Gearworks 'cross wrap-up: Johnson & Bessette swoop in the snow

Tim Johnson (cyclocrossworld.com-louisgarneau)

Tim Johnson (cyclocrossworld.com-louisgarneau) (Image credit: Paul Weiss)

Billed as a sneak preview of the course for December's National Championships in Rhode Island, Saturday's Gearworks Bay State Cyclocross, round four of the 2005 Verge New England Championships Cyclocross Series, presented by Cycle-Smart, added an extra bit of intrigue: a healthy blanket of snow. The Sterling, Mass. course, designed by National's course guru Tom Stevens, was already challenging before the four inches of white fluff came down on Thanksgiving Day, but the added element of dodgy traction and sub-freezing temps made for an epic day in the fourth race of the 2005 Verge NECCS.