PORT ANGELES — Nearly 200 riders — and runners — from all around the Pacific Northwest braved the mud and torrential rain of the Extreme Sports Park this weekend to compete in the inaugural Extreme CX Port Angeles cyclocross event.
Peninsula Adventure Sports put on the new event for the North Olympic Peninsula along with Extreme Sports Park, which hosted the races Saturday and Sunday.
“We thought it went great,” said Peninsula Adventure Sports race director Lorrie Mittmann. “There’s a lot of sports where the rain would shut you down, but not this.”
Cyclocross, a popular sport in Europe, requires competitors to ride through mud, up steep hills and over obstacles and stairs. Riders often have to pick up their bikes and carry them through “portage” areas where the obstacles are too steep or the mud too slick to ride through. Riders from as young as 10 to as old as 65-plus competed, with 94 riders Saturday and 104 Sunday.
Cody Riggs of Seattle splashes through a muddy puddle during Saturday’s PNE Extreme Cyclocross races at Extreme Sports Park in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Organizers built two different courses, one for Saturday’s event and a new one for Sunday’s, which was an official 2021 Washington State Bicycle Association regional championship. The courses were designed by Kevin Blair of Cyclocross Crusade, a Portland, Ore.-based group.
“Everyone loved it and loved our course,” Mittmann said.
Riders gave their own rankings to the course and the venue on the CrossResults.com site where results are posted. The venue was rated with 4.7 beers, 6.8 for moisture, 3.7 for acceleration, 4.8 for technical merits and 2.8 for elevation. Saturday’s race was ranked with 5.5 beers. Though Mittmann didn’t know what the beer ranking meant, most races on the CrossResults.com site were right around 5 for beer. The Sunday race had one of the highest moisture rankings on CrossResults.com.
Some of Sunday’s winners in a Washington State Bicycle Association regional championship are among the top riders in the Pacific Northwest. Seth Patla, the No. 2 cyclocross competitor in the Pacific Northwest in the points race won the men’s master’s 45+ race and the singlespeed race in Port Angeles.
Sam Owen, the 10th-ranked rider in the Pacific Northwest, won the men’s category 1-2 race at Extreme Sports Park and Andrew Coe, the 19th-ranked rider, won the men’s category 1-2 race on Saturday and the 1-2 40+ race on Sunday. Steve Westover, the 21st-ranked rider, won the men’s category 1-2 40+ race on Saturday.
Among the women, Gina Estep, the 10th-ranked competitor in the Pacific Northwest, won the women’s category 1-2 race Sunday at ESP.
Saturday winners
Female Juniors Cat 10-12 — Evan Padget-Waller, 31:28.7.
Female Juniors Cat 13-14 — Myla Doane, 30:56.9.
Female Juniors Cat 15-16 — Natalie Miller, 28:14.9.
Male Juniors Cat 10-12 — Emmett Caine, 37:54.7.
Male Juniors Cat 13-14 — Gregory Debenedetti, 30:39.4.
Male Juniors 15-16 — Tyler Packer, 31:41.2.
Men’s Cat 1-2 — Andrew Coe, 52:17.8.
Men’s Cat 1-2 — Steve Westover, 57:35.9.
Men’s Cat 2-3 — Colin Ferguson, 1:01:33.0
Men’s Cat 3 — Brendan McMahan, 45:10.3.
Men’s Cat 4-5 — Adam Saegebarth, 43:25.2.
Men’s Master’s Cat 4-5 45+ — Klco Radoslav, 45:10.0.
Men’s Master’s Cat 4-5 55+ — Bill Thomas, 46:58.5.
Men’s Master’s Open 45+ — Eric Kolve, 38:48.4.
Men’s Master’s Open 55+ — Todd Anderson, 36:29.1.
Men’s Master’s Open 65+ — Kevin Raymond, 44:09.4.
Men’s Singlespeed — Aaron Anderson, 44:18.7.
Novice Men — Nigel Stuke, 32:53.3.
Novice Women — Karlye Mickley, 34:47.4.
Women’s Cat 1-2 — Gina Estep, 40:22.7.
Women’s Cat 3 — Tessa Beebe, 42:46.8.
Women’s Cat 4-5 — Brandy Allen, 46:17.4.
Women’s Master’s Open 45+ — Stephanie Spiak, 49:55.3.
Women’s Master’s Open 55+ — Carol Johnson, 41:33.2.
Women’s Singlespeed — Stephanie Spiak, 44:00.0.
Washington State Bicycle Association regional championship race
Sunday results
Female Juniors Cat 10-12 — Evan Padget-Waller, 35:00.9.
Female Juniors Cat 13-14 — Myla Doane, 33:42.7.
Female Juniors Cat 15-16 — Natalie Miller, 28:18.1.
Male Juniors Cat 10-12 — Max Koehler, 32:36.0.
Male Juniors Cat 13-14 — Jackson Hsu, 30:55.1.
Make Juniors Cat 15-16 — Jade Rohde, 27:38.3.
Men’s Cat 1-2 — Sam Owens, 50:02.2.
Men’s Cat 1-2 40+ — Andrew Coe, 50:47.0.
Men’s Cat 2-3 — Sven Koehler, 52:13.1.
Men’s Cat 3 — Colin Ferguson, 35:48.3.
Men’s Cat 4-5 — Adam Segebarth — 41:06.0.
Men’s Master’s Cat 4-5 45+ — Jason Evans, 43:23.8.
Men’s Master’s Cat 4-5 55+ — Billy Thomas, 43:43.5.
Men’s Master’s Open 45+ — Seth Patla, 39:22.1.
Men’s Master’s Open 55+ — Todd Anderson, 42:20.6.
Men’s Master’s Open 65+ — Kevin Raymond, 41:00.6.
Men’s Singlespeed — 49:07.6.
Novice Men — Lincoln Mongillo, 24:11.9.
Novice Women — Karlye Mickley, 23:13.2.
Women’s Cat 1-2 — Gina Estep, 39:13.2.
Women’s Cat 3 — Tessa Beebe, 41:42.8.
Women’s Cat 4-5 — Brandy Allen, 45:37.3.
Women’s Master’s Open 45+ — Stephanie Spiak, 46:33.3.
Women’s Master’s Open 55+ — Carolyn Dauben, 48:18.3.
Women’s Master’s Open 65+ — Pam Reid, 50:08.0.
Women’s Singlespeed — Stephanie Spiak, 55:12.6.
Eleanor Jones of Sequim races through a muddy bog on Saturday at Extreme Sports Park in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
