Upcoming Race - SVSU RED ZONE (October 9)

Don't forget about the 2nd race in the Michigan independent cyclocross series...  On Sunday, October 9 'cross racing will return to SVSU!  The Midland Brewing Company is a sponsor so you can bet there will be proper post-ride refreshments available.

Word is you can win a bike by racing...

The course is set for marking and it should be a great time.  Register HERE!

Stomach of Anger - Lansing

Took 4th in the first Stomach of Anger race for 2011.  7 starters separated into two groups pretty quickly.  Wiz took a commanding win today on the grass criterium course.  Only one set of barriers (a double) within 200m of the finish.  Lap times were pretty long and parts of the old golf course were pretty bumpy.  Not shaken - baby - syndrome bumpy like Waterford, but bumpy.

The race split early into the front group and the back group.  There were three of us in the back group.  With five to go the Stomach of Anger rider put in an attack that took us about two laps to fully bring back.  Then crossing the barriers the Bissell rider had a small mishap, leaving two of us driving to the finish.  A slight mishap in the corner left me off the front with about a lap and a half to go.  I rode as hard as I possibly could, knowing both of those guys were back chasing hard.  I managed to hold them both off by the finish but only by about 100 m or so.  I was gassed.  Average HR was 181...

Mike Seaman snagged 2nd in the 45+ race as well.  But the best part of the day was seeing Kristie and Grace every lap - it was Grace's first 'cross race!

A-race results

Masters 45+ results - note I initially won this before they realized it'll be 16 years before I can race with those guys.

Stomach of Anger - Lansing

203 S. Clippert, Lansing, MI

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Waterford and Tommy Tsunami

Double this weekend at Waterford and MMCC for the new Tommy Tsunami race.  Waterford was tough as always.  It was the tale of two races - the first 30 minutes were ok but the last 30 minutes were rough.  Too bad the 1/2 race isn't 30 minutes long.  Scaling the flying rhinover gets old quickly.  A new staircase could make all the difference there.

Sunday was the Tommy Tsunami race at MMCC, which was held in conjunction with their fall festival.  The atmosphere was pretty neat - there was a car show and a few bands playing throughout the day.  The course was mostly what we had planned out with a few changes, including a brief singletrack / rooted section that shook things up a bit.  Jeff Adamcik, Mike Seaman, and I pushed the first lap pretty hard.  Going into lap two Mike and I were feeling the effects of Saturday's race and Jeff got a gap.  Soon I was chasing alone and it would remain that way for the rest of the 9 or 10 laps.  I slotted in 2nd and was pretty happy with that considering the difficulties from Saturday.

New file treads from Specialized were pretty sweet both Saturday and Sunday.  I've never used a set of file treads before but they hooked up great on the dry grass of Waterford and MMCC.  Even better is how fast they'll roll when it straightens out.  Now if that engine would just kick out a few more HP...

The team race took a new format this year - instead of us finding a team we all signed up and were placed randomly on a team.  This helped to level things out a bit and still made for a good time.  There were four teams of three and we each hit one lap as hard as we could.  I was on a team with Nate and Ben and we managed to narrowly beat the team of Mike / Tom / and Steve.

Bicycle HQ once again provided a few gift certificates for the racers which is always nice.

Don't forget - the RED ZONE race at SVSU is coming on October 9.  This is a great venue and an awesome place to race.

Have you helped your local promoter lately?

Sunday - Tommy Tsunami

For those of you not planning to hit up both days of the double header at Waterford this weekend, remember on Sunday there is a new race in Harrison by the same guys that brought you the Big Bad Wolf (Midland) and Red Zone (SVSU) races last year.

Online registration closes on Friday.

Race website

Kiss Cross - Plaster Creek

A-race was busy at Plaster Creek on Sunday.  Temps were pretty warm and the laps were pretty short.  After 4 laps I could tell my rear tire was going flat (clincher...) so a quick trip to the car to change wheels left me out of the top 10 to chase.  I picked up a few stragglers and wound up 17th out of 40+ starters.  Lots of DNF's...

These are waiting for glue:

2012 Ithaca Grand Prix of Cyclocross

September 8, 2012

Ithaca Grand Prix of Cyclocross

Goodies

New tires...