Dunlap, Kabush mud-surf to Snowshoe wins

By Ryan Newill, Special to VeloNews.com

Alison Dunlap (Luna) exorcised some demons today by taking a dominating win in the Snowshoe round of the NORBA cross country series. Dunlap finished 15 seconds clear of teammate Shonny Vanlandingham, who was followed a minute and a half later by a third teammate, Katerina Hanusova, completing a Luna sweep of the top three steps of the podium.

Last year, Dunlap was leading on the second and last lap of the Snowshoe cross country when she went down hard, a crash that resulted in a fourth-degree separation of her shoulder and the end of her mountain-bike season. This year, under nearly identical sloppy conditions, Dunlap and her teammates played it safe, running much of the rocky, rooted and muddy descent and picking up time in the process.

“It was carnage everywhere,” Dunlap said of the course’s long downhill. “It just got to be a matter of not even trying to ride – you just had to run it, because that was the fastest way to get down. Girls would stop and then try to get on their bikes, they’d try to ride 10 feet and then they’d get stuck and have to get off. If you just kept running, it was actually a lot faster.”

Vanlandingham, in the midst of a career season on the NORBA circuit, took the hole shot on the paved bike path start, which led immediately into the course’s long, technical descent. The third weapon in the Luna arsenal, former Olympic cross-country skier Hanusova, had taken the lead by the bottom, where competitors were treated to more running through a mile-long technical section rendered unrideable by Friday’s rain. The Czech rider held onto the lead through the long climb leading back towards the start finish, when she was overtaken by Dunlap and Vanlandingham. By the time they reached the line to begin their second and final lap, Hanusova was trailing her teammates slightly, but still looking comfortable.

Vanlandingham and Dunlap traded the lead throughout the second lap, but, in a reversal of the norm, a technical problem finally gave Dunlap the edge she needed to pull ahead. On the steepest section of the long finishing climb, Dunlap’s bike refused to shift into the small chainring, forcing her to turn over a larger gear.

“When you have to push a big gear, you end up going faster, even though it’s harder on your legs,” said Dunlap. “So, I had no choice – I had to really push it up that hill just to get up it.”

Now spread out over several minutes, Vanlandingham and Hanusova still had the power to hold onto second and third, respectively. Kelli Emmett (Specialized-Hillenbrand) took the fourth spot, with Dara Marks-Marino (Ford Cycling) taking the final podium spot.

Dunlap may have been battling demons, but Canadian Chris Sheppard (Haro-Adidas) was battling gremlins. At least that’s what he felt like, as a week of rain followed by sunny, 80-degree temperatures made a sticky, slow mess of the course.

“It was basically a test of wills out there,” said Sheppard, after finishing a satisfying second to countryman Geoff Kabush (Maxxis). “The descents were so technical, and the flat sections were so slow. So you’re just constantly trying to stay on the throttles and demoralize the competition, when possible. It felt like little gremlins were grabbing your wheel – that’s what it felt like the whole time.”

East Coast Trek-VW riders Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough teamed up with fellow Trek-VW stalwart Travis Brown at the bottom of the descent on the first of their three laps. For Brown, who as a Boulder resident prefers drier, more western-style courses, being in the lead group at the bottom of the slick descent was a small victory in itself.

“I was happy to not already have a gap to the lead at the bottom of the descent,” said Brown. “Usually, someone gets in and puts time on me on the descent. But I was riding the descent well today. It’s a little foreign to me still, this eastern sort of riding.”

Sheppard was the next to join the front group, making contact in the flat, technical section at the bottom of the course. Eatough, a winner in Thursday’s marathon cross-country contest, fell off the pace on the climb, while Aussie Paul Rowney (Yeti) worked his way into the lead group.

At the start of the second lap, Sheppard was in the lead, followed closely by Bishop, Brown, Craig and Rowney. Just four seconds behind, Kabush was chasing, along with Ryan Trebon (Kona-Clarks). As Sheppard faded a bit on the descent, Craig took the lead down the descent and established a small gap, but by the second time up the fire-road climb, things had regrouped and reshuffled again.

“I probably should have pushed the pace because as I sat on [Craig] and [Bishop], Kabush and Sheppard caught us,” recalled Brown. “I think I probably would have come unglued at the same point in the race – but had I pushed the pace there maybe I would have had a little more of a cushion.”

Kabush took control for good at the beginning of the third and final lap, bombing the descent to extend his lead over the second-placed Brown.

“I decided that I had to get my time on the third descent. I was still feeling fresh, and rode the downhill really smooth, and came out with a big lead at the bottom,” said Kabush.

Focusing on the upcoming Canadian World Cups, which will help determine the Canadian Olympic team, Kabush credited his form with helping his descending, in addition to his climbing.

“Anyone can ride [the descent] fast the first lap, but as you fatigue, you start making a lot more mistakes,” he said. “Then there’s the long, mile and a half flat single track which is tough – you’re on and off your bike – but if you’re fresh at the end you can make a lot of time there.”

As Kabush rode to his first NORBA cross-country victory, Brown saw his second spot evaporate on the final climb as Sheppard and Craig turned up the heat.

“I was climbing really well,” said Sheppard, who worked with Craig to reel in Brown, and land themselves the second and third podium spots, respectively. “I’m not going to toot my own horn, but I think I was climbing better than most of the other guys today.”

Sheppard’s climbing legs may have helped him overcome any time he lost when his back brake gave out on him mid-race.

“I had a little accident and kinked my line, so I ran the entire downhill,” said Sheppard “Of all the courses to lose my brake, this was actually fairly good, because I could still ride all of the off-camber stuff. It was so slow and the mud was so thick you didn’t even have to brake. But the steep sections I’d get off and run, and run, and run. I let the mud choose my destiny.”

For Kabush, the win at Snowshoe was important not only as a confidence booster for the Olympic selection season, but also as a little redemption after a tough time in overseas.

“I just got back from a month and a half in Europe at the World Cups. It was a tough trip – it really kind of beat me down. I got sick and I had some bad luck with some mechanicals. It was a disappointing trip, so this helps me forget that, and it’s great to get my first outright NORBA win.”

NORBA #4
Snowshoe, West Virginia. June 12

Men’s XC
1.Geoff Kabush (Can), Maxxis
2. Chris Sheppard (Can), Haro-Adidas
3. Adam Craig, Giant-Pearl Izumi
4. Travis Brown, Trek-VW
5. Ryan Trebon, Kona-Clarks

Women’s XC
1. Alison Dunlap, Luna
2. Shonny Vanlandingham, Luna
3. Katerina Hanusova (CZE), Luna
4. Kelli Emmett, Specialized-Hillenbrand
5. Dara Marks-Marino, Ford Cycling
6. Willow Koerber, RLX-Ralph Lauren
7. Jimena Florit (Arg), RLX-Ralph Lauren
8. Kerri Barnholt, Subaru-Gary Fisher
9. Jennifer Smith (NZL), WV-Bon Jovi
10. Gretchen Reeves, Rocky Mountain

FILED UNDER: Mountain