Art Van CX

My road cycling skills don't necessarily translate into being able to go around corners even semi-quickly, but that's ok. I figure each week will be a learning process, and in a couple weeks I'll be able to hang with my best pal and CX coach, Tyler.

Again, my warm-up laps are feeling good, but once the race begins, I've tended to slow down quite a bit. As in all my life, my true goal is to feel a little more European everyday, and today's race was a good example of that. Not only did I bunny-hop a very small wooden plank in the ground on an uphill every lap, I was also able to ride through a pretty size-able sand pit every lap.

All my cross practice with Tyler is certainly paying off, where I have been losing ground is on the flat, real-bumpy sections. I think I may be running too much tire pressure, so all the little bumps in the ground are being exaggerated, which is throwing me all over the place, slowing me down.

This week of riding I'll certainly focus on working on these sorts of sections on various local trails, but the barrier jumping has been a strong point of mine. I'm certainly not losing any time getting off my bike, hopping, and getting back on, I'm losing a lot of time on the sections I would think I would excel at. I suppose the only way to continue getting better at cyclocross is to keep racing it, so I think I will.

I've been vegetarian for a little over a month now and that is going very well. I'm able to find something vegetarian at every place I've been, most places are super helpful in pointing out my options. These last two semesters of class are going by very slowly but I'll figure out how to get through them. I suppose this happens to everyone, but it seems like all the classes I'm taking are just to fill out my degree, I'm never going to use this stuff I'm learning in my life again.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 11th Overall 4/5 (48)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain!!) 7th AG (13)
6/1 The Waterford Races, Clarkston, MI 21st Overall 4/5 (24)
6/5 Grattan Race Series, Grattan, MI 20th Overall 'B' (37)
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)  1st AG (11)
6/14 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI 27th Cat 4/5 (40) / 30th Cat 3/4 (38)
6/15 Ada Crit, Ada, MI 16th Cat 3/4 (25)
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI DNF Cat 4/5 (81)
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI 16th Cat 4 (25)
9/7 Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross 18th Expert 3/4/5 (20)
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel) 2nd AG M 21-26 (9) / 10th Overall (322)
9/15 Art Van Sports Complex CX 14th Expert 3/4/5 (17)

Lots of pictures this week courtesy of our great friend Adam! Adam and his wife Jess were in the area so came by the race and took photos of Tyler and I. Thanks Adam!

Cheers! CE

Alma Grand Prix & Uncle John's

Good evening!

From a small and particular circle in my life, the blog posts have been requested; and thus have returned! It has been a very busy couple of months for me, and it doesn't seem like life is going to slow down any time soon. I've just got back to Kzoo from Alma (did you know it is pronounced El-ma, according to a billboard), after I stopped at the bar there to fill up a growler a teammate won, and generously donated to my cause. I slept in my car last night, which was exciting, and this weekend has been the closest to a vacation I've had in about a year (:

Yesterdays first cyclocross race of the year was a bit underwhelming. I started in the back, and followed wheels for most the first lap before I fell trying to carry my bike up a flight of stairs. It was pretty embarrassing and I was shaken up for the rest of the first lap. I wasn't able to recover and I cruised in for 18th/20, one place above where I was predicted to finish; better times ahead!

                                         *Best bud and CX coach Tyler takes third at Alma GP

I had a great set-up to sleep in my car Saturday evening. I was one of two other cars who decided to camp after the cyclocross race, I thought it would be more of a party! My good pal Nick texted me around 7 and he was set up in his van at Uncle John's Cider Mill, so I drove down to St. Johns from Alma and set up camp next to his van with Nick & Kelly. After a fantastic evening of conversation, I had a pretty restless night in my Chevy Cruze, but it feels pretty pro to sleep in a car the night before a race, I'll probably chase this feeling.

                                                *A beautiful evening for camping awaits

Today was much better. One of the local favorites; Uncle John's Dirty Ride! The race started fast, and didn't disappoint as it went forward. Of course, when you are racing only 24 very flat miles with the fastest people in Michigan, it will always be a questionable experience. I was quite nervous throughout about wheels touching around me and causing me to crash, but I managed to get to the finished road unscathed. I was able to stay about mid-pack, protected from the wind, and fresh until the last mile or so. I knew I needed to move up to the front and a gap opened up on the left side the road and I was able to come all the way to the front with less than a mile to go.

3/16 Waterloo G&G, Grass Lake, MI (Gravel) 34th Overall (221) / 4th AG (6)
3/23 Melting Mann, Vandalia, MI (Gravel) 61st Overall (255) / 17th AG (31)
3/30 Dirty 30 Gravel Grinder, Saranac, MI (Gravel) 81st Overall (215) / 9th AG (24)
4/6 Lowell Classic, Lowell, MI (Gravel) 27th Overall (239) / 8th AG (15)
4/13 Barry Roubaix, Hastings, MI (Gravel) 216th Overall (1342) / 6th AG (18)
4/28 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series, Ann Arbor, MI 11th Overall 4/5 (48)
5/5 Fort Custer Stampede, Battle Creek, MI (Mountain!!) 7th AG (13)
6/1 The Waterford Races, Clarkston, MI 21st Overall 4/5 (24)
6/5 Grattan Race Series, Grattan, MI 20th Overall 'B' (37)
6/9 Dirty Donut, Martin, MI (Gravel)  1st AG (11)
6/14 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI 27th Cat 4/5 (40) / 30th Cat 3/4 (38)
6/15 Ada Crit, Ada, MI 16th Cat 3/4 (25)
7/13 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI DNF Cat 4/5 (81)
8/25 Debaets-Devos Crit, Detroit, MI 16th Cat 4 (25)
9/7 Alma Grand Prix of Cyclocross 18th Expert 3/4/5 (20)
9/8 Uncle John's Dirty Ride, St. John's, MI (Gravel) 2nd AG M 21-26 (9) / 10th Overall (322)


My ever fearless teammate Matt came up with me and we took turns for a moment keeping the pace very high into a very sketchy left turn into the apple orchard. I was able to cut the corner and miss the ditch, but I hear plenty of people went down right there; I was ahead of all the crashes and feeling good. Another teammate, Mike, ended up taking the victory! as Matt and I cracked under the slight elevation at the finish! Rolling into a second in my age group, I was super happy being able to influence the finish! I am hoping to be able to take this form into the rest of the CX season.

                               *Hoping I can keep stacking podiums with CX season here, this picture was                                         actually very posed, they were only doing podiums for the age group winners

Next week I head up to GR for a CX race on Sunday, the anticipation builds! For now, I really need to get started on some homework.

Cheers!
CE