The Crosshairs Team powered by Spy Optic had an impressive presence at this past weekend’s Hilly Billy Roubaix, fielding eleven entries (Men’s Singlespeed: Sean Campbell, Chris Merriam, Sean O’Donnell; Men’s Under 40: Kevin Hays, Chris McGill, Chris Rabadi, Chris Wynnyk; Men’s Over 40: Sol Schott, Bill Thornton, Mike Wynnyk). We brought a variety of equipment, from SS MTBs to SSCX to MTB to CX. We had tubes and patches and lots of water and a ton of enthusiasm.
The “Roubaix” part of the event name implies some sort of genteel outing on a bike. Sure you’re going to have a rough time of it, but it says “Roubaix” in it. How bad could it be? Bad. It would be bad. 72-miles, on-and-off-road ultracross event, winding through West Virginia and Pennsylvania backroads, climbing over 7,000 soul-crushing feet over terrain on gravel roads, logging and ATV trails, and some pavement. Some.
The race organizer, J.R. Petsko, set us up early with warnings of huge gravel and that some finishers would take over eight hours to finish. We rolled quietly down the hill, with a little bravado and swagger, and lined up at the park entrance for the start — handled with a 25-yard dirt-bike wheelie. The stories for the team vary from that point on. Some had early and many flats, others left their penance in vomit, but many Crosshairs powered along up those hills.
We put in some impressive performances, but best finish goes to Sean O’Donnell with a 6th place finish in the Singlespeed Division (45 overall of 197 finishers).
JR and the ABRA folks put on a great race and a great event, special thanks to the “Un-o-fish-al Aid Stay-shun”. We’ll be back next year, for sure.
Gallery
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- Sean O’Donnell
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- Chris Rabadi
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- Sean Campbell
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- Bill Thornton
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- Sol Schott
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- Mike Wynnyk
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- Sean O’Donnell
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- Chris McGill
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- Chris Merriam
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- Chris Wynnyk
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- Sol Schott
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- Sean O’Donnell
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- Chris Wynnyk
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- Chris Merriam
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- Chris McGill
Quote of the day, however goes to Sol Schott, aka (“Dead or Dying Crosshairs Guy“).
Interviewer: “How easy was that ride?”
Sol: “Piece of cake.”
Interviewer: “What kind of cake?”
Sol: “PAINcake.”
Results
| Rider | Division | Time | Place (Division) | Place (Overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sean O’Donnell | Single Speed | 5:12:02 | 6 | 45 |
| Chris Wynnyk | Men U40 | 5:18:40 | 26 | 52 |
| Chris Merriam | Men U40 | 5:12:49 | 11 | 60 |
| Chris McGill | Men U40 | 5:36:15 | 41 | 85 |
| Kevin Hays | Men U40 | 6:35:52 | 64 | 148 |
| Chris Rabadi | Men U40 | 7:29:40 | 77 | 173 |
| Sol Schott | Men 40+ | 8:09:06 | 63 | 181 |
| Bill Thornton | Men 40+ | 9:09:56 | 65 | 183 |
| Sean Campbell | Single Speed | DNF | ||
| Mike Wynnyk | Men 40+ | DNF |