Green loves Wiens

Ann Trombley hit it hard out the start on the first climb and never looked back to take her first National Championship Series (NCS) win.

"Last year I got stuck behind a huge pack of women, so today I concentrated on a fast start," she said from the finish. Ann's a climber and climb she did out the start and away from the pack. Now 35, Ann posted top-ten finishes in six of the seven NCS races last year. Rene Marshman let Ann lead in the beginning and tried to make a late catch in the end.

"I knew Ann would go fast right from the start, but I never gave up on trying to catch her..."— Rene Marshman

"I knew Ann would go fast right from the start, but I never gave up on trying to catch her. I'm a slow starter, but a fast finisher. I thought I could catch her, but she was too strong. This is a good start to my season," she acknowledged.

Last year's females from Team Catera-Pure Energy didn't attack the podium like last year. Instead Cali-girl Rachel Lloyd stayed steady and up front for third. Shonny Vanlandingham, a virgin pro racer, proved her Colorado citizenship and pulled a proud fourth for KHS. Absent for America today was Tammy Jacques-Grewal whose early retirement from mountain biking will surely be missed for years to come. She took second overall in this NCS series last year.

Veteran David Wiens showed the boys how it's done today by beating a slew of the old rivals he's been battling since he won the National Title, by almost two minutes, some six years ago. He battled buddy Roland Green most of the way with Roland catching up on the climbs and Wiens burning down the descents. This didn't last much past the first half of the race with Green burning down to auxillary power. Steve Larsen on the other hand attacked from sixth beside Travis Brown and right past the pack of Chris Sheppard, Jimi Killen and Green battling for second.

"Today was one of the best races I've had this season. I've had bad luck at the World Cups and haven't been able to produce," Wiens said, knowing the recent World Cup racers were already on their fourth event of the season. "A few the riders in the lead pack just got off the World Cup in Europe and have been working hard over there. That worked to my advantage today," he said.

	Rene from 2nd to 1st

King Kip wanted me to let you know that the junior world cyclo-cross champion, Matt Kelly showed up in his first mountain bike race and took ninth. I guess what he is trying to say is, that at 18, this is one young lad to watch.

On Saturday there was the fresh new Short Course Cross Country (SCXC). If the people (or TV) want to see a sprint for the finish, like our road riding brethren do, well here it is. The course, with only one climb, looped in front of Big Bear's lower chairlift and right in front of the lodge. The closest thing to technical was the few steps in front of the lodge. The loop ran 3/4 of a mile for 12 laps for the men and 25 minutes plus three laps for the women. This kept the women close but the men were nipping at each other's heels.

Again, it was Ann Trombley (with Rene Marshman not letting her get too far out in front). Then when Trombley flatted on the fifth lap, Rene took no prisoners and pushed her lead to over 30 seconds. Nothing was as exciting as seeing Kimberly Smith sporting a tie-dyed shirt and surfer shorts reeling in Rene for a strong second place... until she also flatted. Rhonda Quick beat out Gina Hall for the final sprint for second.

The men changed leaders between Jimi Killen and Steve Larsen for most of the race until Roland Green made his move like a true roadie. He came up on the ninth lap, but waited until the end to pounce on the win.

It was just what the organizers had hoped for — a 12-lap, tightly packed, sprint. Riders all seemed to agree it was a success. The excitement was unquestionable and hard to miss. The fact that the cornerstone cross country found itself with one of the smallest NSC crowd turnouts on Friday had many questioning if there was a better way. You can't have it before the big race and everyone acknowledges that downhill deserves its sexy headliner spot.

Kinky Kip also has the thought that perhaps the new short format should run on the same day as the cross country. This may be impossible for some, but it is touted as a specialist course and this snowboarder sees it as a probable evolution.

— Hans Prosl, running in small circles for MountainZone.com