excitement started as Holcomb positioned herself on a group of four and out-sprinted Otto and Jackson for third. Otto finished fourth, with Jackson fifth.
The men’s short track was a return of the fourth line with Canadians Carter Woods, Andrew Lesperance, Quinton and Peter Disera, and Sean Fincham looking to employ some heavy neutral zone defense against American standout Riley Amos.
Canadian champ Woods set the pace early with Amos on his heels but was closely marked by Lesperance and what seemed to be about 27 Bear National upstarts. While the Bear kids showed off some sick skills, The Canadians patrolled the front with Woods leading and Fincham, Lesperance and the Disera boys keeping a close eye on Amos.
In the finale, Amos desperately fought to get free of the lockdown defense. Taking a chance on a last-turn pass of Woods, he got squeezed into the boards and lost his bid for victory. Woods came around the final corner free and clear to take the win in his stylish multi-leafed Canadian national champs kit.
XCO Sunday
In true modern-era World Cup fashion, Sunday’s XCO track set up nicely for full gas racing. With sub-14-minute laps for the women and sub-13-minute laps for the men on tap, spectators could see plenty of action and multiple laps.
Although the ridge line in the first third of the lap may have been my favorite place to shoot photos, the marquee feature of the track was the legit table top to double in the fan zone. More than just a novelty, the double was a tactical advantage for those who jumped it efficiently. Throughout the day, many riders picked up crucial places at the end of races by passing competitors with some sweet air while the other rider rode the feature. The track also featured a legit climb and technical single-track descent.
In the women’s race, Gibson kept her holeshot streak intact, getting off to a good start with Courtney on her wheel. Coming off the first ridge, that pair had a second or two over Smith, Urban, Batten, Munro and Otto.
By lap two, Batten had moved into third as Gibson continued to set the pace, and Courtney stayed in second. Otto led a quickly forming chase group that included Munro, Jackson, Holcomb and Urban.
A lap later, Batten moved to the front and started to pull away from Gibson on the climb. Courtney ended up alone a few seconds behind, with Munro leading Otto, Holcomb and Jackson in the chase group.
A little over halfway through the race, Batten had increased her lead to around 15 seconds and had plenty of time to dial in her jump line on the double. Gibson continued to stay ahead of Courtney, who was safely in third. The battle for fourth began to heat up in the final laps as Otto and Munro raced side-by-side.
Batten finished the day with the victory and a lead of over 2 minutes. Gibson came in second, 45 seconds ahead of Courtney. Otto distanced herself from Munro, who took fourth and fifth, respectively.
Woods went to the front early in the men's race and led a long line of racers over the first ridge line. Lesperance and Quinton Disera sat in second and third, with Amos in fourth. On lap 2, Amos’ former Bear National teammate, Brayden Johnson, moved to the front with Amos on his wheel. Lesperance, Fincham and Q. Disera chased a few seconds back.
It didn’t take long after that for Amos to move to the front and control the race. Bradyn Lange looked like the best of the rest, keeping Amos in his sights. Lange also scored the most style points from the course-side judges for his mastery of the double.
In the end, Amos took the win 30 seconds ahead of Lange. Woods finished third, with Lesperance and Q. Disera completing the remaining steps on the wide-angle podium.
Full results from the races are here: https://my.raceresult.com/groups/5408/.
Overall, it was a great weekend, a professionally run event, and a race I will return to next year.
To finish this off, I wanted to quickly touch on one part of the weekend that bummed me out and something we can improve on as a bike racing community. To enter the campgrounds for the race, the venue charged $10 per day. This is not what bummed me out. I think it is fair, and if it’s the cost of racing at the venue, I’m okay with paying it.
I’m not okay with way too many folks berating the minimum-wage employees working at the venue for having to pay the fee. On Sunday, the poor kid at the gate was ready to quit his job. He told me that so many people had yelled at him about the parking fee that he was over it. He said this was the last bike race he wanted to work.
It’s at most $30 for the weekend, people. Budget it into your expenses along with food, lodging and everything else you spend money on to play bikes in the dirt. I don’t care if you’re just there to help your kid, a mechanic, or a race photographer. Pay the fee, thank the kid for being there and move on with your day.
Love that CXHairs is covering MTB again this year - seems a natural post CX season segue to me. And so good to see more high level XCO racing in U.S. (narrow minded spectators aside) and a good field. Suspect these UCI points are meaningful as grid position is even more import in MTB than cross. Big question is does the heat check algorithm make an appearance in 2023 and does a win in this race carry more “weight” than Blevins win at Cape Epic 🤔