SoCal Prestige Series Cyclocross # 6 -  C.I.C.L.E.Cross
Day 1 at the Dam Cross  Weekend - Brent Prenzlow  & Wonderkind Coryn Rivera take the victories at Hansen Dam.

Dam Cross Weekend presented by Calrad Electronics:
SCPS #6 - C.I.C.L.E Cross and SCPS #7 - UCI Dam Cross
It was a “dam” bumpy cross race this past weekend for stops 6 and 7 of the SoCalCross Prestige Series (SCPS) as Southern California hosted its second UCI Cyclocross race ever and the only UCI race in the state of California this season. The event was held in Los Angeles at the Hansen Dam Park and Recreation Area offered an impressive backdrop for UCI-level racing. The park's bowl-like features were a perfect setting for plenty of striking racing.

Dam Cross Weekend Parcours
Dam Cross offered a top quality UCI power course consisting of 60% grass, 30% pavement and 10% dirt that demanded the most from its challengers! A true love/hate relationship amongst competitors the physical demands of the bumps, steep climbs and tricky off camber turns made for an epic course. It is the type of course I would like to see a few more stars like Kona's Twin Towers (Wicks and Trebon) or CyclocrossWorld.com's Triplets (J.Powers, Driscol, and Johnson) come to try.

Santa Ana Winds Buffets Riders
The weekend forecast was for 80-degree dry and windy weather, which was seen Saturday with temperatures reaching almost 90-degrees but with the heavy winds and intermittent rain Saturday night really cooled things down for Sundays UCI competitions, around 60-65-degrees.

The 1.9k course was dynamic with two long paved straights, a couple of off camber slippery root turns, a bumpy approach to the Clif Bar-Kool N Fit double barriers and the Michelin jet-setter hill tested riders abilities and power as they approached then end of each lap. The jarring flat sections of the course thanks to the gophers punished racers each lap, making tubulars a good call for the day. Some racers even put Vaseline inside their gloves.

Series Promoter, Dorothy (DOT) Wong, veteran elite CX racer found her passion for the sport to also become her mission and has worked to grow cross in Southern California by promoting UCI-level CX races and forming the SoCalCross Prestige Series three years ago. The Series now includes over 16 cycling clubs across So Cal hosting 12 events in the So Cal CX race calendar. Wong collaborated with 5 cycling clubs to host the Dam Cross weekend (Team CICLE, Montrose Bike Shop, Eaton Design Racing, GS Arroyo, and Bearclaw).

Working in TV, her creativity was a natural progression into producing 'cross events. Her vision to create Eco-Sportfest '08 5k 'cross run, the GoGreenRacer competition and the SCPS mission to become the first certified green sports series in the US has helped bring attention to CX in So Cal. The Prestige Series is entirely run on solar energy (powered by: Energy Efficiency Solar), practices lots of recycling – including best team trophies made from old bike parts, Dam Cross Weekend served yummy organic/wholesome goodies from the Green Truck (run on bio diesel) and the GoGreenRacer rewards competitors who practice their greenest efforts each week with weekly Voler Green Jerseys.

SCPS #6 CICLE 'cross & Eco-Sportfest '08: kicked off the weekend with a 5k 'cross country run (two laps of the CX course) and dedicated Generic Events colleague, Lawrence Fong, recently injured and in a coma. Iron 'crossers, triathletes, runners even dogs took to the 'cross course in support of Lawrence's family. Amazing energy abound including an eco-fitness expo supporting Team CICLE's mission for Friendly Streets, Healthy Body, Happy Planet including the Mayor of Los Angeles Million Dollar Tree Program, offering free trees to residents.

Yuba's transport bike awarded at the end of the season raises funds for CICLE. The Clif Kids GoGreenRacer 'cross race rewarded future 'crossers with goodies including: bike safety info from the LAPD, Boys & Girls Club hats, Eco-fest cow bells, helmets donated by H&S Bikes and the Artichoke Band serenaded racers through out the afternoon. An added featured was the Dash for Cash Time Trial benefiting the Children's Museum of LA situated on the grounds of Hansen Dam. Thanks to CyclocrossWorld, CX Magazine, Euro Asia, Sheila Moon, Thule, Giro, Willamette Valley Vineyards, and Stone Brewing. Racers made a donation to the museum and then raced against the clock in a sprint time trial. Prizes were awarded to best male, female and juniors.

Women's Race - Coryn Rivera Wins
The day showed off the women of SoCalCross with Voler Points Leader's jerseys including, Master's Women's 35+ leader Robin MacDonald-Foley (Trek) and Junior Women 10-14 leader, Hannah Eckvahl (Velo Bella). In the Elite Women's race, taking over the SCPS series leader's jersey worn by Dot Wong (CICLE), the new star of So Cal,16 year old Coryn Rivera (Redline Factory Team) took off strong to set the pace for the race. The physically demanding conditions began to space the group. In the end it was Kristi Berg (Redline) all the way from Washington (3rd), Nor Cal's, Kari Studley (Velo Bella) finished 2nd and Coryn Rivera riding away with the win for the first of the weekend's races.

Elite Men's Race
In the elite men's race it was the great battle of power between SCPS points leader, Brent Prenzlow, (Celo Pacific/Alan) and Chris Jones (Sonic/Louis Garneau/Jittery Joes) in from Nor Cal to challenge the series leader in a true Nor Cal/So Cal showdown. In the end it was Prenzlow who made a last lap move to pass Jones and capture the first win on the weekend, Sid Taberlay (RockNRoad) Australian World Cup and Olympic MTBer, now living in Pasadena rounding out the top three.

oCal Prestige Series Cyclocross # 6-  C.I.C.L.E.Cross Results
Elite Men
1  Brent Prenzlow Celo Pacific/ALAN
2  Christopher Jones Sonic/Jittery Joes/Louis Garneau
3  Frederick Bottger PAA/Vitamix/Sixtufit.com
4  Sid Taberlay Sho-air/Sonance
5 4 Gary Douville Team Platinum Performance
6   Morgan Ryan Team CICLE
7  Ben Bostrum Boz Bros
8  Jason Siegle Team CICLE/Bear Valley Bikes
9  Bobby Langin Jr Team Platinum Performance
10  Anton Petrov Team Prolong
11  Ted Willard Bike Religion
12  Rich Bartlett Block
13  Lyle Warner Team Bearclaw
14  Alex Boone Team Bearclaw
15  Paul Hernandez Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling
16  John Barbachano Block
  John Behrens Bailey Bikes
 Leonard Lawrence Successfulliving.com
 John McKeen Team Bearclaw
 Matt Freeman Team Redlands
 Michael Beck Team Beck

Elite Women 1/2/3 Results
1  Coryn Rivera Team Redline
2  Kari Studley Velo Bella/Kona
3  Kristi Berg Redline Bicycles
4  Shannon Gibson VeloBella-Kona
5  Carolyn Popovic Team CICLE Presented by Voler
6  Dorothy Wong Team CICLE Presented by Voler
7  Kendall Ryan Team CICLE Presented by Voler
8  Sarah Kaufmann Roaring Mouse Cycles
9  Lisa Crowe Team CICLE Presented by Voler
10 8  Joy Duerksen Coach Garth
11  Heidi Kanayan Team CICLE Presented by Voler
12  Heidi Bowen Team MBS
13  Christie Pleiss Team CICLE Presented by Voler
14  Alexis Ryan Team CICLE Presented by Voler
15 879  Kimberly Turner Team Chicken Ranch
16 Amy Hutner Kahala LaGrange
17  Heather Rose Banning's Bikes
 Annette Padilla Celo Pacific

More info at: www.SoCalCross.org

• Discuss this race and the sport with other cycling fans from around the world on the Daily Peloton.com Forums and Chat Room.
• Sponsor the daily peloton & advertise your product - contact us.
• Do you have a passion for cycling and a yen to write? contact us.