Team Kaos' Matt Farnham stormed to a Cat. 4 men's victory in the opener of the Sobe No Fear CX weekend Saturday at Pioneers Park in Lincoln.

Farnham completed the 30-minute race with a nearly one-minute gap over Randall Crist of Omaha Velo Club. Farnham also turned in the race's fastest lap, in 5:38.

The Sobe No Fear weekend continues Sunday with the Nebraska State Cyclocross championship races, also at Pioneers Park. Races begin at 11 a.m. and conclude after the Men's 1/2/3 race at 2 p.m.

The race started at 7,540 feet in front of Clear Creek Middle School and climbed to Echo Lake, where the course turns and climbs to the summit (14,264 feet). More than 500 racers participated in the 42nd annual event.

"The pace was crazy from the start as Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling) was attempting the record," Gray said. "My goal was two hours and I felt like I crushed it with a 1:58:08."

His Team Kaos teammates, Matt Landen, and Mark Merritt were 33rd and 38th, respectively, finishing in 2:11:51 and 2:15:56.

Danielson was challenged all the way to the top by Scott Moninger, the two-time defending - and six-time overall - Mt. Evans Hill Climb champion who rides for the BMC Professional Cyling Team. The Discovery Channel rider won in 1:43, with Moninger second and veteran pro Michael Carter third.

Morgan Chaffin and Justin Maresh captured gold medals with wins in the women’s open and Cat. IV divisions, respectively, while Rich Pearson earned a silver in the Masters Men’s 55+ and Joe McWilliams took home the bronze in the Cat. I-II-III division.

Chaffin covered the 24-mile course near Yutan in 58:03 to average 24.8 mph. Maresh’s time was 57:17 – nearly a minute-and-a-half faster than second-place finisher Don Raskey of Midwest Cycling.

McWilliams came within eight seconds of second place and was nine seconds out of first with a time trial he called “one of his best” in years.

Nearly 60 riders turned out to race under sunny skies with a strong southwest wind that provided a nice tailwind on the return trip of the out-and-back course.

"I couldn't have done it without Marco (Vasquez) and Mark (Brackenbury)," Spence said after accepting the final yellow jersey of race leader Sunday. "Those guys did a fantastic job."

Vasquez and Brackenbury's hard work to keep Spence in the yellow jersey was never more evident than in Friday night's downtown criterium. Lap after lap, the pair chased down attack after attack for nearly the entire 45-minute race.

"I felt pressure for sure," Spence said. "In the crit, the guy in second place at the time (Michael Larsen of Bend Bike 'N Sport) was definitely looking to split it up and possibly get gap."

But with Vasquez and Brackenbury again patrolling the front of the peloton Saturday, Spence put more time into Larsen with a second-place finish in the 85-mile Pacific Power-Cascade Lakes Road Race. Stage winner Christopher Phipps (ZTeam), who soloed in for the win, now loomed as Spence's biggest challenger, 1:28 behind.

Spence said that made Sunday's 63-mile Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race the toughest of the three-day, four-stage race.

Photo at right: Marco Vasquez leads Team Kaos teammate Chris Spence through a corner during the Desert Orthopedics/Rebound Physical Therapy-Downtown Criterium. (Photo courtesy Gregg Zivney.)