Brad Morgan and a few more may be attending cyclocross nationals but for most of us the season is definitely winding down.  It will be nice to move on to other things for a while.  But…  It’s nice to finish strong.  Here’s an update on recent results.

On November 23 several GAS/Intrinsik team members attended the Montana Cyclocross State Championship in Missoula.  Kevin Bradford-Parish drove from Washington to spoil the Montana party with a seemingly easy win.  Mike Gartner from Idaho battled it out with John Curry from GAS until the finish line and to eek out a 2^nd place spot.  In 3^rd place, Curry was Montana State Champion.  A well-deserved honor after taking the 2008 series in a dominating fashion.  Brad Morgan, Alex Lussier, and Tomas Dumbrovsky took 8^th, 9^th, and 11^th place, making an important impact in the results as they have for the entire season.  At the end of the season, the GAS boys made a strong showing in the Montana series by taking 1^st, 4^th, 5^th, and 9^th place.

On the women’s side, John’s sweetheart Lisa Curry also had to contend with an out of state wringer with the visit of Jennifer Gartner.  Yet, she continued her one man (woman) show by taking the State Champion Title, and of course the MT series.  She would have to wait a few weeks at the US Cyclocross Grand Prix in Portland to show how strong she really is.  Indeed a huge training schedule prepared her well and she swept both women B races in Portland.  More details to come.

In the men’s cat 4 races it was Jason Delmue from GAS who would continue his strong impact on the Montana Series by winning the State Championship and taking the series title as well.

Amy Frykman of Bozeman won the cat. 4 State Championship and the Montana Series, followed closely by Tracy Thomas from GAS who has made an impressive return to bike racing this fall after taking the summer off.

On December 6^th and 7^th several GAS riders made the long drive to Portland to participate in the US Cyclocross Grand Prix.  Detailed race reports are forthcoming but the low down is that John Curry finished 2^nd and 3^rd in the highly competitive single speed events.  Lisa Curry swept the women’s B races with decisive victories on both days.  Brian Frykman battled the very un-Montana-like muddy conditions to take 25^th in a stacked field.  Also note the strong results by fellow Bozemanites Amy Frykman and Patricia Dowd who took 5^th, 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th over the two days.  You can read more hype on montanacyclocross.com.

This weekend riders from around the state converged to Bozeman for the last two races on the Montana road racing calendar. In Saturday’s state championship time trial GAS riders made a strong showing taking gold and silver in the men’s category 1-2 field. John Curry was state champion posting an ultra fast time of 53min38s on the 40 km course. Brad Morgan took second. In the Cat 3 field GAS riders swept the podium. Sebastian White posted a time of 55min24s for first, followed by Brian Frykman and Alex Lussier.  In the Cat 4 field, GAS/Intrinsik's Jason Armstrong took the gold with a time just over 1hr.  Jason capitalized on some good form he gained from his recent trip riding in the French Alps.  We hope to see full results posted on the MBRA website soon.

On Sunday riders enjoyed perfect weather for the Valley West criterium. The GAS/Intrinsik team put on this event, which meant volunteering and cheering on their teammates when other categories were racing. Several local volunteers also donated their time and effort. We are extremely grateful for their help. On the racing side, Chris Lapp and Jason Armstrong perfectly executed a plan to put Chris on the podium’s top step. Jason sacrificed with a strong leadout and Chris put in a long and sustained sprint to take the win in a three-way bike throw photo finish.

In the women’s field Lisa Curry controlled the race, winning an intermediate sprint as well as the sprint for the finish, adding another victory to her successful season. Amy Chiuchiolo made an impressive effort to bridge to the front group after an early race split and was sprinting with the lead group at the finish to take 5^th place.

In the men’s 1-2-3 field the GAS team made good use of its large contingent to push the pace high and fast early in the race. The constant attacks eventually put Brad Morgan, and Josh Tack from NRO in a two-man breakaway. John Curry put in an attack that no one could match and bridged up to Brad and Josh. With the three fastest riders in a break, it was clear there was no room left on the podium for anyone else so the rest of the field was battling for fourth. The three riders worked cooperatively to get over a minute lead on the field. A concerted effort by Brad and John in the last lap forced Josh Tack to attack early, as he usually does, but John was able to slip in his draft, positioning himself perfectly to come around in the final 100 meters and take the win to match his wife’s earlier success in the women’s race. In the main peloton, GAS riders Sebastian White, Brian Frykman, and Alex Lussier attacked and counter attacked until the very last moments when they were surprised by a surprise surge from Shawn Radley about 300 meters from the finish. In spite of Brian and Sebastian’s efforts to position Alex for the sprint, the response to Shawn’s attack came too late and Alex had to settle for second in the field sprint. He nonetheless found some redemption by taking 4 intermediate sprint awards and the “most aggressive” rider nomination.

See the Bozeman Daily chronicle story on the Curry couple success here. Or, cut and paste the following link into your browser: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2008/08/11/sports/000cycle.txt