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Cyclo-Cross
Season - Crossin' Up The
cyclocross season in Michigan is at the halfway point, with the first
three races of the Tailwind Series complete. Maumee Valley Wheelmen
riders appear in the top five in every class and category, except the
women’s! The
“A” riders, 34 and under age-group includes Andy Hague in 3rd and Will
McLaughlin in 31st. The 35 and over age-group shows Jonathan Card in
1st and John Walter at 11th. Jonathan placed 2nd overall in his
first two races and beat Jeff Weinert to the line in the 3rd race.
Ask Jonathan how that happened! The
“B” race juniors are headed up by Jonas Root in 1st and Mike House in
3rd. The 19-29 year olds have Adam Slough in 2nd place, with Will
McLaughlin in 8th (he raced the “B’s” after having a mechanical in
the “A” race). The 30 to 39 year olds are lead by Matt Thourot,
with Paul Stanton in 5th, and Steve Sams in 16th . The 40 and over
club has Jim Sarks positioned well in 2nd place with myself hanging on the
back at 10th and Mark Root, 14th (Mark has only been able to race once, so
far, this season). Several
MVW riders were in Ann Arbor on October 29th for the first race, of the
two-race series sponsored by Quick Release and Paul Alman. And
again, MVW riders lead the way with Andy Hague placing first in the
“A’s” and Mike House placing first in the “B’s”. Mike
actually could have been counted in the “A” race as well, since he
passed all but a few of those riders, and they had a minute and half gap
at the start. Actually, the race chairman told Mike he had to ride
the “A’s” next race, either way! Other riders included Jim
Sarks, Jonas Root, Will McLaughlin, myself, and I believe, Paul Stanton.
Quite a few riders were overheard griping about the course layout in Ann
Arbor, however, I felt that the course provided a unique opportunity to
develop much-needed technical skills. The course had three or four 180
degree turns, that were very tight and required a lot of attention from
the riders. The first turn was a nasty one at the bottom of a fast,
bumpy hill, turn two was on a wet and hilly traverse that required you to
turn downhill and then an immediate sharp left. Turn three saw
several rides cutting the apex (a tree in this instance) to pass slower
riders, and the final turn, an off-camber one with huge sycamore leaves to
slide on (Andy Hague was seen using the leaves to his advantage by
grabbing the brakes and power sliding to get around the corner). Several
riders learned a hard lesson about mounting on the downhill side of your
bike on wet grass. Failure to weight the downhill pedal prior to
mounting your bike resulted in several spills, both by Maumee Valley
Wheelmen and others. Hopefully, these newly developed skills will
come in handy in future races. The
next race ... [was] ... at Hudson Mills Metropark
in Dexter, Michigan. [Jim Sarks' report is
here.] If the course is setup anything like last year, it
will be a fast course where power riders can overcome those that are
technically proficient in cross skills, but are lacking a strong road
racing base. The “A” race starts at 12 noon and the “B” race
at 1:30pm. It would be really nice to see a large group of fans at this race, so bring some food, friends and family, your dog, whatever…, and tailgate party at the race. I’ve heard there are plenty of quiet country roads in the area for a post-race warm-down. TOP Last Updated 12/28/09 |
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