Dawn Neisser and John Novitsky, both of Woodside, came away from the 2009 Summer National Senior Games with gold medals in cycling.
Neisser won in both the 5K and 10K time trials for the women’s age 50-54 group. Novitsky won in the same age group for men in the 10K time trials, and missed winning the gold in the 5K by one second. The time trials were held Aug. 10 on Canada Road.
In the women’s 10K, Neisser crossed the finish line in 15:30, ahead of Carol Johnson of Washington by 24 seconds.
In the 5K, Neisser won the gold with a time of 7:27. Again, Johnson, who was 17 seconds behind, took the silver.
Neisser left the games with four medals, including two silvers in road races.
Novitksy finished the 10K course in 13 minutes and 44 seconds, beating Skip Rodgers of Pennsylvania by 25 seconds. Novitsky set a blistering pace, averaging 27.1 miles per hour.
“It was a relief [to win] in that I just had an OK ride in the morning with the 5K, and was closer to ‘on-my-game’ in the afternoon with the 10K,” Novitsky said.
Rodgers took the gold in the 5K with a time of 6:44, edging Novitsky by one second. At the 2007 Summer Senior Games, Novitsky beat Rodgers in the 5K by less than a second.
Novitsky’s silver and gold performance in 2009 did not come as a surprise to his competitors. Novitsky is the reigning USA Cycling 2009 Masters Road Time Trial champion.
While most racers had a break between the road races on Aug. 6-7 and the time trials on Aug. 10, Novitsky had just cycled in two races over the weekend with his cycling team, VOS-cycles Gladiator.
“I did six races in five days, which is not a walk in the park for a 51-year-old guy,” Novitsky said.
Another Woodside resident, Ted Zayner, competed in the time trials on Aug. 10. In the 5K, Zayner came in 19th in the men’s 50-54 age group at 7:51. In the 10K, Zayner finished in 17th place at 16:15.
All three Woodside cyclists competed in the 20K and 40K road races on Aug. 6-7. In the 20K, Neisser finished second in her age group, Novitsky finished seventh in his group, and Zayner finished 25th in the same group as Novitsky.
In the 40K, Neisser again finished second, Novitsky finished seventh, and Zayner finished 21st.
“The way the courses were set up for the road races, they favored a guy with a good sprint, and I don’t have a good sprint,” Novitsky said. “I just wasn’t strong enough to end it, but that’s just the way the game is played.”
For more information on the Senior Games, go to 2009seniorgames.org.
Amanda Young contributed to this report.
