September 18, 2008

A massive windstorm hit the Cincinnati Ohio area on Sunday, including the town of Loveland Ohio, site of the opening race of the 2008 Zipp OVCX Cyclocross Tour. News outlets reported that the storm, which was the remnant of Hurricane Ike, left nearly two million people without electricity and forecast that many would be without power for over a week. In Loveland itself, people in the only open store in town reported that they had seen several houses that had been destroyed by falling trees.

Though it all, the Zipp OVCX racers continued to compete at the Cycle Sport Cyclocross at Riverview Park, with Dan Campbell (RFG Solutions) winning an epic Elite Men's race that was held at the height of the windstorm. A hard, steady wind with recorded gusts of 70 mph (112 km/hour) saw riders trading pulls while riding at 7 mph on the flats while soccer goals on the accompanying field were being blown over. A seven- rider lead group formed on the second lap and stayed together for about half the race. Slowly riders were shelled out the back until only 4 remained. With four laps to go, the remaining riders split into two groups of two riders each, with Campbell and Mike Purvis (Barbasol) forming the lead group. Campbell took the lead for good with 2 ½ laps remaining and soloed to the victory with about a 30 second margin and a huge smile. It was the first major cyclocross win for the rider who earlier this year finished second in the Tour of Ohio. Purvis' Barbasol teammate Mike Kennedy finished third ahead of Alderfer-Bergen's Mike Sherer.

The Elite Women's race was won in convincing fashion by Ashley James of Iscorp/Nova Cycle. Amanda McKay of Bio-Wheels finished second.

The next Zipp OVCX Tour race will be the Tour de Louisville at Louisville Kentucky's Tom Sawyer Park on September 28. For more information, see www.OVCX.com

Race Notes:
• In the Elite Masters race, Mike McShane of Team Calistoga took the win after a race-long battle among a three-man lead group
• The event saw a record entry, nearly doubling last year's entry total.
• There were so many entries in the category 3-4 race that officials split the field into two separate events. Several of the women competitors commented that it may have been the largest category 3-4 women's field, in any discipline (road, mtb, 'cross), they had raced in Ohio this year.