Waterford Hills Double Cross

Harvey Elliott's Race Report from the Waterford Hills Double Cross:

Waterford Hills is one of my very favorite CX courses and takes place on the same track as the Wednesday Night Worlds road race series.  The course strategically uses sections of the track and in-field to give you some technical sections and climbs while maintaining a seriously fast average speed.  

Harvey Elliott battling with Dalton Guggemos on the track.  

I know Danny also likes this course because he won both days last year and seriously kicked my ass.  Thankfully, he’s now one cat up.  This race is also a double header with the course on Saturday being reversed for Sunday.  All these factors seemed to spell good news for Ann Arbor riders who took 29 spots on the podium over the course of the weekend.  

On Saturday the sun was out and temperatures maxed out in the high-70’s.  It was a gorgeous race in the morning, but winds grew gradually throughout the day and peaked at about 25 mph from the West during the Cat 1/2/3 race.  This meant that the main straightaway on the track left you charging straight into a headwind and drafting was going to matter.  In the Cat 3 race it was me and Tyler Trask (aka Junior) and looking at the standings I knew it was up to one of us to win it.  Tyler just upgraded from Cat 4 after singlehandedly decimating the field at Alma.  He was also “feeling good” which was making me a little nervous.  The wild card was Dalton Guggemos who won Alma on a mountain bike and made the rest of us look like fools.  On the whistle, I pinged the start and got the hole shot with Dalton and Tyler filing in behind.  I felt better being in front, but the two of them were chomping at the bit back there.  I was going hard hoping to get a break and in the second lap it happened when Junior washed in the hairpin and dropped his chain.  With Tyler back it was me and Dalton and I pulled hard to get away.  I had a few glimpses of daylight, but boggled a u-turn at the back of the course and ripped through the tape.  Dalton was there and once he was there, he was content to sit behind me.  I took an easy spin up the straightaway in the headwind and then hit the hairpin again and this time, Dalton dropped.  When I saw him lose it, it was go time! I pulled as hard as I could for the lap and put 30 seconds on Marc Walters from Main Street Bicycles.  Then I settled in and rode “safe” while continuing to put 15 seconds on him every lap.  I got a clean separation from the group and rolled in un-opposed for 1st.  Junior had a harder race, but recovered to take 4th.  Dalton pulled out with a DNF.  Ryan Mckinnie from TWT also had a good race and finished 10th.  Matt Johnson and Sean Geary raced in the Cat 3 Masters 35+ and took 13th/14th respectively.  Ken O’Day took 3rd in the Cat 3 Masters 45+. In the Cat 1/2/3 it was clear Danny Soltan wasn’t feeling well and he fell back to 7th by the end.  For the Cat 1/2/3 Masters 35+ we had Simon Bailey take 2nd, followed by Alex Monte-Sano 3rd, and Tom Barrett in 5th.  In the Cat 1/2/3 Masters 45+ Rich Stark took 2nd and Chris Winkler 8th.  Rich Stark rolled even faster in the single speed race and took a second podium spot with the win.  In the Cat 4 race, Tyler Carlton red-lined it and held 1st for some time, but was eventually caught and took 3rd.  Jon Vibbart, a club member from Dearborn Heights, took 13th and in the Cat 4 Masters 45+ John Krauss took 4th, Craig North 6th, and Dan Hoffman 10th.  For the Cat 5 race, we had Mick Jones 1st and Matt Raezler 6th.  The women’s Cat 3/4 team did equally as well with Lesley Anne Newsted and Andrea Merlotti racing.  Andrea took 1st again and seems well positioned to win the series.  And last but not least, Jack Bailey won the Juniors 14 and under.

Sunday the course was reversed and that tricky hairpin that gave Tyler and Dalton trouble became a nasty little off-camber downhill.   Add to that 1.5” of rain overnight and we had a slippery sloppy race following the best of CX traditions.  Danny and Junior called in sick - cough - cough.  Thankfully Brian Kearns and Ellie Sterne (our favorite Greyhound) showed up in their absence!   Brian and I showed the value of team tactics in a CX race.  Brian was quick on the whistle and took the lead with Dalton right on his heels.  I fumbled off the line and was over geared settling in to 5th through the first turn.  I knew from Alma that this was a death sentence and I tried to work through the pack quickly.  Still, by the time I made it to 3rd, Brian and Dalton had a break and I was stuck 20-30 seconds back.  By the end of the first lap I closed the gap to 10 seconds.  I was close to making contact in the second lap, but a slip up in that off-camber turn took even more precious time.  Thankfully in the third lap, Brian slowed the pace and I was able to catch Dalton's wheel.  I took a few minutes at the back to recover and when Brian started to let up again, I attacked.  I gapped Brian and Dalton on the straightaway and subsequent power sections, but Dalton closed it up in the technical stuff.  Not wanting to drop Brain, I slowed the pace and we gained about 30 seconds on the 5th lap.  With the three of us together and one lap to go I let Dalton take the lead and then attacked again.  I was hoping that if Brian and I could both get in front of him we could force a break, but Dalton was fighting to keep us separated.  I was able to get a jump on him in the central climb, and put 10 seconds between us but he closed it up on that off-camber once more.  We were coming into the pavement on the final stretch it was clear the three of us were in for a sprint.  I was in front, Dalton was on my wheel, and Brian on his.  Knowing I had the power play I tried to dump Dalton in the wet grass and went big from the last corner.  Dalton stuck and we had an all out sprint from the pavement.  He finally got me at the line and took the win.  I took 2nd and Brian 3rd with barely half-a-second between the three of us. Also in the 3’s, Ken O’Day finished 6th among the Masters 45+.  After that race, Dalton and I went on to do the Cat 1/2/3 and I was ready for vengeance.  While slow off the start again, I was able to get ahead of Dalton and Landall Proctor for third.  We dropped Dalton, and I was holding Landall back when we were overtaken by the 1/2/3 Masters field.  Unfortunately this is also when I flatted.  I'm not sure what I hit, but I almost endo'ed as my front tire collapsed in a chicane.  Craig North came to my aide in the pits, but I lost minutes to the leaders and finished 6th.  Speaking of the Cat 1/2/3 Masters 35+, the finish order was about the same but with John Osgood moving up to 2nd.  This pushed Simon Bailey back to 3rd, Alex Monte-Sano to 4th, and Tom Barrett to 6th.  For the Cat 1/2/3 Masters 45+, we had Rich Stark showing off is handling skills in 1st.  With him was Todd Frerichs in 5th and James Perren in 9th.  Brian Kearns decided to forgo the Cat 1/2/3 in favor of the single speed and had better luck there.  He quickly got out front again and took 1st with Rich Stark in hot pursuit for 2nd.  Dan Hoffman also raced the sscx and took a respectable 10th.  Those weren’t the only spectacular races of the day as Tyler Carlton finally got out front and held it - taking 1st in the Cat 4 race.  He looked strong and had a couple seconds on the next guy by the finish.  Jon Vibbart also raced and took another 10th place finish.  In the Cat 4 Masters 45+, John Krauss and Craig North moved up to 3rd and 5th respectively.  In the Cat 5, Mick Jones took 2nd and Matt Raezler 10th.  For the women’s 3/4 Andrea Merlotti got knocked to 2nd.  In the 1/2/3 Ellie also took 2nd, Rebecca Wissman 4th, and Adrienne O’Day 6th.  Representing the Jr’s 14+ we had Greg Dearing in 2nd and in the 14- Jack Bailey finished 3rd.  Talk about a weekend of racing!  

Wheels in Motion Fall Trainer Night

Don’t miss the Wheels in Motion Fall Trainer Night, Tuesday, October 7th from 6:30 - 8:30pm.

See demos, try some out, compete against others in short races, and take advantage of special deals! Get all the details on the event page.

Common Cycle's annual fall bicycle maintenance course starts Thursday

Common Cycle has announced that their 6-week bicycle maintenance course starts this Thursday and runs weekly through 11/6/2014. Learn about your derailleurs, brakes, headset, stem, bars, wheels, and the rest of your bike, and have some fun! If you're interested in knowing more, check out all the details from Common Cycle.

Alma Gran Prix of Cyclocross

Harvey Elliott's Race Report from the Alma GP:

The 2014 Michigan Cyclocross Season is off to a bumpy start - literally - with the induction of the Alma GP.  While the rough course is stuff of bleeding hands and legendary heroes, the layout and execution by Brian Hancock and his volunteers was fantastic!  What was a former dump for the city of Alma had been transformed into an idyllic cyclocross venue with a number of embankments, two "Superprestige" sections, and a fun little set of Belgian steps.  Clearly, Brian and his crew spent some time figuring this one out!  

Tyler Trask makes it look easy in the Men's Cat 4.

The Men's Cat 4 race was lining up as Danny and I arrived in the morning.  Both Tyler Trask and Tyler Carlton looked good off the start and were clean through the first turn.  Tyler Trask was attacking like mad and quickly took the lead. He was punishing the competition and started to ride away from the other contenders by lap 2.  Tyler Carlton was stuck back with the pack, but riding well.  Trask was clearly working hard, but also out gunning the rest of the field and easily took 1st.  I think somebody is ready for an upgrade!

In the Men's Cat 3 race, a sketchy start left me about 15 places back and in the danger zone as riders were falling left and right.  The rough and technical nature of the course favored mountain bikes to CX and so I focused on cornering and clearing the barriers smoothly.  Being the second race the corners were starting to soften up and I chose to take a wide line for better traction.  The two places I deemed safe to pass were the barriers with a long run between and the front straightaway near the start/finish where the road was well packed.  Every lap I'd get one or two riders in these sections until I worked my way back up to 4th, but by this time the leaders had a significant gap.  Thankfully Brian Kearns made the break and held on for 3rd.  1st and 2nd went to the fat tires which could better deal with the shocks and stresses of this new venue.  Crossing the finish line I ripped my gloves off to reveal massive blisters.  Tom Barrett helped patch me up before we went to the start of the Cat 1/2/3 and Masters race.  

Danny Soltan, sweating, who knew?  

From the start of the Cat 1/2/3, I sat back and it was clear I was losing ground.  I could barely hold on to the bars and the first wave of Masters riders caught me quickly.  After 5 or 6 laps I was in danger of getting lapped and pulled myself when I crossed the finish line.  Danny Soltan however had a much better race and went on to finish 6th.  It was a truly heroic effort and seemed unusual that Danny would have to work so hard after seeing him out front so much at CxPreX.  Adam York, Jeff Weinert, and Tom Burke of the Cyclocross Network dominated this race and lapped most of the other riders.  This is a power course and they had all the power.  

Overall, AAVC had a fantastic showing with our rag tag group of local racers took seven - as in SEVEN - podium spots.  I'll include the run down below, but I couldn't be more pleased with our team and I look forward to the two Waterford races this coming weekend.  

Cat 1/2/3 - Men

Danny Soltan - 6th

Harvey Elliott - DNF

Cat 1/2/3 - Women

Ellie Sterne - 3rd

Adrienne O'Day - 6th

Sarah Temby - 7th

Cat 1/2/3 Masters 35+

Simon Bailey - 3rd

Tom Barrett - 4th

Alex Monte-Sano - 9th

Cat 1/2/3 

Masters 45+ 

Rich Stark - 12th  

Ken O'Day - 14th

Cat 3 - Men

Brian Kearns - 3rd

Harvey Elliott - 4th

Cat 3/4 - Women

LesleyAnne Newsted - 8th

Cat 4 - Men

Tyler Trask - 1st

Tyler Carlton - 9th

Cat 4 Masters 45+

John Krauss - 7th

Craig North - 11th

Cat 5 - Men

Mick Jones - 4th

Matt Raezler - 16th

Juniors (14 and Under)

Jack Bailey - 2nd

Michael Bailey - 7th

Building and "testing" the new ArborBikes

ArborBike put out a call for help to build 75 bikes for the new bike-share program in Ann Arbor. AAVC and Wheels in Motion responded in August with a 10-man team, including a professional mechanic, a bike repair course instructor, and many repair-it-yourself bike racers.

Over the course of the afternoon, the Club team completed 17 of the 44 bikes that were constructed that day. Unknown to our team at the outset, these bikes were specially designed by Trek to be indestructable to the public, and capable of carrying a sizeable load in a front basket. The front basket construction would haunt the memories of many on the team. Numerous security Torx screws required a special tool to install, and this front end assembly was unlike anything ever engineered for a bike.

Some of the final products were road tested by the Club, which inevitably turned into a parking lot criterium. Our winner, Matt Raezler, edged out Patrick McEnaney at the line.

Pikes Peak Hill Climb

From Harvey:

 ...here we found the snow middle deep; no sign of beast or bird inhabiting this region. The thermometer which stood at 9° C above 0 at the foot of the mountain, here fell to 4° C below 0. The summit of the Grand Peak, which was entirely bare of vegetation and covered with snow, now appeared at the distance of 15 or 16 miles (24 or 26 km) from us, and as high again as what we had ascended, and would have taken a whole day's march to have arrived at its base, when I believed no human being could have ascended to its pinical. This with the condition of my soldiers who had only light overalls on, and no stockings, and every way ill provided to endure the inclemency of the region; the bad prospect of killing any thing to subsist on, with the further detention of two or three days, which it must occasion, determined us to return."

– Excerpt from the Zebulon Pike Expedition, 1806, after a failed attempt to summit the mountain.

Today, Pike’s Peak is a lot tamer than it was in 1806. There’s a paved road and cog railway leading to a restaurant/souvenir shop at the summit. However, it is still a proper mountain with an elevation of 14,115 feet (4,302 m) and prominence of roughly 8,000 ft (2,400 m) above downtown Colorado Springs.

The USAC Hill Climb route would take us up the same route that the International Auto Hill Climb has been using for 85 years. This covers of the last 12.1 miles of this paved road from Crystal Creek to the summit with 4,688 feet of elevation gain, 154 switchbacks, and an average grade of 7.3%. 

Now, that doesn’t sound too bad considering the fact that they can fit 10,000 feet of climbing in the Michigan Mountain Mayhem, but we are starting from an elevation over 9,000 feet! The air gets pretty thin up there and just warming up I noticed a pretty significant shortness of breath. The other thing I noticed was how under-dressed we were to be climbing a mountain. I just had my M-Cycling skinsuit and jacket and my teeth were chattering! The temperature was hovering ~45°F and I could see that the summit was already obscured by a lenticular cloud. I knew I would be “climbing a lot” and so I convinced myself this was fine, besides plenty of other people didn’t even have jackets! This may have contributed to the fact that of 349 starters, there were only 243 finishers….

The race started in waves offset by 3 minutes. Me, Ky Kieffer, and Jeremy Ziegler were all together on the line in the second wave for the Cat4/Masters race. From the start, I planned to go pretty easy, but surprisingly the road was rolling and the pack stuck together for the first half-mile or so. I ventured to put in a little more effect to stick on the back and enjoy some protection from the wind. Jeremy and Ky stayed back and we split at this point. 

After that half-mile, the road turned up and the switchbacks started. From this point on, we were climbing. I shifted down to my lowest gear and spun for a good bit. I was generally passing people, but then I was also breathing pretty heavily for my measly 4mph. When the grade finally dropped back to 4 or 5% I’d shift up just to give me the perception of control and pedal on to the next switchback. I’d hop from one guy’s rear wheel to another’s on and on and on until I saw the 8 mile sign.

Now, I’m not exactly sure what mile marker we started at, but I remember the start being about 6 miles up the road. This is where I freaked out a bit. I was already hyperventilating and my hands were completely numb with needles. My core was warm, but it was clear I might not finish if I kept pushing. I settled in and dropped the cadence from 85 to something more like 70 and struck up a conversation with some guy from Colorado. I stayed here until we reached Glen Cove (~12.5 mi) and the Colorado guy pulled off.

I lost the tree line and my mind at about the 13 mile mark. Above the tree line we had 30-50 mph wind gusts from the South (pretty much 12 o’clock high). This is also where the pitch and switchbacks became extreme.

There was a steady stream of deserters heading back down the mountain. While the wind seemed to be generally against us, it was more unnerving that you’d never know what way it was going to hit you. This was nice in that sometimes you could stop pedaling and coast up the mountain, but terrifying in that death by cliff face became a very real possibility. Thankfully, miraculously, this is where Ky caught me. Ky didn’t have a compact front chainring and so he had to work a bit harder, but hey he was making killer time. I’d like to think we were helping each other, taking pulls, but Ky definitely maintained the pace through here. 

We started passing people like crazy and it just proved how critical it is to have a friendly face in the race. At about 14 miles, the road leveled out and we had a quick traverse from a false summit to the central peak. I took the lead here and with some help from the slope/winds we were cruising fine at about 45 mph. We finished the traverse and started the final climb just as we passed the 5k to go sign. 

We were still moving pretty good, but at the 4k to go sign we were completely immersed in the clouds. The winds were still brutal and now we were riding in/on an icy rind. The mountain took on an otherworldly feel. Visibility was about 20 feet and everything had icicles jabbing the direction of the prevailing wind. There were a few times where Ky almost dropped me here, but somehow I stuck with him.

I kept running the conversions in my head, 4k, that’s like less than 3 miles!

3k, that’s like less than 2 miles!

2k, yeah, that’s like barely over a mile.

1k, I should be able to see the finish!

It has to be right there!

I must be like 400m out, maybe even 200m!

And then another switchback and pavement turned to dirt and there it was. Ky and I crossed simultaneously taking 3rd and 4th at 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 43 seconds. We pitched our bikes against an icy guardrail and jogged inside. Ky’s hands had swollen like balloons. Mine looked pretty normal, but I couldn’t really feel them or my toes. 

We took refuge in the restaurant, but other than the blow drier in the bathroom there wasn’t much warmth to find. The food wasn’t ready and the donut fryer broken. CURSES!

I ate a Nature Valley bar, found some hot chocolate and we waited for Jeremy to catch up. He finished at 2:18:41 and took 5th in the Masters 35+ race. After warming up a bit, we started the summit picture bonanza and then bundled up for the descent just as the first train arrived from Manitou Springs. 

The descent was far more terrifying than the ascent! Between the shivers and the wind our bikes were shimmying all over the road. Ky gave up and hitched a ride. I took my sweet time and rode the brakes down. Once we reached the trees, the wind died down and I finally started warming up. By the time we reached the parking area the temperature had reached the mid-70’s and the frigid summit was a distant memory.  Jeremy has GoPro footage of the descent which you can watch here. Checking Strava the descent took about 40 minutes and my new max speed by bicycle registers at 53 mph!

Gaslight Criterium and Sylvania Cycling Classic

Below are race reports from Sunday: Lucas Wall at the Gaslight Criterium and Rob Shoemaker at the Sylvania Cycling Classic.

From Lucas:

I’d had the Gaslight Criterium as a major goal for the year I first planned out the racing season last winter. It’s a fast, slightly technical criterium right in the middle of Michigan’s crit season when I’m usually in the best shape of the year. I was just hoping it would be dry streets for the race.

The weather held out for race day which eased my nerves, but my schedule leading into the race wasn’t what I’d planned with a week-long trip to see family and attend a wedding which had me off the bike for a week. At least I was rested.

I’d hoped to do the Pro/1/2 and Masters 35+ race double, but my schedule only allowed for one race, so it was just the Masters 35+ for me. I got in a good warm-up on the roads around the adjacent lake. I was feeling decent, but before a big race I’m always a little anxious and nervous, and it’s hard to get a read on how the legs are feeling. After many years I know this is normal, even good since I know I’m motivated and ready to race, so I tried to keep it in perspective.

Forty riders lined up, so a decent sized masters field. I rolled up to back row for the start and saw a number of new faces, mostly riders local to the Grand Rapids area who came out. The usual fast guys and teams were there, too. Lathrup had a number of riders, CFT with Craig Newell, Louis Benton with a number of strong guys, and a fast pair from the North Star Development team.

Last year a break went early and stayed away, and I was aiming for a win so that meant being ready for anything. I focused on being more attentive to field position throughout the race so I could go with attacks rather than have to bridge. The race started quickly and we had a number of small attacks, but only with a rider or two at a time.

The pace was high but not too hard. There were some decent primes throughout the race, including a $100 cash prime. I thought about that one, but with my main goal being the finish I wasn’t going for it unless all I had to do was a sprint out of the last corner--I wasn’t making any effort to get in position for a prime.

About midway through the race the pace remained solid. A promising move of a few strong riders made an effort to get off the front but the field quickly responded and it never got more than 10 meters clear, so I sat.

Having raced Gaslight a few times, I knew that the finish of the race depended on good field position out of turn 3, then being one of the first spots through turn 4, the final corner. With long back stretch into turn 3, it was easy to move up or loose a lot of places. Knowing that field position was the most important detail at the end of the race, I chose to go to the front early and stay there, so with 5 to go, I moved to the top 5 riders and aimed to stay there the rest of the race.

Good move! With 4 to go I came through turn 1 and heard the crunching of bikes and wheels just a few riders behind me. Turns out the crash took down or stopped 12-15 riders. On the front the pace stayed steady--no big post-crash attack. Some of the riders who didn’t go down got back on, but it required a big effort and some nervousness from those riders with just a few laps left.

With 2 laps to go a big solo attack went from one of the Louis Benton riders and he got a decent gap. There wasn’t a reaction from the field but the pace stayed solid so the gap, much better than if there had been a sudden lull. I was expecting the well-organized Lathrup team would be coming to the front, but with them MIA I was thinking that they probably had a few riders in the crash and may not make an appearance. I stayed in the front and quickly moved up any time the pace slowed so that I could remain at the front. One of the North Star guys put in a solid effort keeping the pace high and the gap to the solo leader in check.

Down the back stretch on the last lap I was staying ahead of the fray and the CFT team was putting in an effort for their sprinter, Craig Newell. A rider or two slipped by me coming into turn 3 but I was still pretty well placed. Coming out of that turn, I accelerated fast knowing I needed one of the first positions through the final turn. Unfortunately, one of the other team’s riders sat up and blocked the inside line. The CFT lead out was coming up the left side quickly, and as soon as I had a clear line again I went as hard as I could up the outside toward the final corner. The CFT team had the inside and with a sketchy exit of turn 4 I chose to make sure there was room rather than fly all or nothing into the corner. I came out of the turn on Newell’s wheel and had some speed on him, but the sprint from the final corner is short and I didn’t have time to come around.

I finished second. Close but not the win I was aiming for.

From Rob: 

Sylvania was not my best day. 21 riders showed up for a wet and rainy race. I was caught of guard by the sprint at the whistle and fell to the back of the front group. It was tough to gain ground because of the slow turns which killed all my momentum. When I finally caught the field a rider slid out in a corner. I planned to go high around him but he slid that way. I unclipped my inside foot and planted it on the ground while the bike kept me moving in a circle, I managed to unclip my outside foot and came to a stop standing in the road holding my bike off the ground! Must of been the most epic save to all who witnessed.

I came back around to the start/finish and was able to get a free lap. I rode back into the peloton in 4th which was relieving after chasing for so long. We made our way to the downhill sweeper at the back of the course and even though I loaded my front tire, it lost grip and I up-righted. That led me straight off the turn and off the course. I barely missed the hay bail covering a sign post. I saw a curb that appeared to be level with the grass and rode towards it to get back on the road. Unfortunately, it was not level and as soon as I hit it my front tire flatted then my rear tire. I then started looking for a soft spot to stop or fall over but ended up in a rocky driveway on my butt. My day ended with a curb hop double flat DNF... booo!!