Lake Geneva Cross 2014 A brief report… Last year’s edition of this race featured gloomy all-day rain and a clammy slopfest otherwise known as The Real CX. While that’s nice for fireside stories and all, this year we had a nicely forgiving bluebird day in the 60s and 70s, complementing one of the most complete CX courses I have ridden. The start was on slightly uphill pavement which turned quickly to gravel—great venue for an all-out sprint for the holeshot. Due to my general lassitude and other factors, I arrived to the staging area only a couple of minutes before the start, condemning me to the back of a nearly 80 person start mob. Surely with a spot farther up I would have crushed my way to a nearly mid-pack triumph, but that was not to be. At least that’s how I’m telling it. A healthy late summer beer habit combined with the flogged legs of a brand new fatbike owner will be my flimsy excuses for a pretty poor showing even considering starting in the back row. That aside, the course took us somewhat uphill to a few twisty turny bits around trees in the upper part of a large field. The CX4 race had some definite slipperiness here although my later attempts in the SS race found it much more grippy. Nonetheless, the twists and turns gave way to a brisk charge through an open field, and where last year we had a lonely pair of barriers taking up space out there, this time there was a hastily assembled set of 3 ‘whoops,’ the center of the only photograph I have to share. My photo is from the last race of the day, featuring a most photogenic fall as consequence of the preceding rider’s over cooking of whoop #1. I posted the full video to the WCA cyclocross facebook page, to zero response. In any event, the little whoops cause me no great difficulty and continue a charming habit the Wisconsin races have of providing at least one unique and skill-requiring feature per course. After crossing the field there was a chicane followed by a very hoppable (though seldom hopped) barrier board. After this we dove into a parking lot and then into another small field with some fencing covered by a couple of mattresses for rider safety. This second little decent was quite precarious in the rain and slop last year, but fortunately a nice little rut developed on it this time, which guided the calm rider neatly clear of the fencing and padding. After leaving that field we found a road about 100 yards long of lovely, rich mud. This had some challenge to it in the morning but was pretty well grooved in by the SS race. Still, a fine patch of mud it was. After the mud came a little ditch with a steep flyover to the right or some lines to ride through it on the left. Getting the right momentum to get over the flyover was kind of a challenge all day. Smashing through the ditch was probably just as fast, but the temptation of extra Cool Points (and staying dry/clean) maintained the flyover as the preferred option. Yours truly biffed the whole thing in the CX4 race, managing the low crossing without event on my third try. In the SS race I managed the flyover two out of three tries, though the challenge was less by then. I did watch the entire Pro 1/2/3 group go over the flyover together without incident on their first lap, so take from that what you will. The flyover/under segment was followed by a grinding climb on a pretty rough gravel road. This of course was the part where everyone’s sprightly energy turned into plodding stubbornness, which held for the rest of the course and indeed the race for some of us. At the top of the gravel climb was an agonizing little bumpy almost-climb on grass before hitting pavement again and bombing into a little hairpin followed by a pair of barriers and a not-so-steep runup. After this was a quick run on asphalt that found even yours truly shifting briefly onto the big ring (during my geared race) followed by some technical grassy switchback + off-camber action in the same area where the rutted decent previously mentioned was. A punchy climb followed by a short stretch of pavement led again to off-camber grass finishing in an almost-but-not-quite (for me) rideable punchy climb, right before the obligatory volleyball court sized sand pit. The sand was pretty solid but never really rutted into predictable lines. On my first run through I careened from tape to tape and was actually held vertical by some spectators on the left who preferred assisting me to having me fall on them. After that, my trips through the sand were pretty uneventful. This is probably my favorite kind of CX sand—difficult enough to keep my attention every lap, but not so hard that I’m in serious danger of making sand-angels. And the roadies generally have to run it. Perfect. After the sand pit was a merciful area of relative seclusion where I could regroup from my desperate effort to Look Cool Riding In Sand (plenty of spectators back there) before tackling the paved beginning straightaway. While this little stretch was nothing much at the start, somehow while I was away completing my first lap they replaced it with an endless paved climb to oblivion, followed by a gravel punch at the end. Aside from the crying, I took the change in stride. Such were the laps. I completed three in the CX4 race and 4 in the SS race. Having held on to the group pretty well early in the CX4, I felt pretty good about my overall achievement during that race. There was a young fellow that I admit I heckled a little as I passed him 2-3 times, as he struggled with gear selection and remounting. My criticism had something to do with the artistic differences between a drum solo and a CX race. Despite these antics, and most likely because of them, I came in very close to last in that race. Results were really no better in SS. A relative newcomer to the sport, very overgeared, was my sole victim, although there was a fellow who suffered at least two mechanicals which I technically defeated as well. No honor there. Overall, despite the complete lack of teammates (--tears--), I found it to be an excellent race and course. Last year’s dismal raininess turned me off to this one, but in broad sunlight it had everything—mud, twisty turns, uphill, downhill, technical challenges that really matter, runup—that I love in this sport. The venue is strictly non-alcoholic, so handups were absent and missed. Even given that, I’d call the Lake Geneva course a True Specimen of American CX. -By AMR Member Muse Davis. Five bikes with bobble heads hanging off the front of our handlebars slowly made their way up the Seeley Fire Tower climb. With our chests pressed against our stems we turned our easiest gears each following the other up what appeared to be the one smooth line while to our right numerous cyclists walked -- some seemed to be breathing harder than us. At the top we were greeted by spectators with cheers, praise and even a heckle. Is this a cross race I thought when one yelled out, "did that aero-helmet help you on the climb?" I replied, "it works for me!" And with that I was once again having an absolute gas. The Chequamegon 40 is iconic. According to the promoters, Chequamegon (she-wa-me-gon) means "fat tire racing and fat tire fun." There's certainly plenty of both which is probably why people travel from all over to do this race. After a mass start of just under 2,000 the forty mile race takes to roads and ski trails for one fast non-technical race. The start for me was like a road race. The supposed neutral roll-out on paved road started to heat up the second we left main street which is also when the crashes began. My starting position allowed me to see the pace car and the leaders stretching things out but everyone was digging in and gaps were short lived. At the very first acceleration I heard a tangle of bikes just behind and not long after hitting highway 77 there was a huge pileup in the center of road. I grabbed brake and braced for the predictable collision from behind but it didn't happen. Fortunately, we were spared by disc brakes and we were just as quickly rolling past the entanglement of bicycles. There would be one more crash which could have threatened my day. This occurred just as we left the pavement. I must have been just one bike ahead of two cyclists which collided raising a chorus of shouts as those following at 20+ mph encountered these fallen cyclists. Overall I had a very fast start despite the unwelcome excitement of the crashes. Not surprisingly I was already loosing places and by the time we crossed Rosie's field I could no longer see the front of the race. That I could at all was due to my placement near the start of the race -- no doubt the result of a clerical error. This was my first Cheq40 so when I entered the lottery I supplied my racing resume as requested. Seeing some recent good results they clearly expected more than I could deliver. I tried to make the best of it by following these fast wheels as best I could. After about 45 minutes of what felt like fast cross race, I was done. Thoroughly trashed and wasted. Perhaps if I set down my bike and curled up in a ball on the ground some one would take pity on me and take me home -- it was that sort of done. Needless to say, at that point my speed dropped a bit. Not long after I had the pleasure of seeing a few friends go by. Jesse Darley looked great and Don Carr did his best to lift my spirits while maintaining his place in a sweet looking pace line. Life did return and fun set in for the remaining of the race once we hit the Seeley Fire Tower climb. It was on that climb I rediscovered lower gears and the joy of cleaning a climb so steep that you have to press your chest to your bars to keep the front wheel on the ground. But the pace and gearing was not hard and I topped the climb feeling like a new rider. I rode that feeling to finish line which was crossed with more joy than any in recent memory. Results? While not stellar I have no regrets. The plan to stay with the fast wheels as long as possible was clearly flawed but it gave me a chance to see the front, near-front and middle of the race. A chance I won't have again by all indications. My finishing time was 2:44:58 which was good enough for 30th out of 156 in my age class. That put me 642nd out of 1,858 overall. Pretty amazing numbers if you think about. There were 156 people in just the 55-59 age class! That, I think, is what makes this event so special -- the overwhelming numbers of people who participate year after year. I feel privileged and happy to have finally joined those ranks. Joey King -- Angry Monkeys Racing Strava says I rode 134.1 miles, managed 11,306 feet of climbing, averaged 17.2 mph and reached a maximum speed of 50.1 mph. I placed 5th out of the 16, 55+ finishers. Around 190 started and 124 finished. Overall I was 59th. My official time was 7:51:52 (official time stops at the top of Kebler pass). As usual the data misses the point. It was absolutely incredible and I had an amazingly solid ride. Tigger (cross bike) was at home in the pack and on the dirt. Attached are a couple of pictures from the day. I lost the lead bunch on the first steep sustained climb and after some time struggling against a 25 mph wind without help, forged an alliance with 2 others, Joe and Richard. Unfortunately, my buddy Steve crashed hard about 35 miles in. His bike was destroyed and his body is still recovering. No broken bones thank goodness. He's already pedaled a few miles. Here is a link to a video overview of the ride (footage from this year): http://youtu.be/Tfr7pjmUkSY The caliber of rider is high. I stopped at most of the rest stops to fuel. The climb to Kebler pass seems to go on forever but I managed to keep rolling and smiling as best I could. As soon as we hit the dirt our alliance of three dissolved and I pushed on ahead. The video shows some of the beauty along the ride but actually does not do it justice (you won't see me in the video). I would do this ride again but I'm thinking it would be really fun to get a big group together to do the Bicycle Tour of Colorado in June of 2015. Just as amazing were the 4 days of mountain biking and 3 other road rides Steve, Dallas and I did prior to the race. On the Friday before the Sunday race we rode in the mountains for more than 4 hours topping 11,000 feet in elevation and climbing for miles on a soul-crushing pitch just for starters. This was on the mountain bikes and included some of the sweetest flow, impossibly rough steeps, creek crossings and the gnarliest downhill switchbacks you'll ever see! It was fan-freakin-tastic! The route we used is known in Crested Butte as Reno-Flag-Bear-Deadmans. Cheers, -- --joe Race Report by Brandon Andrews: Race #1 for the Trek WCA Cyclocross Series was held at Quarryview Park in Sheboygan Wisconsin. The first race of the season was not as well attended as I had hoped. Numbers for the fields were a bit on the smaller side. Still it was a fun race and we had a number of Angry Monkeys racing that day. Laura Andrews was not able to race due to a flight delay that caused her to miss her flight home. So I made the trip up to Sheboygan by myself. Once there I was joined by Muse Davis, Derek Slates and Mio Suzuki. Derek was up first sporting his new green Trek Boone Bike. This was Derek's first CX race and he ended up 14th in the CX5 group. Muse and I were next in the CX4 group. We both started in the very back of the field. It is funny how when you line up behind someone others start filling in front of you where the course is not? I had a good race enjoying and pushing myself for the most part through the race. The mid pack where I was seemed to be equally talented and stayed together for the most part of the race. The run up was just as challenging as last year. I was not able to ride it, but felt good form on the run, not fast but good form. I was finally able to pass a few riders while trying to catch one more on the last lap. I didn't but I did hold of the guy who was chasing me down. Muse had a good race at first but then rolled his tubular so spent the last lap running to finish. Even though he ran the last lap he was able to salvage the race for 27th out of the 30 racers. I ended up in 19th place out of the 30th. Mio took 7th in her race against the CX4 Women's group. We all hung out at our Angry Monkeys tent and enjoyed just watching some of the other races, gave a few hand ups out in the name of true Cyclocross atmosphere. Muse also raced again in the single speed group gaining some more points for AMR in the team standings. He ended up 7th in the Single speed group while sporting his tiger shirt over his AMR kit. We have a fantastic schedule for the WCA Series with Lake Geneva on the 14th and TREK CXC Cup the 20-21st! That will be a big day for our team, and lots of fun. -Brandon. |
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