Top five finishes for California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized teammates at the Masters Cyclocross Championships earlier today in Louisville, Kentucky where Gannon Myall took third and Alan Coats, fifth in the Masters Men 45-49 race.
“I am super happy with my result and thank Anthony (Gallino) and my wife for letting me live my dream.” Myall said after his race.
“That’s pretty cool.” Coats commented about his fifth place. “I am disappointed a little for having never getting to race it out with the front guys, but I had a great ride. And I can’t be more proud of Don Myrah, my teammate Gannon Myall, and myself for representing Norcal Cyclocross.”
The rainbow jersey was claimed by fellow Northern Californian Don Myrah.
Both Myall and Coats had issues at the start of the 45-minute race. A miscommunication sent Coats from the second row to the fifth row which was even more an issue given the conditions of the course.
“I had a crappy start by missing my pedal and so I was around 10th on the first lap and then started to make moves around people which was hard as the conditions did not allow for a lot of passing.” said Myall.
After days of freezing temperatures, rain and some snow, the sun came out. “Conditions were still frozen but were thawing. The course workers did a great job taking some of the more treacherous sections out just to make it a bit safer.” explained Coats who pitted twice a lap on the messy course. “Thank again to Norm, Spider Monkey and Cory in the pit. And my lovely wife cheering for me along the way.”
Myall quickly found himself in a duel. “I was in battle with a local guy and the crowd was heckling me bad, pretty funny.” he exclaimed.
Coats was 25th after the first of five laps and knew that he had his work cut out for him. “I started upping my rhythm and picking people off, sometimes two at a time. I was making good progress as I had good legs.
Then halfway through, Coats was 12th and still moving up, all the way 7th at two laps to go. “At one to go, I made it to the fifth-place guy and went right by. He didn’t answer and away I rode. Half way through the last lap I was catching fourth but ran out of time. All in all, I had a great ride.” Coats concluded.
A tough day for Justin Robinson who finished 19th in the Masters Men 35-39 race on Saturday afternoon.
“Front flat on the start line, caught the lead group but then tore my rear derailleur off. Ran for three quarters of a lap, got back into the top 10, tangled in the course tape and had to remove my front wheel to get rolling again, picked off a few more guys, finished 19th.” Robinson said. “Physically I think I was on. Mentally and mechanically, a very difficult day for me.”
The Masters World Championships conclude Sunday with Norman Kreiss and Ned Overend taking on the world in the Masters Men 55-59.
