Mad Anthony, Vet's, and an attempted Ithaca GP copier...

Disturbing news from Cyclocross Magazine's report of Beacon 'cross where their amphitheater steps have been mis-labeled as the "Amphitheater of Pain."

Nothing beats the original.  Nothing.

Start of the A's

For those of you that know, you already know...

Full article HERE.

I guess copying from the original is the best form of flattery anyway.

Hanging on...about to pop.

Vet's park on Saturday was overall pretty good.  14th out of 22 starters.  I've raced very well and very poorly at Vet's.  One thing is for sure, that park is probably the hilliest of all the 'cross races we do in Michigan.  Consequently if you pop, it'll be a long day.

I started in the back of the pack with the usual suspects.  No sense in getting too crazy too fast for a 60-minute race.  But by the end of the second lap I managed to track onto Pete's wheel and we rode a two-man time trial for most of the race.  However, with two and a half laps to go, Pete decided it was time to kick it up a notch and I wasn't able to follow.  I figured I'd be able to hang in and grab 13th by keeping Cory Stange at a distance, but a rolled tubular on top of the runup on the last lap dropped me one place to 14th.  Who rolls a tubular while remounting?  Apparently this guy...

Hopefully I won't be limping across the line like last time...

Next up is Iceman.  Weather is looking nice, as it always seems to be when I sign up.  I'll be spending most of the race trying not to cramp, unlike the past two times I've raced it...

Mad Anthony

Saturday's race is MAD ANTHONY at Fort Wayne in Detroit!

I'm not sure about racing in ruins, but I wonder how much this will be like racing nat's back in 2000 at the Presidio in San Francisco?

Nat's

For those of you that this pertains to, looks like the folks at Badger 'Cross have posted the course that will be used for both the regional championships AND 2012 nationals:

Linden 'CX

Kona, my copilot today, slept most of the way to and from Linden.

And if you didn't know, SKYNRD LIVES (outside of Ashley, Michigan)

Hard race today at Linden.  Although the course was changed from last year, the same flavor of eight thousand 180 degree turns in the woods was on par again.  I didn't even check to see where I finished in the results, but it was behind a few that I'd like to be in front of and in front of people I'd love to stay in front of.  But week to week it is about the same.  So if that put me 10th or 20th I don't really know, and to be honest when you're at the back of the field the motivation doesn't come from what number finisher I am week to week.

Next up is Mad Anthony, a race I have never done but have heard a LOT about over the past few years. If I'm not mistaken the first year of Mad Anthony was also the first year of the Ithaca Grand Prix.  It's part of the Stomach of Anger series, and there are a few battles going on for the overall points.

I wonder if or when we'll have a 'cross race that isn't bone dry this year?

SVSU

On Saturday a small handful of us went out to SVSU to get the course set up.  The area of campus that we race on is basically a blank slate with a few nice features, which includes a running track and a pretty steep hill.  For those of you that raced last year there were a few changes made but the overall flavor was the same.  One thing is for sure - setting up 'cross courses is tiring, hard work!  Most of the time I spend the day before a race doing my usual ride and heading to the farmers market with the family.  Setting up a course is pretty much the opposite of relaxing - you're constantly hauling stakes everywhere and doing countless lunges to put flags in the ground.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, get out and find a way to help your local race promoter!

So the A-race started off pretty well.  The 35+, 45+, and A's all started together, which was cool.  It has been a while since I've toed the line with more than 12 other racers in a Michigan 'cross race.  Starting with double that just offers new challenges and things to pay attention to.

Things quickly sorted out into the usual groups.  Adding the masters into the mix was really neat because  the speeds aren't that far off of the back of the A's.  On Sunday I managed to get in a group with teammate Pete Thompson and west-sider Jeff Haney.  Both of those guys have been out of my league so far this year, so I was happy to be riding up to their level on Sunday.

After the first two laps we settled down into the group but it was a constant challenge just to hang on.  Between the heat and the previous day's efforts I was pretty much exhausted.  But one thing that was really nice was seeing my family every lap by the mini barriers.

Next up is the wooded, twisty trails of Linden tomorrow.  But I'm looking forward to racing MAD ANTHONY for the first time on the 22nd!

And for those that didn't get out to SVSU, check out BIG MAC's video:

SVSU on Sunday

SVSU (Sunday) and one more thing...

We'll be setting things up on Saturday at SVSU for Sunday's race.  Weather looks like it'll be warm on both days so bring your camelbak.  That should feel good when you're trying to remount after a barrier set.

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And in other news, the first batch of these came in: