Kabush ends cyclocross season with a victory at Cross Crusade

Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox Racing) capped off a short but successful cyclocross season with a victory at the Bend Cross Crusade in Oregon on Sunday. The five-time national cyclocross champion will shift his focus back to mountain biking in the New Year.

“I had a busy fall so I didn’t do many cyclocross race weekends but I made the most of them,” Kabush said. “I look forward to doing a few more events next year but that’s it for the 2013 season.”

Kabush won the elite men’s category ahead of Carl Decker (Giant Factory Team) and Troy Wells (Clif Bar). Race organizers started multiple categories on course at the same time, which Kabush says made for an interesting race. “Cross Crusade was definitely a new experience, racing in the snow and attempting to pass the other categories on course in treacherous conditions.”

The weekend of racing kicked off on Saturday at the Deschutes Brewery Cup, a UCI C1 event where Kabush placed second to Tim Johnson (Cannondale presented by Cyclocrossworld.com). “I definitely marked the Deschutes Brewery Cup on my calendar and it was a bonus to get the opportunity to race my first-ever Cross Crusade event.”

Participants braved temperatures as cold as -20 Celsius throughout the weekend. Kabush wore an old Banesto team jersey to keep warm, and entertain the spectators, during the Sunday event, which was not UCI sanctioned.

“It was definitely the coldest conditions I’ve ever raced in but it was a good weekend of cyclocross and good times in Bend,” Kabush said. “I really enjoy visiting Bend and the organizers did a great job making everything run smoothly.”

“I had lots of windproof, warm gear and a few tricks so I survived all right in the cold. I dug in my tickle trunk and found some retro gear from my early days of cycling to have a little fun, which the Cross Crusade races seem to really embrace.”