Shakopee Resident Places Fourth in Cyclocross World Championship

Shakopee resident Jessie Rients finished fourth in his age bracket (35 to 39) in the world championships of Cyclocross, a hybrid form of road and mountain bike racing.

Here's what Rients wrote on his blog about the race, which was held in Louisville, Ky.:

The final race week of the year is finally gone and done.  I ended up 4th in the final today for Master's 35-39 World Championships.  I was only 20 seconds off the podium so that was the bummer.  I had a front row call up in the #7 position which was only made better when 3 of the front row did not show up for call ups.  Talk about an amateur move (yeah, I am talking to you Russ, Haha).  I had a pretty good start but not the hole shot like I hoped.  I moved my way up to 4th by the second lap and could not close the gap to the podium.  Hollywood was out on the course yelling what lines were the fastest which helped a lot. I was pretty bummed with missing the podium but after calming down I started to feel a bit better about it.  My teammate, Tom Price was an ace in the pit.  I was able to get 1 bike per lap and without that I would not have finished.  Brandon Gavic, of 2013 FoamParty fame was also helpful in getting my pit bike ready while I warmed up.

Cyclocross is a sport, usually held in the fall and the winter, that requires competitors to traverse a range of terrain, including pavement, grass and obstacles. It is popular in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.,