Mad Anthony Cyclocross

Get ready to get Mad...

AAVC at Mad Anthony CX, 2011

Not many races take place in a 19th century war fort, which could explain why the Mad Anthony Cyclocross race is one of the most popular in Michigan and arguably one of the most unique bike races in the USA. For the past few years the race has happened thanks to the superb efforts of Andy Staub (of Beat The Train) and Joe Lekovish. Personal commitments meant that Joe couldn't help out this year, so, despite the popularity of this event, it was about to be canceled. AAVC's very own David Palan was adamant that this not happen, so he contacted Andy to see what could be done. Thanks to their combined efforts the race is back on! 

Registration is live on USA Cycling, so mark your calendars for Saturday October 20th, sign up and get ready for the craziest race outside of Mario Kart.

CXpreX cyclocross clinics—one week left

The first two weeks of the CXpreX clinics have had great turn outs and fantastic weather—or as veterans of the sport call it, tragic conditions. Even if you don't like sunny and warm to go with your cyclocross, everyone's had a great time!

Check out more news from the first couple weeks, and find out more about the last clinic this coming Thursday (Sep. 13) at Leslie Park by visiting the CXpreX website.

CxPreX Podcast

The Bikeshop Show Podcast features AAVC members David Palan and Rob Pulcipher discussing the upcoming CXpreX, Michigan's premier cyclocross clinic.

Click here to listen to this interesting discussion.

Details on CXpreX are here.

And don't forget to register for the fun at the USA Cycling Website.

CXpreX Cyclocross Clinics start soon

Back again for 2012, CXpreX will be taking place on Aug. 30, Sep. 6, and Sep. 13 to help you learn and practice your cyclocross skills (mount/dismounts, run ups, barriers, etc.) plus participate in a practice race.

More details (locations, time, registration) are posted on the CXpreX website.

Cherry Roubaix: Criterium and State Championship Road Race

Several AAVC riders made their way up to Traverse City last weekend for the Cherry Roubaix Old Town Crit and Road Race, so we wanted to give them a shout and congratulations for some solid results.

We had a handful of riders for the Old Town Crit on Saturday, including Andy Weir (Men Masters 35+, 15th place), John Shedlock (Men Masters 55+, 6th place) and Colin Boulard (Junior Boys 10-12, 4th place).

Colin Boulard at the start of the Junior Boys 10-12 crit

Sunday's road race saw a stronger turnout from the club. Andy Weir finished 10th and Rodger Bowser 16th in the Men Master's 35+, while in the Men Master's 55+ we had John Shedlock and Larry Bohnsack in 2nd and 7th place, respectively. Our Cat 4 contingent has recently been depleted by injuries: Winston Benedict, who won the Cat 5 race at last year's Cherry Roubaix, has been sidelined with illness, and Kyle Schroeder decided against racing with a broken shoulder, so Sean Geary was our lone finisher in the men's Cat 4 field. In the women's Cat 4 race, Jess Bratus from Two Wheel Tango finished 4th.

At Cat 3, Colin Hebert and Will Cawthorn were racing only their second road race, where things went pretty well: no breaks were able to get away but by the third lap things had broken up and they found themselves in the front group of around 20 riders. Coming into the final climb Colin found a good line up the inside, so Will followed him toward the front of the pack. As expected, everyone went flat-out on the climb, with half the group getting dropped before the final flat run-in to the finish. Colin and Will both stayed with the leaders up the climb and so were able to contest the sprint, with Colin finishing 8th and Will getting 6th: finishing in the prize money, so two very respectable results!

Will Cawthorn and Colin Herbet finishing the Men's Cat 3 Road Race

Finally, Dave Fanslow, Ray Barbehenn and Rich Stark were representing AAVC in the Men's Master's 45+ race. On the first lap Rich escaped with two other riders, and he and his accomplices managed to stay clear of the field for over two laps. However, by lap three Rich paid for his efforts and fell away from the front after several other riders had bridged across. Two riders eventually finished 40 seconds clear of a chase group that included Dave Fanslow. One of the chase group escaped on the final hill to take 4th, while Dave attacked at the top of the hill and rode away from the other chasers to take 5th place overall. A little further back, Ray Barbehenn broke away from the field on the third lap and rode solo for the final 15 miles, eventually catching Rich to finish in 12th place, just 4 seconds ahead of Rich (who took 13th).

Overall a decent showing in the road race for AAVC. With only a handful of crits left on the Michigan cycling calendar before cyclocross season begins, we're looking forward to a strong finish to the road season before things get dirty! Look out for CXpreX to kick things off...

USA Cycling Officials Clinic, June 24

Now is your chance to get licensed as a USA Cycling Official!

To help fill the increasing need for race officials in Michigan, AAVC is working with MBRA to coordinate and host a USA Cycling Officials Level C Clinic on June 24, 2012 starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending in the early afternoon. The event is being hosted at Zingerman's Events on fourth (with some Zingerman's goodies served during the clinic) just down the street from the Deli (map and parking).

Officiating is not only a way to help support racing in Michigan, but a way to make a little money. Officials earn from $70-$100 per day at a typical local race. Half-day events are half that, but bigger events can pay up to $200. And your travel mileage is reimbursed, too!

If you are interested, please RSVP to John Sammut (see below) so materials can be ordered for the clinic.

This “Introduction to officiating” clinic will be followed by an open book exam. A passing score of 70% correct or better complete the requirements to be licensed as a Level C USAC road, mountain bike and track official. The cost for the seminar is $35 and includes your 2012 USA Cycling Level C Official license fee, course materials, and the test. The Zingerman's goodies are free!

For more information or to RSVP please contact John Sammut. You can find additional information on the USA Cycling Officials Program website.

Race Report: Tour de Frankenmuth 2012

This season has started well for our Cat 4 team: victories for Colin and Will at the AAVC Spring Training Series were followed by Winston’s win at Cone-Azalia, which made him leader of the Cat 4 MI Challenge standings. With this solid foundation we were looking forward to more success at the Tour de Frankenmuth, the first paved road race of the MI Challenge Series.

Our intentions were made clear by the strong group of Cat 4 riders who we brought to the race: Winston Benedict, Anthony Byram, Will Cawthorn, Jeff Fletcher, Colin Hebert, Joe Miessner, David Palan, Kyle Schroeder and Tim Schutt arrived in Frankenmuth on Saturday morning under grey skies and rainfall. Perfect cycling weather this was not... it’s never a good thing when you’re shivering during your pre-race warm-up! But the rain didn’t dampen our enthusiasm, and so we lined up at the start line full of adrenaline and ready for war. More importantly, we had a plan: toward the end of the first lap, Winston, Will and Colin would move to the front and hammer, trying to force a gap as the pack moved through the final few corners before the finish. If a few other riders came with us then there was a chance we could overcome the pancake-flatness of the course and manage to stay away. If not then we’d aim to win the bunch sprint with Tim, our best sprinter who had previously placed 3rd in this race.

As the rain fell and the whistle blew, our 70-strong pack set off with the strong surge that often accompanies the beginning of a Cat 4 race. Things soon cooled down and the pack settled into a pace of 25-26 mph, the first lap largely uneventful. However, with such a large group racing over narrow, slick roads, corners had to be negotiated with care and moving up in the pack was tricky. Several AAVC riders including Colin, Will, Winston and Anthony made sure that they were near the front as the final few corners loomed. Taking the hard right turn from S Block onto E Tuscola Street, Winston, Colin and Will got onto the front and put our plan into action: Winston hammered down the hill, Will pulled up it and then Colin moved to the front as we led the peloton along the downhill straight toward the start/finish line. It was satisfying to hear the announcer scream “and it’s the Ann Arbor Velo Club driving the pace on the front!”, but things had only just begun. As the road turned slightly upward and through a few more corners, Winston again was on the front, powering along; then Will, Colin, and Anthony were there trying to force the pace to see if we could break things up. A few non-AAVC riders also made it to the front, but seemed unwilling to work. For the next 20 minutes or so we took it in turns to jump off the front, trying to get other teams to chase and possibly help with our efforts to break away, but it was all in vain. The combination of a flat course, little wind and straight roads conspired against us, and so toward the end of the 2nd lap it seemed clear that things would end in a bunch sprint. David and Colin gave one final effort to coax others into some type of a break along S Block, generating a rotating paceline with a few riders from Leadout Racing, a couple from CMS, and a few other individual riders. A small crack formed, but the big right-hander onto E Tuscola brought it all back together again.

Crossing the line yet again for the final lap, we focused on staying near the front so that we would be well positioned to set up Tim for the finale. Winston took this tactic to an extreme by essentially pulling at the front for the entire final lap, setting such a furious pace that no other riders were able to jump off the front. But would he still have anything left to help lead-out Tim? By this stage we had most of our other riders near the front, including Colin, Tim, Will, David, Kyle, Jeff and Anthony, so even if Winston had tired we still had a solid group to put our plan into action.

Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, everyone else had the same plan. As the S Block/E Tuscola corner loomed closer, scrapping to get near the front intensified, breaking up our pack of AAVC riders. Just before this corner Will jumped up a gap that appeared on the inside, sitting on 3rd wheel as the peloton turned onto E Tuscola Street; Winston, Tim and Colin were not far behind. The speed surged on the ensuing downhill and we hammered on the short uphill before the final turn onto Main Street, riders everywhere shouting for others to hold their lines. Sure enough, there was a crash on the final corner (which David nicely caught on video. It wouldn’t be a Cat 4 race without a crash though, right?).

Luckily Tim, Will, Colin, Anthony and Jeff were ahead of the chaos. At the top of the finishing straight, Tim and Will were near the front as others around them began sprinting in earnest. But those familiar with this finish knew that it was foolish to sprint too early; instead, get on someone else’s wheel and let them tow you along the downhill, then start sprinting as the road flattens out. Adopting this tactic, Tim flew down the righthand side while Will found a wheel on the left. The road flattened and they both began to sprint, the speed hitting 43 mph as they surged toward the line. The path on the right was crowded, but despite being blocked off Tim managed to cross the line in 6th place. In contrast, a gap on the left parted like the Red Sea, allowing Will to sprint across to take 4th. Colin took 15th, only 1 second behind the winner, followed by Anthony (23rd) and Jeff (32nd). Although Kyle, Winston and David were caught behind the crash on the final corner, Winston managed to skillfully dodge the mayhem and get back on line and up to speed for the finish. Kyle also showed an impressive kick to sprint for home, and David finished just behind.

Overall it was a solid day for our Cat 4 team: we at least managed to attempt our plan of forcing a break on the 2nd lap, and even if this didn’t succeed it’s good to know that we can work together as a team amidst the chaos of the Cat 4 peloton. Just as importantly, we now sit in joint-1st place in the team standings for the MI Challenge, and with such a strong core of Cat 4 riders the rest of the season looks very promising indeed.

Other notable AAVC results from Frankenmuth:

• Dave Fanslow took 3rd and Ray Barbehenn 14th in the Men’s Masters 45-54 race. Dave now sits in 4th in this MI Challenge category. 
• Peter Sotherland took 2nd in the Cat 5 U37 race, an impressive result for Peter’s first ever road race. Peter: move up to Cat 4 soon! 
• Lucas Wall (9th) and Rodger Bowser (31st) in the 35+ Masters 
• Larry Bohnsack (10th) in 55+ Masters 
• Ryan Aridi took 5th in the Junior Men 13-14.