Watsonville pro Andy Jacques-Maynes opens 2012 Central Coast Cyclocross Series with a win

Watsonville resident and pro cyclist Andy Jacques-Maynes, who competes in cyclocross for CalGiant/Specialized, won the 2012 Central Coast Cyclocross Series season opener at Fort Ord near Monterey on Saturday.

Jacques-Maynes conquered the elite men’s division, completing 10 laps in 1 hour, 3 minutes, 27 seconds for the victory, with Santa Cruz’s Scott Chapin [Bicycleblue book/HRS/Rocklobster] taking second in 1:05:13 and Millbrae’s Keith Hillier [Team Rambuski Law] rounding out the top three in 1:05:51.

Three other cyclists from Santa Cruz County also won their divisions: Bonny Doon’s Justin Robinson [Cal Giant] finished eight laps in 53:00 in the master men’s 35-plus A division, Santa Cruz’s Natasha Perry [Bicycle blue book/HRS/Rocklobster] finished five laps in 39:10 in the master women’s 35-plus age division and Santa Cruz’s Elli Freiburn [Spokesman] finished five laps in 41:29 in the women’s B Cat 2/3/4 division.

Results in this report are from the CCCX results page. For photos of the event, go here.

Santa Cruz’s John Hauer wins CCCX downhill race

Santa Cruz resident John Hauer [X-Fusion] won the men’s pro division of the Central Coast downhill mountain biking race at Toro Park in Monterey on Saturday.

Hauer sped down in 2 minutes, 48.42 seconds for the win, with Concord’s Ian Massey [Point 1/WTB] taking second in 2:49.32 and Santa Cruz’s Jeff Kendall-Weed [IBIS Cycles] taking third in 2:49.56.

Other division winners from Santa Cruz County were as follows: Santa Cruz’s James Bradley [unattached] won the men’s Cat 2 45-54 age division in 3:29.21, Santa Cruz’s Elli Freiburn [Spokesman] won the women’s Cat 2 division race in 3:49.24,   and Aptos’ Devin Kjaer [Family Cycling Center] was a double-winner in the junior boys 13-and-under division in 3:15.97 and the junior boys 18-and-under Cat 3 division in 3:17.20. He was the only entrant in the under-18 division.

Results included in this report are from the CCCX website, which has lots of photos of the event.

Saturday’s event was the seventh of the eight-race season. The season finale is scheduled for Aug. 25.

–Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Jeff Kendall-Weed overtakes pro downhill field at Central Coast cycling event

Through the first three Central Coast X-Fusion Super-D downhill mountain biking competitions of the season, Santa Cruz’s Jeff Kendall-Weed could never quite find that winning groove. He was second, he was third, and he was fifth — and teen Kiran MacKinnion from Aromas appeared to be something of a wunderkind with two consecutive wins in races Nos. 2 and 3.

But now it looks like Kendall-Weed is out to prove a point. Sunday, he won his second consecutive race at Toro Park in Salinas, blowing away the field by crossing the finish line in 3 minutes, 7.03 seconds.

With MacKinnon as a no-show following a third-place finish in the previous CCCX race, the next closest finisher was Frazier Park’s Waylon Smith [Hyper Bicycles, 3:09.64], and John Hauer [XFusion/Tomac, 3:14.32] of Santa Cruz captured third place by just a fraction of a point.

As if the action couldn’t get more exciting, there was also a handful of other Santa Cruz County winners. They were as follows:

Scotts Valley’s Felip Walker [Monster Energy/Scotts Valley Cycle Sport] dominated the junior boys Cat 1 18-and-under division in 3:20.22, capturing the victory with almost a four-second lead over the next closest finisher; Scotts Valley’s Travis Kaschalk [Hit-n-Run Designs] was a beast in the Clydesdale division, finishing in 3:43.47 for more than a five-second lead over the next closest finisher; and Santa Cruz’s Elli Freiburn [ScottChapin.com] finished uncontested in the women’s Cat 3 division [4:25.90].

CCCX always posts tons of photos, so be sure to check those out, too.

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.