Brems and Ortenblad Tame Surf City

26 October 2014

At it’s perennial Halloween Event, Ben Jacques-Maynes and Surf City Cyclo-X set out an exciting and testing course. The challenge was met as both Karen Brems (Team Rambuski Law) and Tobin Ortenblad (Cal Giant/Specialized) opened their accounts, in the three-race series, with wins at Aptos High School.

Brems Triumphs on a Challenging Surf City Course

Brems took to the course with Caroline Dezendorf (Marin Bikes) and Kelly Chang (Rock Lobster) keeping pace on the first lap. Dezendorf held the early lead whilst Chang put in another good early race.

By the second lap, Brems began to take charge with the unfortunate Dezendorf falling back. To make the race more difficult for the Marin Bikes racer, Janie Dalton (Missing Link) moved up from fourth to challenge for the second step of the podium. Struggling with changing out of big-chain gears and a switch to an unfamiliar bike, Dalton would still take over in second place but only briefly. Dezendorf would not fall hard and she took back a deserved finish ahead of Dalton.

Brems and Dalton finished one-two in last season’s Surf City series and, with the day’s podium finishes, get their series off to a great start for 2014. Dezendorf made only a single appearance last year but there is promise of an exciting battle at Surf City this year.

Dezendorf’s First Lap Lead

Dalton Racing Well Despite Mechanical Difficulties with her Bike

A strong Elite Men’s field lined up at the start with Andy Jacques-Maynes (Family Cycling Center), Kurt Wolfgang (Marin Bikes), and Cal Giant/Specialized teammates Brian Finnerty and Justin Robinson joining Ortenblad. It would be the youngster leading from early in the first lap as Jacques-Maynes and the rest of the field gave chase. Finnerty took over second place at the next lap with Jacques-Maynes in third and Justin Abbott fourth.

Ortenblad Establishing his Race

Ortenblad continued the early fast pace and built up a 45-second lead midway through the race. This time Andy Jacques-Maynes was back in second and just starting to claw his way back toward the leader. By the final lap, going up a long run-up, the gap between first and second had shrunk to just 10 seconds. Furthermore, Jacques-Maynes was looking the more aggressive, clearly intent on making it a race for the win. Ortenblad did maintain the gap once they crossed the finish line but it was an exciting exhibition of racing hard to the end.

Jacques-Maynes Raced Hard to the End

Race Results
Elite Women
1. Karen Brems (Team Rambuski Law)
2. Caroline Dezendorf (Marin Bikes)
3. Janie Dalton (Missing Link)
4. Courtney Dimpel (Calletti Cycles)
5. Michelle Monroe (ibis/Buy-cell.com)

Elite Men
1. Tobin Ortenblad (Cal Giant/Specialized)
2. Andy Jacques-Maynes (Family Cycling Center)
3. Sam Cerrutti (Family Cycling Center)
4. Brian Finnerty (Cal Giant/Specialized)
5. Justin Abbott (URS Corporation)