Michigander Cross

Comment

Comment by Patrick McEnaney on October 20, 2011 at 11:23am

SE Michigan is experiencing prime CX weather, it's almost magical, it makes me teary-eyed having to sit inside and work.

Wind, rain, and 8C (51F). Only a really twisted individual can thrive in this, I say bring it, make it like the PacNW! I'm jones-ing for a mud fest, unfortunately, no race for me this weekend. Have a blast in the D.

Comment by brianhancock on October 17, 2011 at 5:47am

Next up in the Stomach of Anger cyclocross series is MAD ANTHONY on Saturday!

Comment by Paul Steigerwald on October 15, 2011 at 8:34am

Hi Patrick,

I absolutely agree with what Curt said.  The Masters race is the second fastest race but the fast B guys are PLENTY fast. 

I have only done one ss race so far and there were 4 of us doing it.  The winner was a Masters racer with a broken deralier who couldn't shift and still wanted to race and the rest of us were B or C racers.  It just depends on who shows up that day, but since there is only one ss event it is all right and doesn't seem like sandbagging if you line up against an A racer on one side and a C racer on the other, there isn't any other choice because the field is so tiny and the race is a lot of fun anyway.  

You might try the B race.  It might or might not feel like a step down to you, different states seem to set up their fields in different ways so the way they do it in OR might not translate well to how they do it here in MI.  The Bs are open here so you will race against all ages, I get beaten by 20 year olds and 60 year olds, but it is more fun because there are also more people to pass:)  It has the biggest field around here (about 40 guys) and you might feel like you are more in the race than if you did the Masters race. 

The ss race will be fun but you end up all alone pretty quickly in a field of only a few riders.  If you want to feel like you are racing against more people and don't want to get slaughtered in the first lap my Masters dudes you might give the B race a try.

 

 

 

Comment by Patrick McEnaney on October 14, 2011 at 5:56pm

That's pretty much what I expected w.r.t. the masters. It's not so much fear, per se, it hasn't been a great training year without any racing and I just don't want to get shelled immediately. I'm ready to suffer but I want to stay in the field for a while at least. I switched up weekends at a couple of series in OR last season, doing geared M35+B one weekend, then ss another weekend. The problem there was that the SS field would finish, and several of the top SS racers would put that bike in the pit, and go pick up their geared bike for the A race. So it wasn't just core single-speeders racing, it was the elites warming up. However, separate masters-category field was a huge convenience with OBRA, racing in a field of specific masters B-level people, as opposed to an open masters, where I get to race against someone who's been doing cat 1,2,3 crits all summer, and happens to be my age. The last time I entered an open masters field, the Willy St. Crit in Madison, I lined up with a former national crit champ, and national hour record holder. That was ugly, I think I lasted about 3 laps.

Shite. I'll just try not to puke on any sketchy turns and keep my spleen tucked into my nostrils.

Comment by Curt P on October 14, 2011 at 4:02pm

The masters race is probably the second fastest after the A race. Maybe the top B race guys and the masters are about the same. The SS race will probably have 5 or less people racing because it is at the same time as the B race. Check out the lap times for the last couple races on tailwinds site to see how the two match up.

Comment by Adam_Mac on October 14, 2011 at 3:31pm

Patrick... id guess the SS is slower avg speed (due to gearing)... which has less punishment... it's all in your mind!!!!  I'd ride the bigger field, keeps you from racing alone if you are afraid to be off the back

Comment by Patrick McEnaney on October 14, 2011 at 3:14pm

Heading to Linden for my first race this season (and year...), first cx race in MI in 3 years. I'm pondering whether to race SS or M35+; where am I likely to receive the least amount of punishment, ie., anyone know which field has the lower average speed? Since all masters 35+ are lumped together in MI, I suspect it is the faster field? OR cx (OBRA) races split masters into their own fields A,B, and C.

 

Any feedback is welcome; I'm mentally preparing to be bitch-slapped into  the pain cave.

 

Thx,

Patrick

Comment by Surly Bastard on October 12, 2011 at 5:01pm

Thanks for the course  Brian and of course the SVSU / Red Zone gang for such a great race. The video was made by a friend of mine and one of the best new talents in cross around here Adam McIntyre. Everybody that came over from the West side loved the course and the race. I dig watching it over and over - that course rocked!  See you at Linden.

Comment by Mike Brokenshire on October 12, 2011 at 4:55pm

Chris, save me a sticker.  I'm coming to get it!  It will probably take me 11 hours to get there, but I'm coming.  See you on Saturday.

Comment by brianhancock on October 12, 2011 at 4:23pm

That video of SVSU is awesome.

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