Weekend roundup: Midwest edition

The Chicago contingent of the SRAM Factory team had a pretty good showing this weekend - 1st and 4th in Category 1/2/3 at the Grafton, Wisconsin CX race on Saturday, then 4th in the Women's Cat 1/2/3, and 1st & 2nd in the Men's Cat 1/2/3 at Sunday's ChiCrossCup race at Dan Ryan Woods. More importantly, we had a blast!

Veldrittrainingjen

Racing is certainly underway in the US, even some of the big names from Europe made the trip across the pond to race in Vegas and Wisconsin. Here in the Netherlands the season has barely started-local series racing starts this weekend.

With racing comes weeknight training. Unlike the pickup races in US parks the local club in Amersfoort has a dedicated paved race circuit around a sports complex for weeknight racing, Tuesday night saw the first 'cross night practice session under the lights. No worries about someone playing volleyball in the sandpit-the "zand" is for bikes!

No pickup race either--7pm and time to start. The first 30 minutes or so are open; a little course with tight S curves on slick grass, a pump track, the pit and a few off camber turns to loosen up everyone. Fast or slow as you want. At 7:30 the drills begin. Under a coach's eye everyone lines up the barriers, speed increases while the distance to the rider in front decreases. A few rounds before the real fun. A little trail in the woods behind the football field, no light, keep up with the rider in front of you. A few bounce off the trees. Sprint when the whistle blows, ease off when you hear it again. Then back to the course; the interval times get longer until the final five minutes at race speed. With riders from masters to juniors there is always someone to catch or be caught. Almost 2 hours of good training with a purpose-everyone gets sharper even as the legs slow down.

It reminds me of when I was a kid. Only difference is we were practicing throwing, hitting and judging fly balls rather than fast dismounts.

DeKalb

The SRAM Factory Cyclocross team had a great time in DeKalb this past Sunday, the 2nd stop of the ChiCrossCup. J.P. and Bill put in solid performances in their Masters categories, while David and Scott shared the Elite podium with Brian Conant of The Pony Shop CX team:

photo: Ellen

The course had a great mix of very twisty sections, a few off-camber turns, two sets of barriers as well as a fly over, and a couple of power sections.

The sea of course tape illustrates some sections of the course were very twisty. Photo: Ellen

David follows James LaLonde of Chicago.CX. Photo: Ellen

This barrier was squeezed in between two tight turns making it tricky to maintain momentum. Photo: Ellen

We're lucky to have so many dedicated clubs/promoters putting on CX races in the Chicagoland area. It's obvious they put a lot of time and effort into creating challenging courses for us to race on every weekend.

Cross the domes

On Saturday I traveled to Milwaukee for Cross the Domes, put on by My Wife Inc.

Matt Shriver leads eventual winner Brian Matter through a tight off-camber compound left corner. This was followed by a more-than-180-degree off-camber right turn and then up the stairs in the background. Fantastic! Photo: Jeremy Rodriguez

The course was fantastic - a great mix of fast and slow corners, several off-camber turns, a steep but mercifully short climb, and a long sand pit. It was one of those courses with great 'flow' where you could either carry a lot of speed by stringing together three corners just right, or find yourself grinding to a near halt if you didn't nail that first apex.

A new variation on the famous Hemme grimace in front of ones of the domes.. Mike and I carpooled up to Milwaukee along with Jeff Wat. Photo: Jeremy Rodriguez

About three hundred racers participated in Cross the Domes this year, less than half the number who came out for the second stop of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup in DeKalb, Illinois the next day. The Milwaukee race is every bit as close to my home in the city of Chicago as the DeKalb race. While 300 racers is a solid turn out, this was a first-class event at a great venue and I expect to see it grow next year. I'll be there.

Frisco, CO

Our preciptation-free fall continues on the front range. Our weekly great cross migration moved up to Summit County to Frisco Colorado for a Colorado Cross Cup race on Sat and repeating on Sunday ( which I opted out of ). I can't tell you why but I've always experienced really solid form coming up to 9,200 ft in elevation and yesterday was no exception. The course is always held at the Frisco Nordic Ski center and the track features a brutal long grinder section of pavement then dumps riders on to an extremely loose, dusty, "double track" descent that really only features one decent line through deep piles of wood chips leftover from clearing beetle kill trees. Into a fine gravel and grass ball field, over telephone pole "barriers" then into some rocky drops followed immediately by a few short run-ups.

Sunny skies and much more reasonable(seasonable) temps in the 60's met our 45+ group of 50 some odd riders. Without a call up I tried to get as far up as I could however I dread the start of this race. Punching it from the gate in a full on sprint at elevation up a pavement climb usually prompts seeing stars and trying desperately to gather your focus prior to diving into the descent. I had a good enough start and settled in looking to avoid drama. The laps were fairly short and there were lots of opportunities to pass so it made sense to pick a pace that was sustainable and try picking off riders. Last weekends race featured few technical challenges yet Frisco is all hands on deck, you will be penalized for being asleep at the wheel. This type of course suits me and it all came together yesterday. I had a solid race, no issues and rolled through in 17th position, My personal best for this 45+ group since I moved into this category last season. Until yesterday I've never been able to break into to the top 20 so obviously very stoked to put in a solid effort and with luck, pick up a few points for a call up.

Next weekend, Jen and I head up to Fort Collins as the USGP circus rolls into town. Stay tuned.

Beginnings

Greetings from the front range of Colorado, where I'll keep you all posted on what's happening in one of the hotbeds of the American Cyclocross scene, need proof ? Colorado riders took home over twenty National titles at Bend last year ! I was not one of those riders, a few of you may know me from my previous ramblings at this abandoned site, where I scribed my perspective of an overly enthusiastic, middle-aged, middle of the pack, participant with decent bike handling skills but lacking fitness.

I delayed my start to this season due in part for some quality Taiwan time. I was in no hurry to start as summer in Colorado pushes deep into fall and I despise racing in hot, dry conditions which is what was exactly on order for what I pegged on the calendar to be my start to the season.The race was held at the classic Xilinx venue, North of the Peoples Republic. Before I was even to the turnoff from the Diagonal, I could spot huge plumes of dust billowing up from the South side fields. Signed in for 11:15 am 45+ start and struck out to take in the course when I immediately began to strike up conversations instead with everyone I literally hadn't seen since states last year. One lap of warm in and a few nervous openers and I pulled up to the line to hear everyone get a call up that I was in front of last season ( perhaps this delay wasn't such a great strategy methinks). So in a field of 60 or so riders I am placed 2nd row from the back. Whistle blows and we're off on a furious tear up the pavement. I am super pleased with my start as I've weasled my way to a mid pack position. Bunny hop the curb and into the dirt with a duffy right hander around a tree and off a small log. Already I can hear and see panic and indecision among my fellow racers," run it or ride it" ? I ride it, it's not a big deal but as I roll away, I can spot another rider with all his weight on the front wheel and not in control heading for me. He t-bones me and pushes me down, under the tape and off the course. By the time we are untangled and rolling the majority of the group is gone. Well, this has just turned into a training race, I spent the remining 4.75 laps in my 46T trying to get close to the middle again. It wasn't to be as I rolled through in 40th. Not exactly how I envisioned starting the season but I had to start somewhere. Here is some video from a fellow 45 pluser

Originally I had planned on bagging out on Frisco ( too far, too high ) but I need redemption after Xilinx and we'll see if I get on Saturday. On another note, cross in the Springs seems to be taking hold. All previous Wed evening practice sessions were typically a low key affair maxing out at 4-5 riders. This year every week we've had a solid turnout with about a dozen riders including our own former National Champ, Marc Gullickson. Also among fellow SRAMmies in the Springs, we have 8 riders going up to the Ft Collins USGP in 2 weeks ! Very cool to see the seeds sprouting. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the site.

Astroturf, peanut butter and soup

Last Saturday, I rode (competed?) in the Elite race of the USGP in Madison. The ground was damp but not slippery. This made for traction like riding on astroturf, allowing me to really lean over and carve turns, as seen here:

photo: Bill Kieth

I had a good start and made it through the first-lap chaotic frenzy relatively unscathed.

Photo: Bill Kieth

I finished mid-pack, which is about all I could hope for against competition of that caliber.

Overnight it rained and rained. I elected to do the master's race Sunday, and while warming up the course was like peanut butter - thick and heavy. It's difficult to ride in peanut butter, and it packs up on the bike to the point where it's hard to keep the wheels turning. Luckily, it started pouring rain (and even hailing) before our start and the mud turned in to soup. As you can hopefully imagine, it's much easier to ride through soup than peanut butter, and soup doesn't pack on your bike like peanut butter can. Think about it - you've never had soup stuck to the roof of your mouth, have you?

photo: NikkiCyp

I had another good start, moving up at least 40 spots in the first lap. Thereafter it became much more difficult to make headway, as the more fit and technically adept riders were all that were left in front of me. I'm racing my way in to shape and having huge fun along the way.