Cyclocross in New Jersey: Wet, Cold, Fun!

Editor’s Note: Gary Thornton is an Account Executive with Giant Bicycle in and around Pennsylvania. He represents the Giant brand with retailers who carry Giant bicycles, and he’ll also do whatever it takes to make a Giant team member successful. In this case, he worked as a mechanic for a United States Grand Prix Cyclocross event in Mercer Park New Jersey, for Giant MTB Team members Adam Craig and Kelli Emmett. Below is Gary’s account of the race weekend. For more information and photos about this race, go to:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=cross/2007/nov07/mercercup207

(November 18, 2007) I just spent an excellent weekend with Adam Craig and Kelli Emmett at the USGP Cyclocross race at Mercer Park in New Jersey. This all started at the Ride Maestro stop at the Diablo Freeride park in New Jersey. Adam asked me if I could get a mechanic and if we would help pit for him and Kelli at the up-coming event.
He was excellent in staying in touch and very gracious. Josh the mechanic from Saucon Valley Bicycles volunteered and we were prepared.

Friday night November 16, 2007
There was a race number presentation at Knapp’s Cyclery which was the title sponsor of the event. I met with the race promoter to get the parameters for working in the pits. The women’s race was at 2:00pm the next day and the Men’s race was at 3. This meant I could get there about 12:30 or 1:00. Perfect; BUT he told me that if I arrived before 7:30 that I could have a booth space for FREE. So I was home to pack the trusty station wagon up in the dark and be ready to leave my house by 6:00 AM for FREE booth space. I was sidelined by a trip to the grocery for supplies for Adam, Kelli, Josh (the mechanic), and Myself. Fig Newton’s water, etc.

Saturday November 17, 2007
Dark and early on my way to represent Giant, and take care of Adam, and Kelli. We had perfect Cyclocross weather: High 30’s low 40’s and cloudy. I got there in time to get into the expo area; my 10 X 10 tent was wedged in with a bunch of large demo trailers, but I secured an excellent location right on the corner and visible from most portions of the race course. In the six hours before the athletes showed up I was quite busy, there were 900 pre-registered racers, and they ended up with over one thousand. The spectators and family of racers was pretty substantial as well. Richard Fries the announcer even gave me a shout out over the P.A.!!

Kelli started first and fought her way up from a mid pack start to finish 11th on the day.
Then Adam also started mid pack and he fought his way up to 8th and finished with a crowd-pleasing wheelie across the line.

It was impressive to watch them battle it out among the specialists, and hold their own.
Josh and I had a good laugh when they both stated they wished they were in shape.
We washed up the bikes, and tuned them for Sunday, then packed up for the night and finally pulled out around 7:00. I bought Josh dinner on the way home for his effort then headed home to do it again. I fell asleep in all of my clothes around 9:00 while my wife was talking to me and that was a wrap.

Sunday November 18, 2007
Wake up at 5:00 to re-pack the trusty wagon and it was already raining. Another perfect day for Cyclocross: mid to low 30’s and raining. Luckily the snow stayed north. By the time Kelli and Adam arrived I had resorted to my Snowboard outfit to stay warm, and Josh showed up with enough layers on that it was questionable if he would be able to bend his arms! (he ended up being able to do so…)

Josh was working double time having to clean their bikes several times after pre-ride laps, and probably went through a half a bottle of lube keeping the chains and cables working. The mud and sand were taking a toll.

Kelli and Adam both improved there placing by one spot; overall at the finish, Kelli was 10th and Adam was 7th. The “specialists” were changing bikes like crazy, but Kelli and Adam being the tough mountain bikers that they are stayed on one machine the whole day. If you have never seen a pro swap bikes in the pit at a Cyclocross race, it is something to behold, like a cross between performance art, and ballet.

After cleaning up both Adam and Kelli and making sure they were warm and fed, we cleaned and tuned the bikes one last time. We broke down and were able to get out by 6:00. It was good to end the day with a nice dinner with Adam, and Kelli. We were regaled with stories and got to watch Adam eat everything that wasn’t nailed down.

Wrap up
Working with both Adam and Kelli was an absolute pleasure. The crowd loved them; the announcers loved them and commented on what great competitors they were, especially when Adam would consistently ride the sand pit. Kelli even cleared it a few times!

They both showed such class, and made it clear that they appreciated that we were there. They even pooled some prize money and gave Josh money for gas. Not once did we feel taken for granted, and we both had a great time. In short I was very impressed.

I was proud to be a member of the Giant family.