Jingle Cross Rock Race Report
 
The mid west is becoming a hot spot for cyclocross. I was in Wisconsin earlier this year for the Mad Cross event and this weekend I was back again, this time to Iowa for the Jingle Cross Rock Race.


Jingle Cross is one of my favorite cross races of the year. The people are really friendly, the course is cool and it’s pretty easy to get to from Durango. Usually. This year I took a tour of Colorado via the air on my flight from Durango to Denver. It usually takes one hour and on Friday it took five hours since Denver had bad weather. We had to reroute to Grand Junction and refuel twice.


I made it to Iowa City in time for my clinic on Friday and it went great. We had about thirty riders and everyone seemed to have a good time. It is a great venue for a clinic since there is a little bit of everything. The course has the biggest climb we do all year with a set of barriers in the middle, a sandpit, death spiral and plenty of other obstacles. I think the coolest part is the Christmas lights and music playing in the barn we ride through. The spectators dress up and they even had a band playing this year.


Saturday’s race went really well, my brother Troy and I got a gap after a crash in the first two minutes of the race and we stayed away until the end. Troy out sprinted me but if I have to get second there is no one I would rather have won.


Saturday’s race was sunny and dry but it started snowing that night and by Sunday the course had turned into a muddy mess. It was thirty-four degrees, really windy and snowing. The course turned into a slippery mess and it was a mission just to keep it upright. I managed to get a gap in the middle of the first lap and extent my lead through out the race to take the win.


Race Notes:
This weekend we had the hottest podium girls of the year. They had strapless dresses with high heels and they were colder then I was standing on the box on Sunday in the snow.


Zero Traction premiered on Saturday night at the host hotel. ZT is a video about last year’s cyclocross National Championships and had some great footage of the epic conditions.


Finally, I did my first autograph signing session in a library. That’s right we had the number pickup in the host hotel library on Friday night complete with a fireplace and reading area. These cross events are really stepping it up.
Next weekend is the final USGP events of the season out in Portland. It should be another muddy one.


Thanks for your support,
Todd Wells