Juniors: 2018 Willow Time Trial

It was a cold and windy morning in New Boston, not at all the right weather to race a 13.2-mile time trial. But our AAVC Juniors showed up and competed admirably. 

In the 15/16-year-olds bracket, Brandon DeLine Jr (on loan from Racing Greyhounds ;) put down a very strong time of 36:50; the fastest since Austin Schouman in 2011 (31:11). First-time racer Michael Keegan finished in 44:31, giving the AAVC our first podium of the day.

Credit: Brandon DeLine

The younger juniors also raced. Connell Alford was chasing Vincent Vermeulen's U13 race record of 44:39, set in 2011; but regrettably came 12 seconds short: 44:51. It was 48 degrees that day in 2011, and not as windy. I think Connell would have gotten those 12 seconds if not for the elements. Ansel de Jong was shivering miserably before the race even started, but with sheer grit and determination laid down a time of 57:39. Not only a second podium for the AAVC, but those 57 minutes compare favorably with other 10-year-olds in the last decade, and I doubt they were as affected by the cold as Ansel.

Great jobs, racers! And thanks to parents for supporting your racers. It was the kind of day that it would be easier to just stay in bed. We're glad you didn't!

Our next Juniors race will be Waterford Hills. See you there!

Lost Nations Road Race - AAVC vs MVW

I really dig these club races - it was a bit of a commute, but totally worth it!  

The course was a scenic 20k loop with a few rolling climbs and howling crosswinds.  Results should be posted soon, but here's my recollection.  Josh pulled like an ox much of the first lap with a few sporadic attacks from Lathrup, Red Bike, and MVW.  Everything was covered pretty well with Kyle doing quite a lot of work to pull things back.  On lap 2 Harvey went loco and attacked solo into the headwind.  He sat 10-15 seconds ahead of the pack for most of that section in what was almost universally agreed to be a bad idea.  Things came back together at the corner and there was a counter attacks from Lathrup or MVW which Kyle covered and got about a 5 second break.  When that came back Danny and one MVW rider went and got about a 20 second gap. Danny rode the MVW guy off his wheel and before he knew it there was a MVW freight train chasing him down.  The pace was ehm "spirited" and the gap closed to 5 or 10 seconds until we got to the hills and Danny pulled away again.  It finally came back together after turn 3 when Danny was caught on one of the climbs just before the finish straight.  Will Haig and an MVW guy countered, but the group was ready to chase and everyone was together at the line.  Stephen Doll took the prime and set a new lap record on Strava (24.2 mph average with descents in the low 40's).  After the sprint, things calmed down for lap 3.   Lap 3 was incredibly boring until Josh attacked in the crosswinds and went up the road with another MVW guy (~10 second break).  When a second MVW guy attacked and tried to close the gap Harvey came to the front and put his final effort in.  He closed the gap, but got dropped on a climb with an MVW and Red Bike guy.  From here I'm going by what I heard at the race and what I can see on the Strava flyby.  William Haig came to the front to keep the pace up and ended up dropping a quarter of the field until he fell back to finish with Harvey.   Then it was Danny's turn on the climbs - he came to the front and continued to drop guys off the back until the last kicker.  The Maumee leadout train fired up about 400m out when most of us had already burned our matches, but Stephen Doll miraculously crossed over and sprinted for 2nd on a bike from the 70's.  Despite all rumors, his wheels did not fall off.  Rounding our the top five there was Justin Kahle (1st - MVW), Alan Zoltowski (3rd - Lathrup), Nick Mossing (4th - MVW), and Jeff Nixon (5th - MVW). Then came Kyle (7th) and Danny (12th), Josh (13th), Tyler (14th), Will (15th), and Harvey (16th) (official results).  MVW won 2016, but I attribute it greater numbers in the peloton.  Overall it was a great team effort and one hard race! 

For the B race, we had Rob Shoemaker, Matt Raezler, Ken Tsang, Andrew Wallis, and Juan.  This was Andrew's first race and Ken's first race in 10 years.  Rob and Andrew were the first to drop.  This was presumably the same time Juan decided he should have been in the A race and solo'd off the front.  Juan stayed away for two laps to win.  Matt and Ken were like "REALLY!?" and that was that.  Watching the finish, it was hard to believe Juan was away for a full two laps.  The whole peloton was only 5-10 seconds behind him when he crossed the line.  Matt held off his group with a mighty effort for 5th and Ken (9th) rolled in with them.  Andrew - poor Andrew - was lost to winds.  I rode back to find him and my water bottle when a saw a great horned owl flying across the road in the twilight.  That was pretty cool.  Also, random.  Okay, nice job guys!   

Mud anyone? Land Run 100 report

Mark McCullough's tale from an epic Land Run 100 on Saturday, March 14. 

Land Run 100 in Stillwater, Oklahoma was flipping miserable. I am calling it the Sooner Sufferfest. It begin to rain at 3:00 pm Friday and continued for five hours. The end result was mud pies the next morning. It was on par with a top notch CX event. The hike a bike was off and on for four miles (mostly on).

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The headwinds were close to 25 to 30 mph. My front hub was crying out in complaint (and getting stares in return), and I cracked hard at mile 40 from all of the mud and ran out of food. I somehow made it to the halfway point to get food out of my drop bag.

The second half was not as bad. I found my mojo, and my hub decided to be quiet. My original goal was to finish in 6:30, but 10 miles into the race I changed the goal to just finish. I met my goal to finish in the top 50. I was 45th. Jesse Ramsey from Tree Fort was 35th place. My friend Gus finish 10th. After some quick math, only 23% of the field finished Land Run 100. All three of us were a part of that 23%. It was not a fun day. But I liked it if that makes any sense. 

Mark

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Mark, Gus, and Jesse

Pittsburgh's Dirty Dozen

Mark McCulloch reports from the Pittsburgh Dirty [Baker's] Dozen - a KOM race to the top of 13 of Pittsburgh's steepest climbs. 

Yesterday me, Chris Wiekler, Colin Hebert and Jesse Ramsey from Tree Fort Bikes climbed 13 of the most brutal hills in and around the Pittsburgh area on our bikes. The event is the called the ‘Dirty Dozen’. The event promoter (Danny Chew) is a two time winner of the Race Across America.  His goal is to bike 1 million miles before he croaks. I have no idea where he stands in his mission. Because he is sick in the head, he created this event 31 years ago. It started off with 5 riders and recently has blown up to 300+ riders. 

The AAVC crew + Jesse.  [We still love you Jesse!] 

For about 20 riders, this KOM (King of the Mountain) challenge is a race. We all start from a park at 10a doing warm-ups on a paved  velodrome track and ride together as a group to the first hill. The bottom of the first hill is about two miles from the park. At the base, Danny blows his whistle and it is ‘game on’. At that point it is every man and women for themselves. The top five finishers from each gender at the top of the hill gets points (5 through 1). At the end of the 13 hills, the man and women with the most points is the overall winner. For guys like me this is nothing more than a challenge to see if I can survive the day without walking my bike up the hill or stroking out. For every hill my heart beat was 180 beats per minute. It is amazing in the 31 years this has been going on nobody has dropped dead on one of these hills.  Once we all reach the top of the hill, we roll together as a group to the next hill base and Danny blows the whistle for round two. Wash, rinse and repeat 11 more times. There are two food/water fill up rest stops along the route.

Some off the hills are more brutal than others. The steepest hill in the world is Canton Avenue with a 37% profile. This is hill number 9 and the highlight of the route. And to add insult to injury, it is mostly cobblestone. I made it up the hill on my first attemp, as did Chris, Jesse and Colin. It was a total rush. Having hundreds of spectators encouraging you up the hill with cow bells was a big boost. But believe it or not, this was not the hardest hill of the day because it was over before I knew it. 

Of the 13 hills, only twice did I have to unclip my shoes from the pedals. But neither stop was my fault :). On hill #4 (Hill Street) there was an unexpected garbage truck blocking 2/3 of the narrow road on the incline. It was a major bottle neck and caused some carnage as people fell off their bikes. The guy ahead of me turtled over causing me to stop. I called this the ‘pick and roll’ hill. The driver was yelling obscenities at us for being in his way. Most of us told him to go pound sand using four letter words. I just clipped back in and continued up the hill without walking. Most of the riders had to walk from this point.

What made some of these hills more difficult than Canton Avenue was the grade was 30% and they were REALLY long. Probably three to four times longer than Canton Avenue. Hill #8 (Suffolk) was HORRIBLE and by far the toughest hill. It is steep at the beginning, steeper in the middle after a 90° turn, and then steeper still after another 90° turn on cobble stones. It was the longest hill by far and took me about 5 minutes to climb, but I made it!  Hill #10 was just as horrible (Boustead). You are still on an emotional high from conquering Canton Avenue, but this hill is about 30-33% in grade and two-three times longer than Canton. By this time your legs are darn near dead and you have to mentally dig deep to get up to the top without stopping.

Colin at the start.

Mark ascending Canton Avenue

An element of the event I was not expecting was it snowed the day before. It was 48° and mostly sunny on Saturday so the roads were dry and clear, but there were pockets of salt on these inclines of 30% from the day before which gave you almost no traction. All you could do was place your rear end on your seat and hope for the best. Fortunately for me, this did not stop me. 

What makes this event so hard is you are at the complete mercy of the rider (riders) ahead of you. There is zero cadence up these hills. Everyone is going at a different speed due to their skill sets and fitness. Many times people fell. I heard about five spokes break under tension over the course of the day. Sometimes rear derailleurs and chains blow up due to the tension placed on the links. On Hill #12 the rider ahead of me was going too slow and I rubbed his rear tire, causing me to stop. I was really po’ed. But I was so determined to not walk my bike I clipped back in and started back up the hill from zero and made it. That was an accomplishment in itself.

Pittsburgh has some amazing hills. It is amazing how people inhabited this city over 100 years ago. When I look at video footage of the racers at the front, it blows my mind how fast they go. Many of the hills with sidewalk adjacent to the road were steps because it is so steep. What this event taught me is Ann Arbor hills are really nothing more than bumps. We are flat landers compared to Pennsylvania.

I highly encourage others from the Velo Club to make this annual pilgrimage to Pittsburgh and experience this event. As great as DICX is, this is even better. The YouTube link below document the course from 3 years ago. It is 27 minutes in length and does and nice job of highlighting the route. Thanks for reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK8MhLihFlg

DICX '14

Five years... That's how long Jeff Wood has been putting on DICX.  Five years... Five years of tequila shot shortcuts.  Five years of kids chucking marshmallows.  Five years of CX in Detroit.  The DICX - on par with SSCXWC - in the D - and not just for hipsters...  Race Reports for the DICX '14 are below.

Patrick McEnaney-

I'll get the race report ball rolling following today's fifth edition of Detroit Invitational Cyclocross going into the books. The Racing Greyhounds, Velvet Elvisesesesss (Thanks Terry!), Liberty Brewing, Tailwind Racing (Thanks Rebecca!), Motorless City Bicycles, et al., did a mighty fine job once again. No amount of boost taken by opting for the tequila shot shortcut helped me go fast, as the legs and body were just tired from the gun today. Congrats go to Brian Kearns for keeping the pressure on to take third in the "Overly Competitive Pricks" field (aka Cat123). The course was wicked challenging once again with a well-laid combination of flats, jogs up and down the Dorais Park rise, and of course, the vintage Dorais velodrome. With temps in the high 30F range at race time, everyone was treated to a heaping portion of mud on a off-camber downhill turn, this was followed shortly by a greazy and wicked steep run-up. The 5-pack of barriers followed by a snow mound put the hurt on everyone's quads after scrambling the run-up. As an added bonus, outside the shelter of the trees, the hillside and velodrome segments were wind-whipped enough to allow minimal recovery time. And if the spirals of death, mud pit, run-up, stairs, or barriers weren't enough, a chicane filled with barrels and exit chutes that were moved every-other lap put a severe challenge to my brain, which was substantially twisted after n - tequila shots.

It was an appropriately painful sunset to my 2014 cx season. Good luck to all headed to regionals in GR!

Even Patrick gets a shot "toward the win."

Terry Carpenter-

Good turn out, very muddy, fun, and painful. My derailleur is messed up so I had to do the whole thing in big front ring and/or run a lot. I think I was hallucinating by the end.  

Jeff Wood puts on a great race!  Michael Belanger designs a sick funny painful course. Madman CX design team Jeff, Bellringer and company! Had fun chasing Patrick around heckling him.   Brian the Turkey Kearns and Ellie also kicked ass (as is expected). PS thanks to Ducky Detroit Natalie Jameson Kiesling and Motorless City Craig Koengsley for the gear to keep me warm (since I wore "normal" clothes to race, I forgot to pack dry normal clothes).

And Brian Kearns gobbled up third.

The Iceman Cometh

Below you will find a compilation of race reports and stories from Iceman 2014. From what I have heard, this epic race from Kalkaska to Traverse City was one of the most challenging to date. After being inundated with rain for a week prior, the trail was then worked into a mash reminiscent of peanut butter and marshmellow fluff by more than 3,500 mountain bikers. Much of single track was unrideable and the race took a great toll on many men, women, and machines.... 

Patrick McEnaney-

That was punishment for me and the bike. 

I felt good once I got into a rhythm, but spent a lot of time trying to get around huge 

bottle-necks of riders that had no skillz for the admittedly difficult conditions. Lots of people dropped out from what I heard. I rode back 

up with a buddy from Houghton to chase the pros and get action shots as they crossed every road, that was wicked cool. The lead group of 6 sides formed very early and stayed together past the half-way point. The podium was very familiar If you follow the Iceman, Brian Matter notched his fourth win. For the ladies, it was a race for second from very early as Georgia Gould soloed well off the front. Even Emily Batty couldn't hang with her and Emily has world cup podiums. My take -away: if I get stuck back in wave 16 again next year after being in wave 4 in 2012, I'll just transfer my entry. I ended up finishing in 2:56.

My post-race activities included laying on a couch at my buddy's house, drinking beerz and watching "The Dirty Dozen". Also, sand-extraction from my eyeballs.

My assessment is Lee Marvin could have kicked some serious arse in the Iceman.

I'm still extracting sand from my eyeballs.

Patrick enjoying some 51k IPA. Photo credit: Chris Schmidt

John Krauss-

I uploaded my 3000 Strava miles to get in my best wave ever, Wave 3, in my 6th Iceman. In the last 2 weeks I had broken my derailleur hanger on the Poto, and got a new SRAM derailleur and chain, and shredded my front derailleur cable,and had that fixed the Thursday before heading up, so mechanicals were going to be much less likely. There was a light rain at the start, but I could still feel my toes when I hit the single track. My goal was to treat it like a Nachos ride, taking it easy until kilometer 35 and then giving everything. However, about 10k into the ride my bike started making a lot of noise from all of the debris on the drive chain and brakes. I was able to shift with some hesitation, and didn't stop to check things out,figuring it would only be another 100 yards before it would be all fouled up again. At kilometer 22 I was passed by Dave Furey, who start in wave 4, and by that time I was feeling the work of pedaling in peanut butter. Shortly after that Greg Neagos came by, and then Huy's metromint kit come by as well, and I didn't recognize Mick in his mud camouflage as he came by. At kilometer 40 my rear brake completely stopped working, and I was thinking this race was not as much fun as I remembered. I finished with a 2:45, my worst time, but stayed upright and out of the trees.

I can't wait until Feb to sign up for next year

Matt Johnson-

My race was similar to most. Wave 10 was not the highest start I have had  (need to get on Strava for next year) but where I probabaly belong fitness wise. A few bottle necks and a lot of Fat bikes to get around, but not many muppets riding the the group I formed up with.Kept it upright and pedaled everything but Anita's Hill. No mechanicals and other than dirt covered brakes adding unwanted resistance, it was a clean race - 2:46 for me. Not as fast as I wanted, but I was higher up in my age group placing wise than last year. I saw Geary walking again and think I saw Jay on the side of the trail working on his bike, but not sure. To bad for those guys who had mechanicals. Another one in the books and a proper Iceman at that. Need more of these in my opinion...

Matt working the Lefty. Photo Credit: Chris Schmid

Sean Geary-

I was better trained this year for Iceman than I have been since I worked with Lucas in 2012. A summer of Nachos and gravel roads gave me the confidence to make a run at a 2:10-20 time. I got some new shoes (Fasterkaat from 45North, fantastic stuff), a kick a$$ bike, and one of the top support crews on race day. Plus, I could TASTE the Bell's Oracle at the end when I rolled up to the start. However, like the old Yiddish saying goes (that one is for Ray and David), When Man Plans, God Laughs. 

I was in Wave 5 (an Iceman Gift from my 2:06 in 2011) with Mick and Huy. I saw them in the corral up at the front and waved. I was staying in the middle. Newbies! They could sprint at 25MPH all the way to the single track (about 1.5 miles) and burn their matches early. I was going to chill in the middle, keep my HR in Zone 3 (for you, Lucas) and save my matches for the final 6K (which Jay and I pre-rode Friday afternoon) when the climbing starts. I looked forward to laughing at their broken, skinny carcasses as I hurried past them and drank all their beer. 

Like I said, when man plans, God laughs. As soon as we hit the Kaliseum (this is a real thing) the sand started gumming up my brakes. When we hit the trail it was like riding through a Peanut Butter Cup, only you couldn't eat it. Still, I rode for the Oracle. I got muddy. I got sandy. I saw way more broken bikes in the first few miles than I had ever seen. 

I freaking crushed the new logging road section, rolling by single speeders and fat bikes like I was 36 again. I drank water and congratulated myself on the brilliant decision to take all 5 Sport Legs pills, I was feeling no pain. God began giggling at Mile 10.

It was a light chuckle at first, the guy in front of me grabbed a handful of front brake on the single track right after the log road on a downhill when the mud got slick. Rookie move (must have been a Strava call up). He went head first over the bike and busted up his arm. I stopped (like a gentleman). Pulled his bike off the trail, assessed the damage to his arm (busted elbow, probably) calmed him down and whipped out my phone to call the new Injury Number. I was already picturing my Humanitarian Medal Ceremony in my head. No Cell Service. What did I expect, I WAS IN THE FREAKING WOODS. The guy got up and started walking out, left his bike right there and started walking like Forrest Gump. I wished him well and kept on down the trail. 7 minutes added to my time, no biggie.

About 5 minutes later I went to shift gears before a climb. I went all the way up because I could see a line of people walking the hill. Then, God really started laughing. My chain got sucked behind the cassette and between the chain stay and the crank. the back wheel stopped turning and went down in a heap. 

The EXACT SAME THING happened to me last year right before Williamsburg Road. I ran a mile, found a mechanic and he took the crank out of the BB and got it right again, but the chain would slip and stick again anytime I tried to shift. So I ran the last 9 miles with my bike on my shoulder (LIKE A BOSS). This year I had 22 more to go. And no mechanic in sight. So I cried a little bit (not out loud, I too much of a man, I have a beard) and started jogging. I saw Jay and he said "Massive Chain Suck!" I thought he was talking about my predicament, but really he was talking about his bike (that's his story to tell). I saw his brother Dan, I saw Matt and a few others I knew. I ran on for another mile and a half until I got to Steve's Secret and saw some other bikers hanging around some army guys. I found a guy with a walkie-talkie and said the words that cut me to my core: "I'm number 956 and I need a ride back to Timber Ridge."

2 hours, three pick up trucks and a recruiting pitch from the Michigan Volunteer Defense Force (its a real thing) later I got back to timber ridge, found my support crew and finally changed into warm, dry clothes. I went through the 7 Stages of Bike Grief along the way so I was happy when I got there. $40 in Bell's Beer with no lunch meant that Jay, Huy and I could the hell out of the later Wave finishers. I went hoarse, did $1 bill hand ups to the Pros (Georgia Gould can ride a bike, but can't take a $1 hand up) and then made it home in time for dinner. I don't remember a lot of what happened after that, but only because my Spartans pooped themselves and I had to drown my sorrows with MORE BEER.

Anyone want to buy my Niner?

Matt Ronan-

It was absolutely incredible!! Terrible conditions but I had a blast. My freshly upgraded 26er with 1x10 and new wheels and tires handled great. Lots of slop left me stopping to put dropped chains back on.

I started in wave 30, so I had to deal with 3000+ riders in front of me. Traction was non existent on the climbs and very difficult in the single track sections. I'm not a mountain biker at all and found it to be a bit ridiculous. Several times had to unclip and walk due to traffic jams. The logging roads were some of the worst sections. I struggled all day and was fatigued in my upper body half way through.

Finished in around 4 hours... Not my finest but my goal was to cross the start and finish and drink hella amounts of bells beer. It rained most of the day, which had me soaked. 

Mick Jones-

Unlike Matt Ronan I didn’t have any fun all day. I was excited to be in Wave 5 and I think the excitement lead to little sleep the prior two nights so I was a little tired this morning and since it was cold and raining I over dressed for the second year in a row (I’m learning). The start was fast and I felt decent for the first 8-10 miles but the course conditions took its toll (constant Mud) and soon I was overheated and fatigued (unusually so) but I kept trudging on even though it seriously crossed my mind several times to drop out. After 10 miles or so I lost contact with Huy and settled into a pace I could keep without getting sick (too hot). I thought about calling it a day at the Williamsburg Road crossing but decided to keep riding at a pace I could sustain so I could at least finish this epic event. Somewhere right after Anita’s Hill I caught Huy and we rode together until about 2k to go and I pulled ahead a little bit and finished in 2:33 which was somewhat disappointing for me even for the conditions which from what I heard the veterans say it was by far the worst course conditions for Iceman in the 25 years of the event.

I’m now home trying to figure out what part of my bike I won’t have to totally dissemble to clean the sand and mud out of it.

Lessons Learned:

1. If conditions are less than ideal use a hydration pack (I only drank a couple ounces today from my water bottle which lead to leg cramps)

2.Don’t use a dry condition rear tire (Thunder Burt) in heavy mud conditions (I didn’t think it was even possible to have so much mud given theirs so much sand)

I look forward to better conditions for next year’s Iceman and a great 2015 racing season.

Bradley Field-

Lesson learned, don't ride a CX bike in those conditions! It was awful.

Chris Winkler-

THAT was a mountain bike race! I couldn't believe the race conditions and that was just for wave #2..... it could have only gotten worse with each passing wave. Much worse from what I've heard and read.

This is my first race report so I'll try and just hit the high points (or low points, as the case may be):

Arrived at the start 20 minutes before my wave was scheduled to roll and there were already 100's of people lined-up in waves 1, 2, &3 -- that's not how I remembered waves 6 & 9 starting the past 2 years. So I slotted in towards the back of wave 2. Got REALLY cold waiting so early for the release ... 

The guys in the pack were fast through the roads and single track, which was nice, so I settled in about mid-pack until we hit about the second section of slower singletrack. As we slowed down my lenses started to fog and combined with the dirt and mud on the lenses started to lose clear view of the singletrack. I missed a tricky combination of left turn and sharp bumps and went over the handlebars for the first time.... had to let what seemed like 30 people pass on the singletrack before jumping back in line. It took two acrobatic incidents over the bars before I got smart and took off the glasses.

The mud and rain caused some chain suck, and the chain "seized" a couple times, but never actually came off the rings. The dirt and stones in the calipers were a different story, though -- the loud grinding between the disc and pads (or stones, or whatever) was constant after the first section of singletrack and throughout the rest of the race. I even stopped to re-set the rear wheel in the dropouts mid-race (thinking the wheel had loosened and mis-aligned during the race) but there was so much dirt and tiny rocks packed in the rear caliper the rear re-alignment didn't help at all. On inspection after the race one of the rear pads had been completely wiped-out and the disc was seriously dragging against all the crud packed into the caliper. It wasn't until after I water-jetted all the rocks out of the caliper that the wheel finally spun freely.

The race was tough enough that I ended up walking a couple long hills towards the end of the race. There were a surprisingly large number of other people walking the hills this race, too. In the previous 3 races I'd never walked a single hill -- I had RUN one short hill two years ago cyclocross-style, but this race was something else, entirely......

I hung around the finish for a little while and I think every racer that finished looked a bit shell-shocked. Thankfully this was not a typical Iceman Race.

Lessons Learned:

1. Racing Ralph front/ThunderBurt rear was definitely under-tired. Not sure anything would have been enough for the amazingly bad conditions, but the next tire step more aggressive like Rocket Ron front/Racing Ralph rear may have been more appropriate for the conditions. Previous Iceman races w/rain before the race drained really well in the famously sandy soil of Kalkaska/Traverse City but not this time. The constant rain the night before and during the race must have made a significant difference.

2. Anti-fog the inside of the lenses instead of just Rain-x.

3. What does anyone do about sand & gravel in brake calipers?

Iceman is really a pretty well-run race and a lot of fun. The "celebration zone" at the finish is great place to hang out for racers and wives/friends helping out. I think this year was one of the few times the weather truly worked against the event.

Mad Anthony CX

Compiled by Tyler Trask and Harvey Elliott

MACX started off with a BANG this year – thanks in part to a Civil War era cannon provided by the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition. For those of you who don’t know, Mad Anthony is the BIGGEST cyclocross race in Michigan and the venue is pretty unique among races as the course takes you up, down, over, and through (read tunnel) a star-fort built in the 1840’s.

AAVC'er Mark McCulloch in the barriers.

The fort is located on the south side of Detroit and also provides some great vistas of the downtown skyline. Combine this with a beautifully sunny fall day in mid-late October and you couldn’t hope for a better race. Cyclocross in Michigan is often cold, wet, and bleak. This particular race drew a stark contrast to the norm with high temp of 69F and a full pallet of fall colors. In fact, it almost seemed wrong. Were we really in Detroit, or had we all died and gone to Louisville? 

Cyclocross is growing, you hear about it on the national stage and you can see it here in southeast Michigan. Mad Anthony set a new record for attendance - with nearly 320 participants and their families arriving from all across southern Michigan and Ohio for the race. You also see it in sponsorship with major financial backing from Trinity Transportation – a provider of motor coaches, sedans, shuttles, and buses in southeast Michigan and Toledo Ohio – and a huge pile of swag from Trails Edge Cyclery, Alchemist, Velocio, Beat the Train, Detroit Endurance Lab, alloneword, The Sufferfest, and North Peak Brewing Company. Mad Anthony started in 2009 as the only sanctioned race in Detroit and five years later the event seems downright dignified.

The race has already grown 4x and there’s clearly room for more as the field blows apart in the first 500m... This race is tough and the up-and-down of the trenches make this one a personal battle for all racers.

This year’s course took the best elements from last year and added some new twists. They maintained the two “run-ups” inside the fort with two off-camber descents.They also saved that big drop off the gun emplacements on the 5th point of the star and thankfully extended the landing zone straight out to the inner wall.

THE DROP

This made the drop faster, but also safer by eliminating that 90-deg turn onto the service road below. Another addition/modification was the barrier on the North side of the fort. Previously you’d come off the service road in the trench and make a 135-deg turn onto a sidewalk followed by a sketchy off-center ramp leading to the outer wall. This was removed so you made the turn, gassed the climb, and raced to dismount/remount over a knee-high wall. This actually helped the flow through this area as the riders were able to remount on a slight downhill before snaking around the exterior embankments. It also provided a great spectacle for the hecklers and seemed to be a crowd favorite. In all, this year’s course traced out 1.8 miles of the fort yet managed to keep the action close for the spectators.

Ok, ok, on to the race report...

We had a great turnout from the AAVC and UM teams including a number of first time racers. In the Men’s Elite Race, Danny Soltan and Tyler Trask lined up front row for the hole shot.Tyler got off clean in the sprint, but Danny got caught up in traffic and was forced into the tape on the first power-climb. Things looked abysmal with Danny in the tape, but he quickly recovered and commenced kicking ass for the subsequent hour. Again, proving you can’t hold a good racer back, Danny worked his way through the ENTIRE field and ended up on the podium with a 4th place finish. Tyler also had a strong showing in his first Elite race and even though he looked pitiful for laps 5-9, he still managed to round out the top 10.

For the Masters, Tom Barrett had one of his best races of the year and took 5th in the highly competitive 35+ field. You can see him over there on the left smiling for Hans at Ten Mile Media.

Other notable team finishes are Harvey Elliott and Brian Kearns in the Men’s Cat 3 race. These two guys have been trading podium spots all season and this race was no different. Brian ripped off the line with as much voracity as the cannon and took the hole-shot.

Dalton Guggemos and Harvey were in pursuit, but even though Harvey set the course he never actually RODE IT before the race. It seems wearing two hats as racer and race director can have some downsides... Harvey got caught up with Ellie Sterne on the second “run-up” and fell behind.

A little frazzled after the mix-up and trying to make up time, he slid out on loose grass near the in-field barriers and backed off. Brian and Dalton were gone and Harvey was now working for 3rd.With a third slip-up coming into the tunnel, Harvey was done and backed off to finish 4th. Meanwhile, Brian was channeling his inner beast and simply rode away from Dalton on the short, punchy climbs. Brian took 1st with the rest of the field blown far and wide.

I’d also like to call out converted roadie and dirt-phobie Stephen Doll who raced a borrowed bike and finished a respectable 6th place in the Men’s Cat 4. It seems Mad Anthony really does have some appeal beyond the traditional CX guy… 

Among the women, we saw an influx of talent from south of the border. You might have thought WAS Labs brought a tour bus or something… Still, our own Andrea Merlotti continued to shine and finished 2nd in the Women’s Cat 3/4 race. That’s right, 2nd, even after she bobbled the same climb that got Danny – ON THE LAST LAP – and spent the next minute wallowing on the hillside. She recovered just in time to dash the hopes of Emily Kleinglass and secure her podium spot. Alright Andrea, if you can take a minute to sit and catch your breath during the race – AND STILL PODIUM – that means it’s time to upgrade!

The race was a great success in every way. Superb weather, spectacular turnout, and serious results for our team!! Thanks again to Harvey, Rebecca, and the entire Tailwinds crew for pulling this all together. Thanks to the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition and Beat the Train in Detroit.

And thanks to our sponsors who make it all possible.